Greg Abel's First Berkshire Meeting: $397B Cash, Zero Urgency, and a Deepfake of Warren Buffett
The Oracle steps aside, oil chaos looms, and semiconductors are quietly eating the market whole
Ticker Ratings
| Ticker | Rating | Entry Price | Current | $ Gain | % Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QQQ INVESCO QQQ TRUST, SERIES 1 | buy | $673.55 | — | — | — |
| SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF TRUST | hold | $720.65 | — | — | — |
| DIA SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF TRUST | hold | $495.02 | — | — | — |
| GLD SPDR GOLD TRUST | hold | $423.18 | — | — | — |
| SLV iShares Silver Trust | buy | $68.29 | — | — | — |
| OXY OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP /DE/ | hold | $58.61 | — | — | — |
| UAL United Airlines Holdings, Inc. | hold | $92.36 | — | — | — |
| DAL DELTA AIR LINES, INC. | hold | $68.75 | — | — | — |
| LUV SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO | hold | $38.71 | — | — | — |
| JBLU JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP | sell | $4.92 | — | — | — |
Greg Abel officially took the wheel at Berkshire Hathaway's 2026 annual meeting — and the man opened with a deepfake of Warren Buffett to make a point about cybersecurity. Bold move. $BRK.B reported Q1 operating earnings of $11.35B (up 18% YoY) while sitting on a record $397B cash pile that Abel has zero plans to panic-deploy. His philosophy? Patience is the product. Buffett, now chairman emeritus and professional front-row attendee, described the current market as "a church with a casino attached" — specifically calling out one-day options trading as gambling dressed in a suit.
Meanwhile, TheChartGuys are clocking something the Berkshire crowd isn't talking about: $QQQ and $SMH ratio charts vs $SPY are at all-time highs, confirming money is flooding into tech and semis. Bulls control the tape, 12 EMAs are holding, and the real trade is in semiconductors — not cash-hoarding conglomerates. Gold is flashing mixed signals (weak bounce, watch the gold/silver ratio), while the oil market is quietly having a full breakdown: Andrei Jikh flagged a $35 spread between paper and physical Brent crude — the largest ever recorded.
Spirit Airlines is officially gone, Middle East tensions just doubled Berkshire's chemical input costs, and Buffett says only five years in 60 offered truly exceptional opportunities. The man's been waiting his whole career. The rest of us just have to figure out if this is year six.