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☆ Buffett set for 59th shareholder marathon as big questions loom
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett walks through the exhibit hall as shareholders gather to hear from the billionaire investor at Berkshire Hathaway Inc's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., May 4, 2019. Tens of thousands of people are flocking to Omaha, Nebraska this weekend for the extravaganza that Buffett, 92, calls "Woodstock for Capitalists." Buffett and Munger are due to answer five hours of shareholder questions at the meeting. "We believe in constructive engagement and dialogue, whether it's Warren Buffett or another company," Frerichs said in an interview. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Omaha, Nebraska; Editing by Will Dunham and Megan DaviesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Asia stocks wobble as OPEC+ output cuts, weak US data raise uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Julie Zhu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A passerby walks past an electric monitor displaying recent movements of various stock prices outside a bank in Tokyo, Japan, March 22, 2023. An announcement on Sunday of output target cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, propelled oil prices higher and complicated the inflation outlook. Early in the Asian day, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was trading steady. Japan's Nikkei stock index (.N225) rose 0.24% while Australian shares (.AXJO) were up 0.1%. On Monday, gains in energy shares helped lift world stock indexes following the surprise OPEC+ group's new production cuts that could push oil prices toward $100 a barrel.

☆ Futures edge higher as tech and growth stocks gain; focus on jobs data
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Oil prices extended gains on Tuesday, with investor attention shifting to demand trends and the impact of higher prices on the global economy. Energy firms Chevron Corp (CVX.N), Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) were set to extend gains, rising between 0.5% and 0.9% premarket. Among stocks, Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (VORB.O) tanked 25% after the satellite launch company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on failing to secure long-term funding. Etsy Inc (ETSY.O) gained 3.8% after Piper Sandler upgraded the consumer e-commerce platform's stock to "overweight". Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

This comes just days after cooling inflation raised hopes that the Fed could soon end its aggressive monetary tightening. Shares of other energy firms such as Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) were also up 4.9% and 6.0%, respectively, helping drive a 5.2% jump in the energy sector. The tech-heavy Nasdaq recorded its strongest first-quarter jump of 17% since mid-2020. Among other stocks, shares of American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) and Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) edged 0.6% and 1.3% lower on rising crude prices. The S&P index recorded seven new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 40 new highs and 28 new lows.

☆ Berkshire Hathaway stake in Occidental Petroleum rises to 23.6%
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 27 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) boosted its ownership stake in Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) to about 23.6% after buying nearly 3.7 million additional shares. It now owns about 211.7 million Occidental shares worth $12.6 billion based on the oil company's closing price of $59.65 on Monday. In August, Berkshire won U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permission to buy up to 50% of Occidental's common stock. It also owns $10 billion of Occidental preferred stock with an 8% dividend, plus warrants to buy another $5 billion of common shares at $59.62 each. Berkshire built a 22.6% stake in BNSF before paying $26.5 billion for the remainder in 2010.

☆ Berkshire Hathaway buys more Occidental shares, stake rises to 23.1%
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 15 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) purchased more Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) shares, increasing its stake in the oil company to about 23.1%, a regulatory filing showed on Wednesday. Berkshire paid about $466.68 million for 7.9 million Occidental shares between March 13 and March 15, according to the filing. Earlier this month, filings revealed that Berkshire Hathaway had resumed its purchases of Occidental Petroleum Corp shares after a five-month hiatus. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company company now owns about 208.04 million Occidental shares worth $11.81 billion, based on Wednesday's closing price of $56.80. Berkshire began buying large quantities of the Houston-based company's stock about one year ago.

Ahead of the crucial non-farm payrolls report on Friday, data showed U.S. private payrolls increased more than expected in February, pointing to continued labor market strength. BlackRock's chief investment officer of global fixed income, Rick Rieder, said the Fed could raise rates to 6% and keep them there for an extended period of time to fight inflation. "Unless we get some data over the course of the next two weeks, we really don't know which way we should be landing. Unfortunately the most important piece of the data doesn't come until Friday, that's why we've got a market that's meandering a bit." ET, Dow e-minis were up 33 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 4.25 points, or 0.11%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 19.75 points, or 0.16%.

Traders drastically increased their bets that the U.S. central bank will raise rates by 50 basis points later this month, with money market futures pricing in a 64.1% chance of such a move. BlackRock's chief investment officer of global fixed income, Rick Rieder, said the Fed could raise rates to 6% and keep them there for an extended period of time to fight inflation. ET (1315 GMT) is expected to show private employers hired 200,000 workers in February after adding 106,000 jobs in January. Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) gained 3.1% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) increased its stake in the oil company to about 22.2%. Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Amruta Khandekar Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Berkshire Hathaway resumes Occidental purchases, stake reaches 22.2%
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Berkshire paid about $355 million for 5.8 million Occidental shares between March 3 and March 7, according to the filing. Buffett's company now owns about 200.2 million Occidental shares worth $12.2 billion, based on Tuesday's closing price of $60.85. Berkshire also owns $10 billion of Occidental preferred stock that throws off $800 million of annual dividends, plus warrants to buy another $5 billion of common stock. Occidental ended January with about 900 million shares outstanding. Berkshire ended 2022 with $128.6 billion of cash and equivalents.

☆ Futures edge higher after Wall St selloff on Powell remarks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Traders drastically increased their bets that the U.S. central bank will raise rates by 50 basis points later this month, with money market futures pricing in a 64.1% chance of such a move. BlackRock's top fixed-income investor Rick Rieder said the Fed could raise rates to 6% and keep them there for an extended period of time to fight inflation. ET (1315 GMT) is expected to show private employers hired 200,000 workers in February after adding 106,000 jobs in January. Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) gained 2.5% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) increased its stake in the oil company to about 22.2%. Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Amruta Khandekar Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Ahead of the crucial nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, data showed U.S. private payrolls increased more than expected in February, pointing to continued labor market strength. A closely watched part of the U.S. Treasury yield curve saw its deepest inversion in more than 40 years on Tuesday. "Unless we get some data over the course of the next two weeks, we really don't know which way we should be landing. Unfortunately the most important piece of the data doesn't come until Friday, that's why we've got a market that's meandering a bit." BlackRock's chief investment officer of global fixed income, Rick Rieder, said the Fed could raise rates to 6% and keep them there for an extended period of time to fight inflation.

☆ CERAWEEK-US oil output to grow by 500,000 bpd in 2023 - Occidental Petroleum exec
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies Occidental Petroleum Corp FollowMarch 7 (Reuters) - U.S. oil production will grow by about 500,000 barrels per day this year, with 80% or 90% of that coming from the Permian basin, Frederick Forthuber, president of Oxy Energy Services at Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) said on Tuesday at the CERAWeek conference in Houston. Oil output growth in the U.S. has moderated, and is anticipated to remain slower as companies have shifted their focus to investor returns and faced headwinds such as inflation and supply chain constraints. Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver Editing by Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Futures slip as yields rise on bets of higher rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The gains, however, were not enough to reverse monthly losses for the three main indexes, with the blue-chip Dow (.DJI) in the red for the year after strong economic data suggested the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates higher for longer. FEDWATCHThe yield on two-year Treasury notes , which track investors' expectations of the path of interest rates, rose to 4.8%, trading just below a near four-month high hit in the previous session. Yields are climbing higher in the U.S. and that's pushing down equity markets," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. "We're talking about stickier inflation in the economy and higher interest rates for longer. ET, Dow e-minis were down 25 points, or 0.08%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 4 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 18.25 points, or 0.15%.

☆ Buffett's Berkshire has record annual operating profit despite inflation, rate pressures
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) on Saturday reported its highest-ever annual operating profit, even as foreign currency losses and rising interest rates contributed to lower earnings in the fourth quarter. Buffett called 2022 a "good year" for Berkshire in his annual shareholder letter, after the conglomerate's dozens of businesses generated $30.8 billion of profit despite rising inflation and supply chain disruptions, including from the war in Ukraine. Berkshire also bulked up its cash hoard, ending the year with $128.6 billion after selling about $16.3 billion of stocks in the fourth quarter. Quarterly operating profit fell 8% to $6.71 billion, or $4,596 per Class A share, from $7.29 billion. Berkshire projected that Geico, which shed 7% of its 41,000-person workforce last year, will generate an underwriting profit in 2023.

☆ JPMorgan, Citi among firms facing potential divestment by Kentucky over energy 'boycott'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 3 (Reuters) - Kentucky on Tuesday warned 11 major financial companies, including Citigroup Inc (C.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and BlackRock Inc (BLK.N), of potential divestment over their "boycott" of energy companies. State government entities must notify the Treasurer of direct or indirect holdings in the companies in the list. They must also write to the firms, asking them to stop the "boycott" failing which, they could be subject to divestment, Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball said. In the past year, other states like West Virginia and Texas have also boycotted several financial firms. In the testimony, Blass said BlackRock is a significant investor in many energy companies like Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N).

☆ The 10 biggest winners in the S&P 500 this year were led by an oil giant Warren Buffett owns. The top stocks saw a combined $357 billion increase in market value.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Oil stocks dominated the S&P 500's top 10 winners this year as commodity prices spiked. These are the index's 10 best performing stocks in 2022, which added a combined $357 billion in market value. Buffett also owns a stake in Chevron, which was the 17th best S&P 500 performer in 2022 with a gain of about 50%. Combined, the top 10 performing S&P 500 stocks in 2022 added a total of $357 billion in market value. SchlumbergerThe exterior of a Schlumberger Corporation building is pictured in West Houston ReutersTicker: SLB2022 Return: 76.7%Market Value Gained: $33.5 billion5.

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That works out to a 31.2% return on total average short interest of $973.6 billion throughout the year, according to S3 Partners. Stanphyl Capital portfolio manager Mark Spiegel, who has been short Tesla "constantly, in varying size" since 2014, said a bet against Tesla was his fund's most profitable individual short position this year. While higher interest rates have punished growth stocks, some investors believe Tesla CEO Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter is diverting his time running the electric car company. Long-short hedge funds, which bet on stock prices rising or falling, posted a 9.7% loss through November, according to data provider HFR. Charles Lemonides, portfolio manager at $226 billion hedge fund ValueWorks LLC, believes tight monetary policy will weigh on risk appetite next year.

☆ Berkshire Hathaway says Warren Buffett donates shares to family charities
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 23 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) said Warren Buffett has donated more of his fortune to four family charities, without disclosing whether the billionaire chairman made a new donation to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett donated 1.5 million shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. Another 900,000 shares were split evenly among charities run by his children Howard, Susan and Peter: the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation and the Novo Foundation. Buffett has since 2006 donated more than half of his Berkshire shares, worth more than $46 billion at the time of the donations. According the Buffett family foundation websites, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation works to alleviate hunger, mitigate conflicts and improve public safety around the world.

☆ Berkshire Hathaway could boost earnings after Occidental accounting change
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) could soon see a boost to its bottom line after changing its accounting for its big stake in Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N). In its quarterly report on Saturday, Berkshire said it adopted the equity method of accounting for its 20.9% stake in Occidental, which is worth more than $14 billion. Accounting rules normally require the equity method when one company's stake in another reaches 20%, reflecting an assumption that the first company might exert significant influence. Kraft Heinz is controlled by Berkshire and Brazil's 3G Capital, and its board includes three directors from Berkshire. Some investors and analysts have said Berkshire could eventually buy Occidental, diversifying its energy portfolio.

☆ Buffett's Berkshire loses money as stocks, Hurricane Ian offset rising demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) on Saturday posted a $2.69 billion third-quarter loss as rising inflation, falling stock investments and a big loss from Hurricane Ian offset improvement in many of the conglomerate's businesses. Berkshire also bought back more of its own stock but was cautious, repurchasing $1.05 billion, similar to the second quarter. Berkshire also said rising costs from fuel and accidents hurt respective results at two of its best-known businesses, the BNSF railroad and Geico auto insurer. Results included $10.45 billion of losses from investments and derivatives, as the stock prices of many large Berkshire investments other than Apple Inc (AAPL.O) fell. Results improved despite a $2.7 billion after-tax loss from Ian, a strong Category 4 hurricane that slammed into Florida on Sept. 28.

☆ Buffett's Berkshire loses money as stocks, Hurricane Ian offset higher demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) on Saturday posted a $2.69 billion third-quarter loss as rising inflation, falling stock investments and a big loss from Hurricane Ian offset improvement in many of the conglomerate's businesses. It also bought back more of its own stock but was cautious, repurchasing $1.05 billion, similar to the second quarter. It also said rising costs hurt results at two of its best-known businesses, the BNSF railroad and Geico auto insurer. That helped offset a $2.7 billion after-tax loss from Ian, a strong Category 4 hurricane that slammed into Florida on Sept. 28. Net results included $10.45 billion of losses from investments and derivatives, as the stock prices of many large Berkshire investments other than Apple Inc (AAPL.O) fell.

☆ Berkshire Hathaway posts quarterly loss as stocks, Hurricane Ian weigh
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) on Saturday posted a third-quarter loss, as falling stock investments and a big loss from Hurricane Ian offset improvement in many of its industrial businesses. Berkshire posted a quarterly net loss of $2.69 billion, or $1,832 per Class A share, compared with a profit of $10.34 billion, or $6,882 per share, a year earlier. Geico, meanwhile, suffered its fifth straight quarterly underwriting loss, reflecting "significant cost inflation" from damages claims, used car prices and shortages of car parts. Net results included $10.45 billion of losses from investments and derivatives, as the stock prices of many large Berkshire investments fell. This causes large quarterly swings in results that Buffett says are usually meaningless.

Goldman on Monday elevated Avinash Mehrotra and Brian Haufrect as the new co-heads of Americas M&A, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. Both Mehrotra, who currently is the head of global activism and takeover defense, and Haufrect, who is global head of natural resources M&A, will continue to hold their existing roles on top of their new responsibilities. Russ Hutchinson will rejoin Goldman's investment banking unit as chief operating officer of its global M&A business, according to the memo sent to employees by Goldman's global co-heads of Global Banking & Markets, Dan Dees and Jim Esposito. Haufrect, who heads Goldman's natural resources deals franchise, was made partner at Goldman in 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile. Goldman's top six dealmakers - global co-heads of M&A, Stephan Feldgoise and Mark Sorrell, and M&A chairmen, Tim Ingrassia, Dusty Philip, Gilberto Pozzi and Gene Sykes - will continue running the franchise, according to the memo.

Sept 28 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) bought another 5.99 million shares of Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N), boosting its stake to 20.9% after the oil company's shares lost about a fifth of their value in less than a month. The purchases were made between Sept. 26 and Sept. 28 and cost about $352 million, Berkshire said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. Following the purchases, Berkshire now owns about 194.4 million Occidental shares worth approximately $11.9 billion, based on Occidental's Wednesday closing price of $61.41. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterBerkshire had gone seven weeks since its last purchase of Occidental shares, which pushed its stake above 20%. Occidental's share price has more than doubled this year, benefiting from rising oil prices following Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Factbox: U.S. companies brace for Hurricane Ian
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Sept 28 (Reuters) - Hurricane Ian is set to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday, pushing residents to empty grocery shelves, board up windows and rush to evacuation shelters. Since then, it has been working to redeploy offshore personnel after determining Hurricane Ian no longer posed a significant threat to its assets. NextEra Energy Inc's (NEE.N) Florida Power & Light Co, the largest utility in the state, deployed nearly 16,000 workers from 27 states to restore power. A spokesperson said the company was monitoring the hurricane and making adjustments to operations to keep warehouse staff and drivers safe. CRUISE OPERATORSWalt Disney Co's Disney Cruise Line on Tuesday canceled its Disney Wish ship that was to set sail from Florida on Friday.

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