The S&P 500 decided to play dead dipping 1.3% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq experienced a doomsday 2.5% drop, marking its worst day since 2022. 

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones gained 200 points (0.6%) thanks to a nearly 4% boost in UnitedHealth after a Wall Street thumbs-up.

Tech stocks are still on the struggle bus. Meta tumbled over 6%, and heavyweights like Apple, Netflix, and Microsoft also saw over 1% drops.

Semiconductor stocks had a rough day too, with Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor plunging over 6% and 7%, after news of potential tougher trade restrictions.

The Russell 2000 also fell 0.7%, risking its five-day winning streak, but it's still up nearly 10% over the past week.

Here’s the (mostly red) heatmap for today…

Buffett’s Berkshire… TRILLIONAIRE?

Warren Buffett is about to get the ultimate birthday present: a $1 trillion Berkshire Hathaway. Yup, you heard it right. As the Oracle of Omaha gears up to blow out 94 candles in August, his beloved Berkshire Hathaway is on the verge of hitting a mind-boggling market value milestone.

On Wednesday, Berkshire’s Class A stock climbed 1.1% to a cool $667,601. It even flirted with $670,000 earlier in the day. Not to be left out, Class B stock was up 1.2%, trading at $444.28. Now, Berkshire’s market value is hovering around $962 billion. 

To hit that magical $1 trillion mark, the Class A stock needs to reach about $694,000 – just a 4% nudge. If the momentum keeps up, we could witness a historic $1 trillion market cap by the end of the year. If only Charlie Munger were still around to see house he helped build.

(Souce: New York Times)

I guess it’s safe to say that July has been kind to Berkshire. With a 23% gain this year, it’s outpacing the S&P 500’s 18% return. Over the last decade, Berkshire’s annualized return of 13.4% has even edged out the S&P 500’s 13.1%.

Since Buffett took the reins in 1965, Berkshire’s Class A stock price has skyrocketed from around $20 to today’s stratospheric levels, without a single stock split. The company, once worth $30 million, now flirts with a $1 trillion valuation. Buffett’s 15% stake alone is worth about $139 billion.

Buffett, the tenth-richest person in the world, has 99% of his wealth parked in Berkshire Hathaway. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket! Let this be a lesson to us all: instead of chasing the hottest AI stocks, you can get rich by investing in sectors that are as boring as watching paint dry, as my dad would say—like insurance, railroads, utilities, and manufacturing.

So what are the cornerstones of Berkshire’s portfolio? At the end of March, which is the most recent data we can see, the top stocks by number of shares were Bank of America (1.03 billion shares), Apple (789.4 million), Coca-Cola (400 million), Kraft Heinz (325.6 million), and Occidental Petroleum rounding out the top five with (248 million shares). American Express, Chevron, Nu Holdings, Liberty Media, and Citigroup also make up the heavy hitters in the portfolio. All told, Buffett and his team manage around 50 stocks in Berkshire's equity portfolio.

As Buffett’s 94th birthday approaches, the $1 trillion milestone seems almost destined – a fitting tribute to the man who has steered Berkshire to unparalleled heights. So, let’s raise a glass to Warren Buffett and his almost trillion-dollar baby, Berkshire Hathaway. You never know how much longer we’ll have to witness his greatness.

Stock.News has positions in Apple, Netflix, Coca Cola, and Microsoft.