- Like a crystal ball in its possession, the Oracle of Omaha dumped all of its bank holdings before the collapse.
- The Berkshire president only kept one of his favorite shares among banks: Bank of America.
- Long ago, Buffett sold all the shares in Wells Fargo, US Bancorp, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
Since the middle of last year, as if he knew what would happen in the future, Warren Buffett has been selling all his bank stocks except one: Bank of America.
Until recently, the Berkshire chairman and CEO owned shares in US Bancorp, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. However, he decided to get rid of all of them.
Thanks to his good results throughout history, it could be said that Buffett has in his possession a crystal ball to predict the future since, on this occasion, he sold practically all his bank shares before the crisis of the system, which led to the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature.
While the nonagenarian investor said depositors’ funds are safe after crashes, he criticized the banking system for not putting pressure on its corporate leaders, similar to what happened in the 2008 crisis, he compared.
“It is incredibly important that your banking system works well in the country. It’s just not going to work unless you have a banking system that works, and you don’t want them to unnecessarily create periodic crises.”
Buffett told CNBC.
According to the latest filings from Berkshire Hathaway, the company owns a nearly 13% stake in Bank of America worth very close to $30 billion.
Asked why he only kept Bank of America among banking stocks, Buffett argued that many years ago they “did a very decent deal with us” and that “I really like their CEO, Brian Moynihan.” He also closed with a forceful: “I do not want to sell.”
While almost the entire market is in the green, Bank of America shares have accumulated a loss of almost 14% since the beginning of the year, trading at USD 28.50.
