Warren Buffett sat in the audience at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting in Omaha on May 2, 2026. No longer on stage. For the first time in decades.
His successor, Greg Abel, took the spotlight. Crowds thinner than in past years. Yet Buffett’s voice cut through, blunt as ever, in a sideline chat with CNBC’s Becky Quick. “We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” he said. Markets resemble a church with a casino attached. People flock to the casino side. Buying one-day options. That’s not investing. Not speculating. Gambling, period.
Berkshire’s cash pile hit $397.4 billion by March 31. Up from $373 billion late last year, per Yahoo Finance. The company sold $24 billion in stocks that quarter. Net seller for the 14th straight time, according to CNBC. Abel called it optionality. Freedom to pounce when prices crash.
Buffett dismissed the 2026 pullback. “Three times since I’ve taken over Berkshire, it’s gone down more than 50%. This is nothing,” he told CNBC earlier. A mild dip won’t do. Needs a big decline. Liquidity drying up. Assets disconnected from value, like 2008 or Covid. Current volatility? Driven by AI hype, geopolitics, rate jitters. Not enough.
His preferred gauge screams caution. The Buffett Indicator—total U.S. stock market cap to GDP—sits at 227%. Above 200%? “Playing with fire,” he once warned. Even after drops, many sectors trade over historical averages. S&P 500 forward P/E at 21 times earnings. Well beyond the 16-times norm, as noted in TheStreet.
And Berkshire’s own stock lags. Down 12% since Buffett’s retirement announcement last May. Trails the S&P 500 by 39 points, reports Reuters. Investors fret the post-Buffett era. Abel resumed buybacks in March—$234 million in Q1, first since 2024. But shares barely budged. Trading at an 8% discount to intrinsic value, per UBS estimates cited by CNBC.
Abel stresses continuity. No breakup plans. “When we buy something, it’s forever,” he echoed Buffett. Praised the conglomerate’s flat structure. No bureaucracy. Operating earnings jumped 18% to $11.35 billion in Q1, fueled by insurance underwriting up 28.5% to $1.7 billion, via Wall Street Journal. Yet net income swings wildly on unrealized portfolio gains. Short-term noise.
Buffett understands fewer businesses now. As a slice of the market, anyway. Tech evolved. AI? Years from picking stocks. Deepfakes pose risks—Berkshire fights them daily in insurance. Abel won’t chase AI for hype. Only if additive. Data centers strain grids, though. Utilities eye 50% demand growth. Hyperscalers must pay full freight.
High rates hit Clayton Homes. Consumers squeezed. Oil at $100 a barrel dents retail. But Berkshire waits. “If there is a strong value proposition, Berkshire will be prepared to act decisively,” Abel said at the meeting, per CNBC. Dislocations ahead. Markets will deliver them.
Buffett’s real message? Patience. Cash earns in Treasurys. Tax-efficient. Independent. Deploy only when panic reigns. Phones go unanswered. That’s when ordinary investors sell low. Berkshire buys big.
Ordinary folks chase momentum. FOMO on options. Prediction markets. One soldier made $400,000 on insider info last week. Prosecuted now. Volume exploded. Casino fever.
But investing endures. Prices look silly today. Will look ridiculous in hindsight, Buffett implied. Abel bought $15 million in Berkshire shares with his after-tax salary. Plans more yearly. Signals confidence.
Core holdings steady. Apple 28% of $272 billion portfolio. American Express. Coke. Chevron. Bank of America. Japanese traders. Added $4 billion Alphabet last year. Trimmed Apple earlier.
Berkshire’s edge? Scale plus discipline. Survived three 50% drops under Buffett. Emerged stronger. Abel, vetted for years, gets praise: “He’s doing everything I did and then some. He’s the right person.”
Attendance dipped. Bazaar lines short. Bill Murray showed. Tim Cook too. Legacy lives. But Wall Street demands proof. Lagging stock tests faith.
Golden Rule guides, Buffett reminded. Treat others as you’d be treated. Works in parenting. Bossing. Investing. Free. Reciprocated.
So Berkshire hoards. Watches the casino spin. Church stays open. Real opportunities brew in the next crash. Big one.
WebProNews is an iEntry Publication