Warren Buffett and Greg Abel walkthrough the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 3, 2025.David A. Grogen | CNBCWarren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reported a sharp rebound in operating profit on Saturday, while its cash pile swelled to a new high with no buybacks.Berkshire’s operating profit generated from the conglomerate’s wholly owned businesses including insurance and railroads jumped 34% year over year to $13.485 billion in the third quarter. The gains were driven by a more than 200% surge in insurance underwriting income, which rose to $2.37 billion.Buffett once again refrained from repurchasing shares despite a significant pullback…
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Oils containing CBD (Cannabidiol).Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt | AFP | Getty ImagesCannabis stocks could be poised for a rally after years of stagnation, fueled by investor optimism over the possibility for new federal rules for hemp-derived products and signals that President Donald Trump could take a more permissive stance on marijuana.Publicly traded cannabis companies have seen their share of ups and downs. Verano Holdings reported earnings Wednesday that saw revenues of $203 million, up slightly from the previous quarter but down 6% year-over-year. However, Verano posted a net loss of $44 million, partly due to a $5 million impairment charge…
META CEO Mark Zuckerberg (L) and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.Getty ImagesAs tech giants increase their already breathtaking spending on artificial intelligence, their respective digital advertising businesses have also gained momentum.Quarterly earnings reports this week from Meta, Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft all showed healthy revenue on the ads front.The rising online advertising sales have allayed concerns earlier this year that economic turbulence, amplified by President Donald Trump’s trade policies, would negatively impact ad budgets. “I think the digital ad market is strong,” said Jasmine Enberg, co-founder of Scalable, a creator economy media firm. “I think this economic instability and volatility is…
(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.)Berkshire worries grow as Buffett’s CEO handover nearsTwo months from now Warren Buffett will no longer be Berkshire’s CEO and investors appear to be getting increasingly nervous about the year-end transition.On May 2, the Friday before Buffett’s surprise announcement at the annual meeting that he plans to step down, Berkshire’s B shares closed at an all-time high just under $540 per share.At that point, they were outperforming the S&P 500 by 22.4 percentage points for…
Andrew Bret Wallis | DigitalVision | Getty ImagesMore consumers are buying travel insurance during the federal government shutdown — but these insurance policies may not offer the catch-all protection that buyers expect.Much depends on the fine print, experts said.Squaremouth, an online platform for comparing travel insurance policies, has seen the volume of insurance quotes increase 8.5% year-over-year between Oct. 1 and 27. Sales have risen by 7.9% over the same period.Buyers seem to be hedging against the financial risk of the government shutdown upending their travel plans, experts said. Air traffic controllers and TSA agents are essential government employees working…
Chinese President Xi Jinping took center stage at a meeting of APEC leaders on Saturday to push a proposal for a global body to govern artificial intelligence and position China as an alternative to the United States on trade cooperation.The comments were the first by the Chinese leader on an initiative Beijing unveiled this year, while the United States has rejected efforts to regulate AI in international bodies.Chinese President Xi Jinping.Sergey Bobylev | Via ReutersXi said a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization could set governance rules and boost cooperation, making AI a “public good for the international community”.In remarks published…
Desmond Lim, co-founder and CEO of Workstream.Courtesy of Desmond LimIt’s often said that “there’s no such thing as balance” in entrepreneurship, but startup founder Desmond Lim disagrees.The CEO and co-founder of Workstream, a HR, payroll and hiring platform for hourly workers, says that balance isn’t just possible — it’s also necessary.Running a company can be very taxing, said Lim, who works about 11 hours a day on average.Not only are the hours long, but it can also be mentally consuming. “The emotional ups and downs are always very challenging … The highs are very high, the lows are very low,”…
Man and woman having a small business meeting in smart casual clothesIppei Naoi | Moment | Getty ImagesOne successful angel investor has revealed two red flags that prevent him from investing in a founder in the first meeting.Carles Reina is an angel investor who backed voice cloning AI startup Eleven Labs when it was still in its very early stages in 2022. The firm was co-founded by Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski, and raised $180 million at a valuation of $3.3 billion, in its Series C funding earlier this year.In September, the company announced it was letting employees sell shares at…
A customer shops for Halloween candy at a Walmart Supercenter on October 16, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty ImagesThe scariest thing haunting Halloween this year isn’t a ghost, goblin or ghoul — it’s the price of chocolate.From Snickers to Reese’s to Twix, one of America’s favorite indulgences is getting more expensive, as tariffs, inflation and high cocoa prices squeeze profit margins and customers’ pocketbooks, possibly leading to fewer chocolate bars landing in trick-or-treat buckets this year.Chocolate prices have surged nearly 30% since last Halloween and almost 78% in the past five years, according to data from research firm…
Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty ImagesThe new 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment doesn’t just increase Social Security checks, starting with January payments — it also boosts thresholds related to the maximum retirement benefit.The maximum Social Security benefit for workers who claim at full retirement age will increase to $4,152 per month in 2026, up from $4,018 per month in 2025, following the 2.8% COLA.The Social Security Administration detailed the change on Oct. 24 as part of its announcement about the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment in 2026 for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefit payments. The news, originally slated for Oct. 15,…
