Buffett shareholders meeting dry goods interpretation, what enlightenment to our investment?

Time: 2023-05-12 16:21

Buffett, who will be 93 years old, and Munger, his 99-year-old partner, attended Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting on May 6.
They answered questions that the global investment community is very concerned about: the banking crisis in Europe and the United States, the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike, the development prospect of AI, China-US trade relations, Apple reduction, succession and so on.
IAN will take you through the highlights of the meeting.

 

First, the banking crisis is likely to continue, and the view on the US economy is pessimistic


Mr. Buffett said he had been surprised by the spate of bank failures in Europe and the United States over the past few months. He blamed US regulators, politicians and the media and argued the situation could get worse. Buffett called for tougher regulation and penalties on financial institutions, and that bank ceos and directors must be punished. Asked if he would invest further in banks, Buffett said they remain very cautious about investing in banks, and currently have a heavy position in only one bank, Bank of America.
Regarding the U.S. economy, Buffett said the "incredible surge period" of the past six months or so has come to an end, and he expects most businesses to see lower earnings ahead. Mr. Buffett doesn't expect much return from other businesses, such as stocks, in the current economy, so he has opted to buy more conservative investments, such as U.S. Treasury bills, to generate more stable returns. Berkshire has bought $3 billion of Treasury securities this year, yielding 5.9%. Interest on cash holdings will increase from $50 million to $5 billion due to the impact of Fed rate hikes, rising interest rates.

 

Two, show concern about artificial intelligence, humans can not fully control it


Messrs. Buffett and Munger have expressed more concern about artificial intelligence than about their bank investments.
Mr. Munger pointed to his experience at the BYD plant in China.
"The use of robots in factories is very high," he said. In the future, more and more robots will be used worldwide.
However, Munger also said that he is skeptical of the hype of artificial intelligence, the technology and application of artificial intelligence still need to be developed and improved, and there are still some problems and risks in the application process.
Mr Buffett has also expressed concerns about AI.
He believes that artificial intelligence can do many wonderful things, but there is no way for humans to fully master it later. Artificial intelligence has good intentions, but we have to be more careful about how we deal with it and how we use it.

 

3. Sino-us Relations - The United States wants to have good relations with China and do a lot of trade


In the past few shareholder meetings, Buffett and Munger both believe that the Chinese economy has made great achievements and both hold a positive and optimistic attitude towards the development of the Chinese economy. '
Buffett invested in Chinese auto company BYD as early as 2008 and has repeatedly praised him publicly for investing more heavily in Chinese stocks in the future.
At the conference, Buffett made it clear that China is very competitive and can thrive, and that he hopes there will be more cooperation between China and the United States to compete.
Mr. Munger was more blunt, using three "idiots" in a row to describe the trade tensions the United States has created with China.
He believes that for the common good of China and the United States, there should be good relations with China and a lot of free trade.

 

On selling Apple - Selling Apple stock is a stupid decision


Mr. Buffett also responded to a question about whether Apple's share of Berkshire's portfolio was approaching the danger zone.
He first clarified that Apple was not more than 35 percent of the portfolio, noting that their portfolio included a variety of industries, such as energy and railroads.
Buffett believes that Apple is a very good business, and its value has been rising.
Buffett also acknowledged the folly of his decision to sell Apple two years ago.

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