Crypto News: Word from the Oracle of Omaha

Warren Buffett's annual letter to investors is always an eagerly awaited event. Alexandre Rajbhandari stops by today to write about some topics he'll be watching for. Plus: Wartime presents new opportunities for women in Ukraine, and why Indians put their money into gold. If this email was forwarded to you, click here to sign up.

On Saturday, Warren Buffett will publish the full-year earnings of his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc. as well as his traditional letter to shareholders. The document will allow his devoted base of shareholders to take a peek into their idol's thinking, as the 94-year-old billionaire, who's taken a step back from the public sphere, now very rarely grants interviews.

Here's a quick digest of what to expect from Omaha, Nebraska, from investment strategy to the effects of tariffs and wildfires:

Although investors already had a preview of Buffett's capital allocation strategy over the period in a filing last week, they may be left wanting more as he continued to shy away from large deals.

Instead, in the final quarter of last year, Buffett pulled the brakes on his Apple Inc. share-selling spree, slightly whittled down his holding of Bank of America Corp. and took a 3% stake in beverage producer Constellation Brands.

"There seems to be a very defensive stance vis-à-vis the market," says Cathy Seifert, an analyst for CFRA.

After posting net share sales of $127.4 billion in the first nine months of the year, Berkshire was a net seller of more than $6 billion worth of stocks in the last quarter, according to calculations by Jim Shanahan, who covers Berkshire as an analyst for Edward Jones.

"I suspect that they're just looking for the market pullback to create an opportunity to put some capital to work," Shanahan says. "But this bull market continues to run up, making it far less likely that there's going to be any major capital invested anytime soon."

Higher interest rates also make it easier to hold on to cash. Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that Buffett's Treasury holdings may have generated as much as $11 billion in 2024.

Buffett at the Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference in 2023. Photographer: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Buffett usually waits to provide explanations of his investing strategy at Berkshire's annual meeting in Omaha every spring. But his now rare appearances in the media leave his fan base in the dark for longer periods of time than before.

"I think it would make a lot of sense to comment on it in the annual letter," Shanahan says.

Buffett refrained from endorsing a candidate in the last presidential campaign, but he hasn't always shied away from commenting on President Donald Trump's policies. In 2019, he openly criticized tariffs, saying a trade war would be "bad for the whole world."

"I have to believe most business leaders are not in favor of tariffs," Seifert says. "I think investors are going to be interested and curious to see the degree to which Buffett kind of steps into that fray."

Investors will also pay close attention to the effect of the Los Angeles wildfires on Berkshire's collection of insurance businesses.

Although total losses for the insurance industry are expected to be as high as $40 billion, most large insurers have shared lower impact estimates.

Berkshire has historically avoided the volatility that hurt other reinsurers in the past, but companies that haven't released their earnings yet could be on the hook for large losses, Shanahan says: "It's reasonable to conclude that there will be some exposure."

Buffett might not address all or any of these topics on Saturday. After all, surprise is a great way to keep your fans hanging on your every word.

In Brief

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Germany's pollsters are growing anxious about a potential election surprise.
Chinese AI sensation DeepSeek plans to release key codes and data to the public starting next week.

Ukraine's 'Rosie the Riveter' Moment

Tetiana Ustymenko. Photographer: Khrystyna Lisogub/Bloomberg

Tetiana Ustymenko's family has worked in the coal mines of eastern Ukraine for generations, and as a girl she longed to carry on the tradition. But when she grew up, she discovered women weren't welcome "deep below the heart of the planet," as she describes the mines. Yet for more than two years, Ustymenko has spent untold hours piloting a small train along miles of tunnels, transporting miners and materials to subterranean worksites. She has Russian President Vladimir Putin to thank for the opportunity. "It's good that women are being given a chance to prove themselves," Ustymenko says. "It's just a pity that it's the war that got us here."

Soon after Russian troops surged across Ukraine's border three years ago, more than 15% of the men working at the mine were mobilized. With most other big employers in the country facing a similar labor crunch, the management began seeking women to fill some posts at the mine, about 60 miles west of today's front line. Roughly 140 women now work underground in what the company considers less strenuous positions.

The same is happening all across Ukraine, with women stepping into roles they've traditionally been barred from having. That's a big change in a country where, as recently as 2017, employers were forbidden from hiring women for about 450 job categories deemed to "threaten health and fertility," with some restrictions continuing until the outbreak of war in 2022. As happened in the UK and the US during the world wars, Ukraine is experiencing its "Rosie the Riveter" moment. "I always have work to do," says Lyubov Povshedna, a farmer near Kyiv whose husband has been in the army since fighting began. "I'm keeping all this afloat, waiting for the boys to come back."

Kateryna Chursina writes about where women have stepped up: Ukraine's Women Keep the Economy in Gear Despite the War

Gold as a Family's Safety Net

Traditional armbands at a jewelry shop in Jodhpur. Photograph by Abhishek Khedekar for Bloomberg Businessweek

Saroj Kanwar Deora lives in a two-room brick house in Jodhpur, a city of 2.2 million about 15 hours north of Mumbai by train. She quit school after fifth grade. Now in her late 40s (she's not sure of her age), she's spent most of her adult life as a seamstress and cooking carryout meals for laborers working nearby. She haggles with street vendors over even a few rupees.

Her one indulgence is gold. She has necklaces, headbands, bracelets, rings and more, a few stashed in her house in places she won't reveal, but most held in a safe-deposit box at a local bank. "It started with my mother's wedding gifts," she says, showing off her latest purchases in a small bedroom adjacent to her kitchen. "She was poor, but she managed to give me gold earrings and anklets."

The gold passed down from her mother and the pieces she's bought over the decades aren't just ornaments. For years, she's squirreled away every spare rupee to buy the precious metal, creating what's effectively a retirement fund.

Preeti Soni writes about gold's important role in savings: India's Most Reliable Retirement Plan: Selling Grandma's Jewelry

Private Credit Titans

$61 billion

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index calculated the fortunes of 18 beneficiaries of the private credit boom. Together, these individuals, who work at seven different companies, are worth $61 billion.

National Park Safety

"On paper, I do school programs and run the visitor center. But I am also the only EMT, and I run the entire search and rescue and medical services program in the park."

Alex Wild

Worker who was fired on Feb. 14 from his role as an interpretive park ranger at Devils Postpile National Monument

National Park rangers throughout the US are warning of impending danger to visitors, wildlife and natural resources as job cuts and hiring freezes slash staffing at some of the country's most beloved destinations. Previously in Businessweek: Yosemite National Park Is a Mess