Over the past 12 months, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway made several stock purchases, with Chevron and Occidental Petroleum topping the list due to their strong growth prospects and attractive valuations. Other notable investments include homebuilders D.R. Horton and Lennar, as well as Japanese trading houses like Marubeni and Mitsui. The rankings are based on expected future returns rather than past performance.
Hedge fund manager Michael Burry, famous for predicting the 2008 US housing market crash, acquired shares of Warner Bros. Discovery and invested in restaurant software company Toast Inc., discount retail chain Big Lots, and Gen Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter of 2023. He closed out put option positions on semiconductor stocks, Bookings Holdings, and automaker Stellantis. Burry's largest holdings are Alibaba Group Holdings and JD.com, both of which have declined amid concerns over the Chinese economy's growth.
The author shares their five largest stock positions heading into 2024. Their top holdings include MercadoLibre, often referred to as the Amazon of Latin America, Pinterest, Realty Income, Dream Finders Homes, and Berkshire Hathaway. The author explains the reasons behind their investments and notes that the order of the top three positions could change before the end of the year. They also mention regularly investing new money and being open to exploring other opportunities in the future.
Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, has been adding to her positions in Teladoc Health, Roblox, and Rocket Lab. Teladoc Health, despite hitting a 52-week low, remains one of Wood's largest holdings. Roblox, an online gaming specialist, experienced a dip in daily active users but continues to grow. Rocket Lab saw a drop in its stock price after one of its rockets exploded, but its history of safe launches and potential for revenue generation in the space exploration industry suggests a bounce back. Wood's strategic buying reflects her confidence in these stocks.
The booming demand for stock investments with an income stream has led to the integration of the hottest options trade into the $7.4 trillion ETF market. Defiance ETFs is launching the Defiance Nasdaq 100 Enhanced Options Income ETF (ticker QQQY), which will utilize zero-day-to-expiration contracts (0DTE) to sell ultra short-dated options on the Nasdaq 100. By offering options with such a short lifespan, the ETF aims to generate more frequent cash flow and potentially double the cash flow of rival products. The launch of QQQY reflects the current appetite for products with a reliable income stream, but also raises concerns about the potential threat to market stability and the contribution to subdued volatility.
The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has alleged that "opaque" Mauritius funds were used to invest millions of dollars in publicly traded stocks of India's Adani Group, obscuring the involvement of alleged business partners of the Adani family. The report comes after U.S.-based short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the Adani Group of improper business dealings earlier this year. Adani Group has denied the allegations and stated that all its publicly listed entities are in compliance with applicable laws. The regulatory probe into the Adani Group's offshore investments is nearing completion, and appropriate action will be taken based on the investigation's outcome.
Berkshire Hathaway sold its equity investments in Bank of New York Mellon, U.S. Bancorp, Taiwan Semiconductor, and RH during the first quarter, according to a recent filing.
