Subject: Re: Brk 13 f out,
"Generally speaking, Warren Buffett is an optimist...

But Berkshire Hathaway's 13F for the fourth quarter tells a different story. Buffett and his investing lieutenants added to just three existing holdings -- Apple, Paramount Global, and Louisiana-Pacific.

Meanwhile, Buffett and his team reduced their stakes in eight holdings. This included selling 71.1 million shares of U.S. Bancorp, nearly 51.8 million shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, and around 37.1 million shares of Bank of New York Mellon. Additional pare-downs occurred with Activision Blizzard, Chevron, McKesson, Kroger, and Ally Financial.

Although we won't get a precise read until Berkshire Hathaway reports its fourth-quarter operating results later this month, the rough math, using the Dec. 31, 2022, closing price on all of the above companies, shows that Warren Buffett was a big-time seller of stocks during the fourth quarter. Whereas an estimated $158.2 million in stock was purchased, a whopping $8.97 billion was sold."

https://www.fool.com/investing...

If the recent Apple "purchase" came through Alleghany, then the nominal Q3 stock purchase amount is even lower than quoted above.

Of course, a large part of the Q3 selling was the uncharacteristic about face on TSM.

Is Mr. Buffett making a macro or valuation call here, despite the fact he claims he ignores the macro (snicker, snicker)?