Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer
Warren Buffett is widely regarded as one of the savviest investors and one of the wealthiest. He has been given the nickname “The Oracle of Omaha” because of his financial prowess. Buffett has also accumulated a net worth of over $160 billion and has long been an advocate of investing simply. In May 2020, Buffett said, “There’s huge amounts of money that people pay for advice they don’t need … In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is to own the S&P 500 index.” Buffett also once claimed that 90% of his wife’s inheritance will go into an S&P 500 index fund.
However, with the downturn of the stock market and the extreme Trump tariffs, Buffett has changed his long-held financial course and advice on remaining bullish on America. Buffett recently called tariffs “an act of war” and his financial movements have some investors preparing for the worst.
SEC filings data from March revealed that Berkshire Hathaway unloaded its entire positions in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, two low-cost exchange-traded funds the company has previously held for years. This move has made many investors question their portfolios, and some are worried that it is an indication of an extreme economic downturn and market crash coming shortly.
Buffett has not made any statement about why his company has decided to drop two S&P 500 ETFs during last quarter.
