Billionaire investor Mario Gabelli: Want to see how the tax issue plays out
Mario Gabelli, GAMCO Investors chairman and CEO, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest market trends, what to make of the recent volatility, state of the economy, the energy and commodities markets, media stocks, future of Paramount, what to expect from Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting this year, and more.
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Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
U.S.-China trade war on hold as talks reboot in London
Top trade officials from the U.S. and China were meeting in London on Monday, the second such meeting in the past month and one aiming to quell rising tensions between the two superpowers over tariffs and other trade policies. The meeting kicked off just days after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping engaged in an extended phone conversation, after which Trump offered an upbeat download on the conversation. 'I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi, of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, Trade Deal,' Trump said on Truth Social last Friday. 'The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries. There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products. Our respective teams will be meeting shortly at a location to be determined.' U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer are leading the U.S. delegation and early reports on the talks were optimistic. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Monday told CNBC's 'Squawk Box' that the U.S. was seeking confirmation China would restore the flows of critical minerals. 'The purpose of the meeting today is to make sure that they're serious, but to literally get handshakes ... and get this thing behind us,' Hassett said. He added that he expected it 'to be a short meeting with a big, strong handshake.' While White House officials were signaling expectations for a positive outcome from the latest round of talks, some trade experts predicted the road to a new U.S.-China agreement could be a long one. Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist of Pinpoint Asset Management, told CNBC that it could take months for trade tensions to be resolved. 'I don't really have very high expectations for these trade talks ... I doubt they will reach an agreement very soon,' he told CNBC on Monday. 'There could be some resolution on specific issues, like a rare earths, for instance, China already announced that they will give some permits to foreign firms applying for imports. Now, those kind of a temporary solution, we might see some of that come out. But I doubt we will have a complete solution coming from this dialogue in the U.K.,' Zhang added. In spite of a temporary U.S.-China trade agreement coming out of talks held on May 12 in Geneva, Switzerland, tensions arose earlier this month after Trump accused China of breaching terms of the deal. 'The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!' Trump wrote on Truth Social. Last week, ahead of the call between Trump and Xi, China hit back on Trump's claims the Asian country was in breach of a new trade agreement, countering that the U.S. itself was undermining the deal with new sanctions. A statement from China's Ministry of Commerce released last Monday said Trump administration actions 'seriously undermine the existing consensus reached at the Geneva economic and trade talks, and seriously damage China's legitimate rights and interests.' Chinese officials also pointed to recent signaling from the U.S. about potential new regulations for advanced microchips and the revocation of U.S. visas for Chinese students, per CBS News, as evidence that the U.S. was acting in bad faith following the trade deal. Trump's complaint stemmed from his concerns over China's export rules on rare earth minerals. China controls 90% of the world's rare earth elements production capacity and, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, the minerals play a critical role in U.S. national security, energy independence and economic growth. Many advanced technologies have components made from rare earth materials such as magnets, batteries, phosphors and catalysts.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Warren Buffett Shocks Wall Street With Retirement Plans. Is Berkshire Hathaway Stock Still a Buy? (Hint: Follow Buffett's Lead.)
Warren Buffett will step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway later this year. He will be replaced by Greg Abel, currently the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Buffett, in the last six decades, has transformed Berkshire Hathaway from a doomed textile operation into a trillion-dollar company with diverse subsidiaries. Buffett has not repurchased any Berkshire stock in the last three quarters, and shares currently trade near the high end of the historical valuation range. 10 stocks we like better than Berkshire Hathaway › Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) shares have advanced 9% year to date, but the stock has actually tumbled 8% over the last month because CEO Warren Buffett shocked Wall Street on May 3 when he announced plans to retire this year. Buffett recently said he has no plans to sell any Berkshire stock and reiterated his confidence in successor Greg Abel, currently CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. "I think the time has arrived where Greg should become chief executive officer of the company at year end," Buffett told attendees at the recent shareholder meeting. However, Buffett's business acumen has been a central part of the investment thesis for decades. With his retirement imminent, is Berkshire stock still a buy? Warren Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965. While the last six decades have been nothing short of phenomenal for the company, Buffett says that in hindsight, he showed poor judgment. "Though the price I paid for Berkshire looked cheap, its business -- a large northern textile operation -- was headed for extinction," he wrote in his 2025 shareholder letter. Fortunately, Buffett soon realized his mistake and pivoted toward non-textile operations, the most important of which was insurance. His purchase of National Indemnity, a property and casualty insurance company, in 1967 charted a new course for Berkshire. Moving into insurance created a steady stream of investable capital in the form of premium payments, and Buffett has invested that capital to great effect over the years. Today, Berkshire is one of only 10 trillion-dollar companies. Its stock price has increased nearly 6,000,000% since Buffett assumed control in 1965, compounding at 20% annually. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has returned about 10.4% annually. That outperformance was due in large part to savvy acquisitions, stock purchases, and share buybacks architected by Buffett, such that he has rightly earned a reputation as one of the greatest investors in American history. Buffett says Berkshire has "no possibility of eye-popping performance" in the future due to its size and the nature of its businesses. In the past, the company has expanded through acquisitions and stock purchases, but with a book value of $650 billion -- the largest of any American business -- very few investments will move the financial needle in a meaningful way for Berkshire. Additionally, Berkshire owns dozens of subsidiaries across a diverse range of industries, including insurance, freight rail transportation, manufacturing, retail, energy, and utilities. But none of those industries are known for high growth, which means Berkshire's earnings will likely increase at a modest pace (not an astonishing one) in the future. That doesn't automatically make Berkshire a bad investment. But investors must be aware of the constraints because high-growth businesses often warrant higher valuations. With that in mind, the stock currently trades at 1.63 times book value, near the high end of the historical range. The five-year average is 1.43. The present figure looks expensive for a business with no chance of eye-popping performance in the future. Buffett evidently agrees. He has not repurchased Berkshire stock since the second quarter of 2024. Prior to that, he repurchased stock in 24 consecutive quarters, spending a cumulative $78 billion on buybacks. Importantly, Berkshire held $348 billion in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet in the first quarter, so the company had plenty of capital to fund buybacks. Buffett simply chose not to take action. Here's the bottom line: Their only explanation as to why Buffett has not repurchased stock in three straight quarters is that he believes Berkshire shares are overvalued. In fact, we can assume he sees shares as less attractive than at any point since Q2 2018. And with the stock still trading near the high end of its historical price-to-book value range, I would be surprised if Buffett were buying shares today. So, while Berkshire is undoubtedly a great business with excellent management -- and Greg Abel is an excellent choice to succeed Buffett -- I think investors should pass on the stock today and wait for a better entry point. Most Wall Street analysts agree: Berkshire's Class B shares have a target price of $490, which implies about 1% downside from the current share price of $494. Before you buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Berkshire Hathaway wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $868,615!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Trevor Jennewine has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Warren Buffett Shocks Wall Street With Retirement Plans. Is Berkshire Hathaway Stock Still a Buy? (Hint: Follow Buffett's Lead.) was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNBC
5 hours ago
- CNBC
Fed Chair Powell has room to lower rates, says Wharton's Jeremy Siegel
Jeremy Siegel, professor emeritus of finance at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and Wisdom Tree chief economist, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest market trends, state of the economy, impact of President Trump's tariff policy, the Fed's rate path outlook, and more.
