1 Thing Warren Buffett Didn't Do During the Market Crash That May Surprise You
Warren Buffett fans are always eager to see which stocks Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) is buying and selling. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there's even more interest in how the billionaire investor's company is handling this unique situation. On May 15, Berkshire released its latest 13F form, which shows the company's holdings as of the end of March 31 -- after the markets crashed. Like many investors, Berkshire was selling many of its stocks. But what's surprising is one thing that it didn't do a lot of: buying.
One of Buffett's most popular pieces of advice is to "be greedy when others are fearful," suggesting that the time to buy is when pessimism in the markets is high. There was certainly plenty of pessimism in mid-March, when stocks were crashing with no end in sight. At one point the markets were performing so poorly that the normally stable S&P 500 was down 30% from where it had been at the beginning of the year.
And yet, what's noticeable in Berkshire's 13F report was that the company did very little buying. The biggest move it made was selling more than 10 million shares of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). Even as many companies were hitting all-time lows, Buffett wasn't eager to load up on stocks. Berkshire decreased its position in 19 stocks during the quarter and increased its position in just three companies -- PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC), Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), and United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ: UAL). However, Berkshire would later go on to dump its airline investments.
Source Fool.com
