Good morning, investors. Berkshire Hathaway’s earnings came out this weekend, which we’ll get to below, but President Trump also announced a “deal on economic and trade relations with China.”
Among the details released Saturday night:
China will suspend rare earth export controls, curb fentanyl flows to US, suspend retaliatory tariffs, and purchase more US soybeans
The US will lower tariffs on China by 10 percentage points and extend certain tariff exclusions through November 2026
This is a developing story. We’ll have more to report in the coming days.
For now let’s turn to Omaha.
A farewell cash pile
Warren Buffett still doesn’t see anything worth buying in this market.
That’s one conclusion we can draw from Berkshire Hathaway’s earnings report, which it released Saturday.
During the second-to-last quarter with Buffett as CEO, the conglomerate’s cash pile rose to a record $381.6 billion in the quarter, up from the $347.7 billion seen earlier in the year.
The backdrop to that all that cash:
Berkshire did not repurchase any shares in the quarter
Berkshire was a net-seller from its $283.2 billion stock portfolio for the 12th straight quarter
It acquired Occidental Petroleum’s petrochemical unit, OxyChem, for $9.7 billion last month, its largest deal since 2022
And as far as its earnings, which encompasses results from businesses like Geico and BNSF Railway:
Operating earnings: +34% from a year ago to $13.49 billion
Net income: +17% from a year ago to $30.8 billion
Insurance underwriting ramped up by more than 200% in the quarter, which fueled the headline results.
At the end of this year, 95-year-old Buffett will retire after six decades at the helm, passing the baton to Greg Abel.
Back in May, I watched Buffett make his announcement live in Omaha at his final shareholder meeting.
The stock has since dropped 12% and lagged the S&P 500.

It’s possible the strength of the conglomerate’s latest earnings reassures investors, though the stock’s recent underperformance suggests the “Buffett premium” is indeed dwindling.
That said, it’s worth remembering that over the last decade Berkshire has had no issue beating the market.

The Buffett-led dominance gets more extreme as you expand the time horizon.

The fact Abel is “already” 63 years old means that he won’t come close to matching Buffett’s longevity as chief executive, though Buffett himself has sung the praises of his successor countless times.
Shareholders appear to still need some convincing.
Today’s letter is brought to you by FranShares:
Turn franchise investments into tax-free wealth.
Peter Thiel famously turned a Roth IRA into over $5 billion — tax-free — by investing in the right private deals.
You can apply the same principle with FranShares.
Using a self-directed IRA, you can invest retirement funds into portfolios of profitable franchise locations of brands like Dunkin’ and Pizza Hut, run by the country's top operators, with all growth and income shielded from taxes.
FranShares handles deal sourcing and diligence. You enjoy potential cash flow and equity gains inside a tax-free wrapper.
(Not tax advice; consult your professional.)
Market snapshot

Want weekly high-conviction stock picks? We send new names to our Best Ideas Club members every week — some of which are up over 150% this year. Join today.
Elsewhere
📊Earnings underscore the K-shaped economy. Consumer spending is mostly supported by higher-income Americans, as revealed by weak stock returns for Chipotle and its shrinking customer base of young people. (Yahoo Finance)
🤖Massive AI spending is cutting in Big Tech balance sheets. While revenues hit all-time highs for the Magnificent 7, the 12-month cumulative cash flow for the group has dropped over the last two years. (WSJ)
🛢Oil prices could stay low into next year. The crude market has been in oversupply mode and could hit a glut of 4 million barrels a day in 2026. New sanctions on two of Russia’s major oil producers could change that calculus. (Yahoo Finance)
Rapid-fire
Scott Bessent said SNAP food benefits could restart Wednesday (CNBC)
Coinbase earnings reveal how much crypto has infiltrated Wall Street (Pomp Letter)
Amazon looks ready to play catch-up to the rest of the Mag 7 (Opening Bell Daily)
Microsoft still has hiring plans but AI will give it more “leverage” (CNBC)
Nvidia relies on this critical AI stock and demand for its products is only accelerating (Best Ideas Club)
Boeing stock has become a winner under its CEO’s latest turnaround plan (Barron’s)
On this day
🗓 November 3, 1973: During the OPEC oil embargo, West Germany implemented car-free Sundays to cut fuel consumption, marking the start of Europe’s energy crisis and the global economic shock of higher oil prices.
Last thing
The combined revenues of the Big 4 US tech companies hit a record $1.8 trillion over last 12 months:
Amazon $AMZN: $691 billion
Apple $AAPL: $416 billion
Google $GOOGL: $386 billion
Microsoft $MSFT: $294 billionThat's larger than the GDP of all but 15 countries.
— #Charlie Bilello (#@charliebilello)
3:55 PM • Nov 2, 2025
📩 Want to get in front of 190,000+ investors who get this newsletter and the 350,000 professionals who can access it on Bloomberg Terminals? Reply to this email and tell us why we should work together.
About me
📰 I’m Phil Rosen, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Opening Bell Daily. I’ve published books, lived on three continents, and won awards for my journalism, which has appeared in Business Insider, Fortune, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg and Inc. Magazine.
I write our flagship newsletter to prepare you for each trading day — unpacking markets, economic data and Wall Street with analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
Feedback? Reply to this email, ping me on X @philrosenn, or write me directly at [email protected].


