Happy Veterans Day, investors. To those of you who have served in the armed forces, thank you for your service. The US bond market is closed for the holiday, though the stock market remains open for normal trading hours.
Late Monday, the Senate passed a bill to end the government shutdown. It will move to the House next, and then to the Oval Office. This is a developing story.
This morning, we’re focusing on Warren Buffett’s new shareholder letter.
Buffett’s parting thoughts
Warren Buffett believes his successor, Greg Abel, has what it takes to fill his shoes.
He wants Berkshire Hathaway shareholders to arrive at the same conclusion.
In a new Thanksgiving letter released Monday, the 95-year-old aimed to placate concerns about the most consequential handoff in modern corporate history.
Abel is set to take over the conglomerate at year-end, but Berkshire’s future will depend on its investors giving him the same confidence they’ve given Buffett for six decades.
“[Abel] is a great manager, a tireless worker and an honest communicator,” Buffett wrote. “Wish him an extended tenure.”
The market may not be convinced just yet.
Berkshire stock hit its peak the day before Buffett announced his retirement in May, when it outpaced the S&P 500 by nearly 30%.
And while there are macro factors at play — including Berkshire’s lack of exposure to the AI boom — the stock has since lagged the S&P 500.
That divergence tells the story of Buffett’s final challenge of getting shareholders on board with seeing Berkshire run by someone other than him.
“Berkshire has less chance of a devastating disaster than any business I know,” Buffett wrote. “And, Berkshire has a more shareholder-conscious management and board than almost any company with which I am familiar (and I’ve seen a lot).”
“Finally, Berkshire will always be managed in a manner that will make its existence an asset to the United States and eschew activities that would lead it to become a supplicant.”
The stock closed Monday’s trading session 0.42% lower.
In any case, Buffett noted that he would no longer write the Berkshire shareholder letters moving forward, and would use these Thanksgiving letters as his new medium.
Buffett also said that, to his surprise, he still feels good, and he is in the office five days a week.
And while the letter was addressed to shareholders, he included a range of parting thoughts that had nothing to do with markets:
“Don’t beat yourself up over past mistakes – learn at least a little from them and move on. It is never too late to improve.”
“Kindness is costless but also priceless.”
“Decide what you would like your obituary to say and live the life to deserve it.”
“Remember to thank America for maximizing your opportunities. But it is – inevitably – capricious and sometimes venal in distributing its rewards.”
“Choose your heroes very carefully and then emulate them. You will never be perfect, but you can always be better.”
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Market snapshot
Elsewhere
📈 Nvidia just had its best day since April. It led tech stocks higher with a sharp 5.8% rally on Monday, and analysts are already raising their price targets for the stock ahead of its earnings release.
🤝 President Trump says he’s close to a trade deal with India. In his words, this agreement would be “different than the one we had in the past,” and it’s a “fair” deal to boost the economic and security ties between the nations. (Reuters)
📊 The US government gave crypto another stamp of approval. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the IRS and Treasury issued new guidance giving crypto exchange-traded products “a clear path to stake digital assets and share staking rewards with their retail investors.” (X)
Rapid-fire
Nuclear power will get the most Energy Department loans, the Secretary of Energy said (CNBC)
Wendy’s stock fell after announcing it would close hundreds of US stores (AP)
Silver prices just had one of their best days of the year (WSJ)
The Trump Put has arrived (Pomp Letter)
Investors who own assets feel better about the economy than those without assets (WSJ)
The idea of 50-year mortgages won’t do much to help homeowner affordability (CNBC)
Coinbase is launching a platform for digital token offerings (WSJ)
Interview
ETF strategist Todd Sohn of Strategas joined me on FULL SIGNAL to discuss how AI is fueling a speculative boom, the bull market’s next stage, $7 trillion cash on the sidelines, contrarian trade ideas and more.
Tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
On this day
🗓 November 11, 2024: The S&P 500 closed about 6,000 for the first time ever, nine months after its prior milestone of 5,000. The index is currently inching closer to 7,000.
Last thing
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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].