Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett’s famous New York Times op-ed titled, “Buy American. I Am.,” which he wrote after stocks crashed and a recession was taking hold in October 2008, is going viral again this week.
When stocks fell in 2008, Warren Buffett wrote an article called “Buy American. I am.”
It’s worth a read today: pic.twitter.com/hPKW6dRYfF
— Brew Markets (@brewmarkets) March 10, 2025
In the piece, Buffett, now 94, says that the “financial world is a mess, both in the United States and abroad” and the headlines “will continue to be scary” but he’s “buying American stocks.” And also says cash equivalents are a “terrible long-term asset.”
“Equities will almost certainly outperform cash over the next decade,” he writes.
However, over the last nine quarters, Buffett has sold large stakes in very high-profile companies, selling more than he’s bought, per The Telegraph. He’s boosted his cash stockpile by almost double — holding a record $325 billion in cash.
Business Insider notes that Buffett and his team sold a 67% stake in their No. 1 holding (Apple) and 34% of their No. 2 (Bank of America) over the first nine or so months of 2024. Each stock has dropped (15% and 20%, respectively) since November.
#WarrenBuffett ‘s cash call of $325 BN ie ~50% of portfolio does make sense after all.
When stocks are pricing too much optimism, all risk lies with the investors
Funds won’t teach you this.
Markets certainly will !#BerkshireHathaway pic.twitter.com/D7fTff1jhS— Anurag Singh (@anuragsingh_as) March 13, 2025
And now that the stock market has taken a massive dive this week, the lore surrounding the iconic investor is growing even stronger.
In his 2008 piece, he wrote that he has “no idea what the market will do in the short term.” But the internet would beg to differ.
He’s called the “Oracle of Omaha,” after all.
Buffett sitting on $320 billion in cash: pic.twitter.com/MtTQhhugxL
— Sleepwell? (@SleepwellCap) March 11, 2025
Warren is a legend
— Not Jerome Powell (@alifarhat79) March 11, 2025
In February, Buffett said in his annual letter that Berkshire Hathaway paid more in taxes in 2024 than any company has ever paid the U.S. government in a year.
