Traders will breathe easier as the Iran conflict looks to be nearing an end. But Warren Buffett's words on Tuesday might offset some of the relief as the investment guru seemed unimpressed by the opportunities on offer.
Confidence that fighting in the Middle East could end soon is growing. President Donald Trump has given his clearest timeline so far, telling reporters the U.S. would leave Iran within three weeks, with a speech scheduled for Wednesday evening in Washington. And importantly, the Iranian side also appears ready for peace -- although requesting unspecified guarantees.
Investors are already looking ahead. The potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz -- even if it comes with tolls -- should bring down energy prices and put interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve back on the agenda. Chuck in a strong earnings season, with average S&P 500 profit growth projected at 13%, and renewed confidence in artificial intelligence after OpenAI's latest mega funding round and the mood music seems good.
But Berkshire Hathaway chairman Buffett isn't enthused. He said the company isn't finding attractive uses for its $350 billion of cash and dismissed the dip since the start of the Iran war as "nothing," in an interview with CNBC. For an investor who has seen multiple drawdowns of as much as 50% in his long career, it's understandable a fall of around 7% from the record highs of the S&P 500 barely registers for the Oracle of Omaha.
Not every investor will have the same long-term perspective as Buffett or his strict framework for finding bargains. At least in the technology sector -- which the Berkshire founder has been famously averse to backing -- there do appear to be stocks that have been unduly punished by AI and energy worries. But it's worth bearing in mind his words before getting carried away with the relief rally.
-- Adam Clark
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OpenAI's Huge Funding Round Could Reignite AI Excitement
OpenAI has secured the largest private financing in Silicon Valley's history with commitments of $122 billion in new funding that could boost enthusiasm about artificial intelligence and the technology sector more generally.
-- OpenAI is now valued at $852 billion after the funding, which is expected
to be the ChatGPT developer's last major round of investment before an
initial public offering, which could come as soon as this year.
-- Amazon.com has pledged up to $50 billion in investment alongside $30
billion commitments from both Japan's SoftBank and chip maker Nvidia. The
involvement of Amazon diversifies OpenAI's hardware and cloud-computing
resources from its historic relationship with Microsoft.
-- OpenAI raised more than $3 billion from individual investors through
banks and said it would be included in several exchange-traded funds
managed by Cathie Wood's ARK Invest, as it broadens its shareholder
base.
-- OpenAI said Tuesday that it is now generating $2 billion in monthly
revenue and that it expects to soon reach one billion weekly active users,
although it has discontinued some products in recent weeks.
What's Next: OpenAI said it is building a "unified AI superapp" and investors will be watching for how that affects the wider software market and preparations for the company's IPO, which is coming amid fierce competition with rival AI start-up Anthropic.
-- Adam Clark
Apple Turns 50. The iPhone Can't Drive Things Forever.
Apple worked hard over the last 50 years to become one of the most successful companies of all time. The iPhone maker will have to work even harder to maintain that dominant position over the next 50 years as it marks its half-century today.
-- It isn't clear what the future holds as technology rapidly evolves, but
it's probably a safe bet to assume that the future will include Apple and
some iteration of the iPhone -- an iPhone 68? But the tech giant needs to
expand outside of that pattern to prove to Wall Street it can continue to
dominate.
-- As it turns 50, it's worth looking back. Apple was formed in 1976 by
Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Over the next several
decades, its era-defining products included the Macintosh computer in
1984, the iPod in 2001, the iPhone in 2007. It's Apple's most important
product to date.
-- The touch screen smartphone transformed consumers, who could access
texting, calling, searching the web on a browser, playing games, and
listening to music all in one hand-held device. The catchphrase "I've got
an app for that," eventually highlighted the importance of iPhone
applications.
-- Apple has launched multiple gadgets that have become household names --
it did it most recently with the Apple Watch in 2015. Each device
integrates with another, incentivizing the user to buy more than one
Apple product after entering the company's sticky ecosystem.
What's Next: A new lineup of Apple products is on the horizon, such as a foldable iPhone, a touch screen MacBook, and smart glasses. But investors are wondering if Apple can have another iPhone innovation moment that will keep the company in a dominant position.
-- Angela Palumbo
NASA Is About to Send Four Astronauts on Trip Around Moon
NASA is about to send four astronauts on a nearly 700,000 mile trip around the moon, in the second of its Artemis group of missions that aims to return Americans to the lunar surface and establish a permanent residence there. The launch is scheduled for 6:24 p.m. today.
-- Artemis I blasted off in 2022, testing NASA's space launch systems, or
SLS, and the Orion spacecraft, which circled the moon without a crew. A
third mission in the series is slated for 2027 and will test Orion and
lunar landers by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.
-- The fourth mission slated for 2028 is intended to be the first U.S. moon
landing since 1972, and Artemis V should go later that year, marking the
beginning of moon base construction. Today's mission includes astronauts
Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen.
-- The four will travel farther from Earth than any humans have ever gone.
They will ride an Orion spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin and Airbus.
Northrop Grumman, L3Harris Technologies, and Honeywell supply components
and systems for Orion, which sits on top the 320-foot-tall SLS rocket.
-- SLS is NASA's rocket, but it is built from parts supplied by Boeing,
Northrop, and others. To some extent, SLS is a vestige of a bygone era.
In the future, NASA is far more likely to rely on commercial providers,
such as SpaceX, to provide launch capacity.
What's Next: The mission demonstrates to investors that space activity is rising, which benefits a number of new space stocks, including mini-SpaceX Rocket Lab, and others. Their market values are dwarfed by SpaceX's $1.3 trillion ahead of its anticipated IPO.
-- Al Root
Constellation Energy's Highly Anticipated Investor Day Yields No Deals
Constellation Energy, an early beneficiary of AI-fueled electricity demand, let a few investors down when it failed to announce any new data center deals during a long-awaited investor update on Tuesday. Not only that, its 2026 earnings guidance fell short of expectations at the midpoint of the given range.
-- Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez said at the event that he anticipates
signing major new deals to provide power to tech companies, but he didn't
want to announce anything too early given the increasing scrutiny on data
centers today and some changing regulations.
-- The nation's largest power producer guided for adjusted earnings of $11
to $12 a share in 2026. It believes it can grow its base annual earnings
by over 20% through 2029. And it announced a $5 billion share buyback
plan, up from its prior $3 billion plan.
-- Constellation has faced doubts about its ability to continue growing in
an increasingly competitive field. It has deals to provide power to AI
projects at Meta Platforms and Microsoft from nuclear reactors. But in
the past few months, investors have begun to doubt Constellation's growth
trajectory.
-- While deals continue to happen, the cadence of the deals has been too
slow to generate enthusiasm. Politics is getting in the way, too. Plans
by the White House and some state governors to intervene in power markets
to reduce customer bills could weigh on Constellation's earnings.
What's Next: Dominguez said on Tuesday that the regulatory picture is starting to get clearer, and that Constellation is likely to benefit from some of the changes.
-- Avi Salzman and Mackenzie Tatananni
Universal Pictures Aims for 'Super Mario' Blockbuster Debut
Hollywood is hoping that Comcast-owned Universal Pictures' The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opening today can replicate the box office success of the 2023 Super Mario movie. Comscore's head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian said it could be the year's first film to surpass $100 million in domestic box office.
-- The film could rake in $160 million to $200 million in ticket sales from
today through Sunday, says Eric Handler, Roth's senior media analyst.
Mario is one of the world's biggest videogames franchises, with reported
sales of up to 450 million copies, making a built-in fan base, he said.
-- In 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie sold $204 million of tickets
domestically in its first five days, ultimately bringing in worldwide
sales of $1.36 billion, according to Universal. The sequel might do
better, Dergarabedian said.
-- For Hollywood, it could set up a strong calendar of movies slated for
premieres this spring. Handler projects domestic box office sales,
already 25% higher than 2025 as of Sunday, could hit $2.625 billion in
the second quarter.
-- Amazon MGM's Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling as a heroic
schoolteacher-turned-astronaut, has dominated the domestic box office for
the past two weeks, selling $164.3 million, and more than $300.8 million
globally through Sunday, according to Comscore.
What's Next: Handler expects Super Mario Galaxy to surpass $500 million in North America and break $1 billion globally. It could be among the highest-grossing movies of 2026, but Universal's The Odyssey (opens July 17), Sony Pictures' Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31), and Walt Disney's Avengers: Doomsday (Dec. 18) could outperform it.
-- Janet H. Cho
Dear Quentin,
I am 64, and my wife is 65. I have $1.5 million in my 401(k). My wife receives $2,600 per month in Social Security, and I have a pension of $3,000 per month. I plan to start collecting my Social Security of $4,100 at 68. We are aiming for a monthly income of $11,500 and we are considering using a three-bucket strategy: the first "withdrawal" bucket will be two to six years, the second will be six to 10 years, and the last will be for the long term. What should I do?
-- Now I'm 64
Read the Moneyist's response here.
-- Quentin Fottrell
-- Newsletter edited by Liz Moyer, Patrick O'Donnell, Rupert Steiner
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 01, 2026 06:33 ET (10:33 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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