Buffett scooped up 14% of oil giant Occidental Petroleum, worth more than $7 billion, in two weeks during March.
He pointed out that the stake was even larger when accounting for the index fund providers who own a huge chunk of the company.
“That’s not investment. You’re not buying from [investors]. I find it just incredible. You couldn’t do that with Berkshire. ... Overwhelmingly, large companies in America, they became poker chips,” Buffett said.
“That enabled us, in a two-week period, to buy 14% of a business that’s been around for decades,” Buffett said. “Imagine trying to [buy] 14% of the farms in this country. 14% of the apartment houses. 14% of the auto dealerships, or just anything, when already 40% were locked up some other place. It defies anything Charlie and I have seen, and we’ve seen a lot.”
The legendary investor said that the short-term volatility earlier this year fueled by “gambling mentality” allowed him to find good long-term opportunities.
In his annual chairmanletter to shareholdersin February, Warren Buffett said there is “little that excites us” in the market. But soon after, he put Berkshire’s money to work.
Berkshire at the beginning of March revealed abig stake in oil giant Occidental Petroleum. At the beginning of April, Berkshire announced amajor stake in tech hardware stock HP. Berkshire’s first-quarter filing revealed the companysignificantly increased its bet on Chevron.
“We found some things we prefer to owning Treasury bills,” quipped Berkshire vice chairman and Buffett’s right-hand man Charlie Munger.