“Warren Buffett did it again—sold near the top, held a mountain of cash, and watched the market bleed while Berkshire soared. Luck? Strategy? Or something deeper?”
Here’s what’s really going on.
No, Buffett didn’t “sell everything.” But he has stacked a record $325.2 billion in cash by the end of Q3 2024 after quietly selling off huge amounts of stocks—including nearly half of Apple and major chunks of Bank of America and others. In Q2 2024 alone, Berkshire sold $75 billion in equities. That’s not a random move—it was calculated. While he still holds over $270 billion in stocks like Coca-Cola and AmEx, the shift to cash is loud and clear.
So how does he always seem to move before the storm?
He doesn’t “time the crash”—but he does respond to signals. For example, the Buffett Indicator (total U.S. market cap to GDP) hit 210% in 2024, which he’s previously described as “playing with fire.” When valuations look stretched and opportunities seem rare, he just waits, sitting on cash like a sniper waiting for panic.
That strategy paid off again. As markets tumbled in early 2025—partly due to Trump’s harsh new tariffs—Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway stock rose 16% YTD, while the S&P 500 dropped 2%. Bitcoin, tech, and growth stocks got slammed. Meanwhile, he was holding dry powder.
Some say he’s got insider info. Others say it’s just instinct. The truth? It’s neither. Buffett plays long-term, sticks to value, and doesn’t chase trends. He isn’t trying to guess the exact day of a crash. He just doesn’t buy hype—and when markets fly too high, he quietly exits while everyone else is still cheering.
In his own words: “Opportunities come in chaos.” And when chaos hits, he’s holding the cash—not the bag.
