Warren Buffett says Wall Street is too sensitive, he does not believe that the current market volatility is a bi...

The legendary investor Warren Buffett told the crowd in Omaha on Saturday that the recent ups and downs of the stock market are not a cause for panic.

Speaking during Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, Warren said directly: 'What has happened in the last 30, 45 days... really is nothing.' He downplayed the recent volatility that has shaken traders and left analysts searching for explanations.

Warren reminded investors that Berkshire Hathaway's shares have fallen 50% on three different occasions in the last sixty years. None of those declines were caused by anything broken within the business. He said the same thing now: there is no real problem. 'This has not been a dramatic bear market or anything like that,' Warren said. He did not hesitate even once in saying it.

Buffett tells investors to stop being scared of stocks.

According to the live broadcast of the CNBC meeting, Warren explained that today's conditions do not come close to past declines. People act as if the sky is falling, but he said they are just being overly emotional.

'If you care whether your stocks are down 15% or not, you need to get a somewhat different investment philosophy,' Warren said. 'The world is not going to adapt to you. You will have to adapt to the world.'

He gave people a long-term reminder. On his birthday, August 30, 1930, the Dow Jones was at 240. It then fell as low as 41. But on Friday, it closed above 41,300. That is the kind of scale Warren was working with. 'People have emotions,' he said. 'But you have to leave them at the door when you invest.'

Investors had been unsettled by Donald Trump's tariff policies, which unleashed chaos in the markets last month. The S&P 500 fell into bear market territory on an intraday basis, meaning it dropped more than 20% from a recent high.

But by Friday, it had surpassed and recorded its longest winning streak since 2004. Warren said none of that should be taken as anything new or surprising. He pointed out that some previous declines were much worse.

Buffett criticizes tariffs and warns about protectionism.

Warren also criticized Trump's economic approach. Without mentioning his name, he questioned the White House's decision to impose heavy tariffs on imports, calling it a bad strategy.

'Trade should not be a weapon,' Warren said in front of thousands of shareholders in Omaha. 'I believe that the more prosperous the rest of the world becomes, it will not be at our expense, the more prosperous we will be and the more secure we will feel, and their children will feel someday.'

He warned that tariffs 'can be an act of war' and said they are causing real damage. 'Only the attitudes that it has brought out,' he added. He said the U.S. should trade openly and let everyone do what they do best.

'We should seek to trade with the rest of the world and we should do what we do best and they should do what they do best.'

The Trump administration had already imposed tariffs of 145% on Chinese imports earlier this year. China responded with a 125% in return. Things became so tense that the White House suddenly paused most increases for 90 days, except with China, while they tried to make deals. Warren did not get carried away by the tough talk.

'It's a big mistake, in my opinion, when you have seven billion five hundred million people who don't like you very much, and you have 300 million who are bragging in some way about how well they have done,' he said. 'I don't think that's right, and I don't think it's wise.'

Warren reminded people that the United States started from scratch just 250 years ago and became the world's largest industrial power. 'There has been nothing like it,' he said. But now, protectionism could undermine that position. He offered no plan. He did not sugarcoat the situation. He simply gave his opinion.

Warren Edward Buffett. Source: Warren Buffett Twitter/X

Investors had come to the meeting hungry for answers about what comes next. Berkshire controls parts of a massive mix of U.S. businesses: insurance, energy, retail, transportation, and more. GDP had just shown its first contraction since 2022, and everyone wanted Warren's opinion.

Berkshire's first-quarter earnings report said that tariffs and global policy have added 'considerable uncertainty.' The company said it still cannot predict the total damage.

Meanwhile, Warren has been unloading stocks nonstop. He has been selling for ten consecutive quarters. In 2024, Berkshire shed more than $134 billion in stocks. Most of it came from exiting Apple and Bank of America, the company's two largest holdings.

That sale left Warren with a record $347 billion in cash at the end of March. He has not said what he plans to do with it. But one thing is clear: he is not chasing trends. He is not riding the panic. He is playing his own game.

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