Five things you need to know

• Warren Buffett announced he will step down after six decades atop Berkshire Hathaway. Greg Abel, the vice chairman for non-insurance operations, will take charge of the conglomerate upon board approval. The announcement on Saturday stunned the board and even Abel, who, while long signaled as Buffett’s successor, was unaware that the news was coming. 
• President Donald Trump suggested that his administration could strike trade deals with some countries as soon as this week, offering the prospect of relief for trading partners seeking to avoid higher US import duties. Trump also said he has no current plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping and announced that he plans to impose a 100% tariff on films produced overseas.
• Taiwan’s dollar surged as much as 5%, the biggest jump since the 1980s, on speculation exporters are rushing to convert their holdings of US dollars to the island’s currency. The volatility shows how an exodus from the world’s reserve currency can ripple through financial markets. 
• Shell is working with advisers to evaluate a potential acquisition of BP, though it’s waiting for further stock and oil price declines before deciding whether to pursue a bid, according to people familiar with the matter.
• Oil fell after OPEC+ agreed to another bumper output increase, raising concern that additional supply could lead to a global glut just as demand looks to be under threat from the trade war.

The Oracle of Omaha retires   

Apple’s Tim Cook called him inspiring. Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan praised his lessons on life and business. JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon said he’s “everything that is good about American capitalism.” 

As Buffett called an end to his historic run, luminaries from the technology and banking worlds rushed to praise the man whose lessons they partially credit for their success. 

The famed investor delivered a more than 5,500,000% return on Berkshire’s stock as he turned a once-failing textile firm into the most valuable company in the world that isn’t either a tech giant or state oil producer. In the process, he became the rare investor who crossed over into public consciousness through his folksy wisdom and witticisms. 

Buffett has drawn scores of imitators and become synonymous for many of the investing themes that still dominate the financial industry: being greedy while others are fearful, practicing patience in allowing investments to compound and identifying insurance as a source of stable funds.

Now, Buffett will hand the keys over to energy executive Abel, long seen as Omaha’s crown prince. He’ll command a $1.2 trillion behemoth, with a portfolio of stocks such as Apple and American Express on top of a collection of insurance, energy, railroad and consumer businesses that regularly churn out $10 billion a quarter in operating profit.

He’ll also inherit a plethora of questions, starting with what he’ll do with Berkshire’s almost $350 billion cash pile after Buffett largely sat out a volatile last few years in the markets. Berkshire shares dropped 3.7% in early trading on Monday.  

Here’s a look at what Buffett built — with his longtime business partner, the late Charlie Munger — over his six-decade run. 

5,502,284%

Overall gain from 1964 to 2024 in per-share market value of Berkshire Hathaway. (The same figure for the S&P 500 stock index, with dividends included, is 39,054%.) That translates to an annualized return of nearly 20%, almost double that of the S&P over the same period.

$1.2 trillion

The current market capitalization of Berkshire, the eighth-highest in global public markets. 

392,396

Number of people Berkshire companies employed at year-end.

1

Number of times Berkshire paid a dividend between 1965-2024. Buffett wrote in his most recent letter to investors that paying a dividend in 1967 “seems like a bad dream.” —Amanda Cantrell

For more coverage of Buffett's decision to step down:

• TopLive blog coverage of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting
• Berkshire’s Warren Buffett Says Trade Can Be an ‘Act of War’
• Warren Buffett, Investing’s Philosopher King: Nir Kaissar
• Warren Buffett Caps a Career Built on Humility: Jonathan Levin

On the move

• Netflix falls 3.8% in early trading and Disney declines 1.6% on Trump’s threats for tariffs on films produced overseas. The president positioned foreign productions as a national security threat, saying other nations were using films for messaging and propaganda.
• Chevron and Exxon retreat along with the decline in oil prices.
• Gold Fields rises 2.8% in Johannesburg trading. The miner will buy Gold Road Resources in a deal valuing its Australian joint venture partner at A$3.7 billion ($2.4 billion). Gold Road shares closed 9.4% higher. —Farah Elbahrawy

Traders pull back on US rate-cut bets

Fifteen minutes after the April employment report hit early Friday, President Donald Trump seized on the surprisingly strong job growth to ratchet up his pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, saying there was no reason to hold off on cutting interest rates. 

Bond traders came to the exact opposite conclusion.

The pace of hiring — as well as a manufacturing report on Thursday that wasn’t as downbeat as expected — drove traders to dial back rate-cut bets that had been mounting. 

After piling into short-term Treasuries, anticipating the Fed would start easing policy to contain the fallout, they reversed course. Two-year yields shot up, staging the biggest two-day jump since October, and futures traders started pricing in what Fed officials have been consistently trying to drive home — that they will remain in wait-and-see mode until there’s more evidence that the economy has turned. 

“With inflation being above the Fed’s target, tariffs which can move prices higher and a still solid labor market, I think the Fed is unlikely to do anything,” said Priya Misra, portfolio manager at JPMorgan Asset Management. —Ye Xie and Michael Mackenzie

Palantir’s massive multiple  

Palantir investors have been betting that the results coming after the markets close on Monday will be another blowout, but the recent run up has given the stock a high bar to clear. 

At a time when other artificial intelligence companies and momentum-stock favorites have stalled out amid tariff-related uncertainty, Palantir has built on the 340% surge it saw last year. The stock is the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 this year, up 64%, and just a hair under a February record.

And its valuation is by all accounts swollen. Shares trade at more than 200 times estimated earnings, making it the priciest in the Nasdaq 100 Index by this metric. It also trades at more than 70 times estimated sales. 

“The multiple has always been the hard part of the story, and there’s a real danger in owning an expensive stock if fundamentals start to slow because all the hot money that flowed into it can flow out just as fast,” said Kevin Landis, chief investment officer at Firsthand Capital Management. “I’ve been trimming my position, but reluctantly, because I end up regretting it. It says something if the only bad thing you can say about a stock is the valuation; it’s like the inverse of a value trap.” —Ryan Vlastelica

Week ahead

Monday: The Institute for Supply Management issues its April services index, OPEC+ officials meet on production levels. Ford, Palantir and Tyson release earnings.

Tuesday: Data includes China's Caixin services PMI and US trade. The Fed meeting starts. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies at House appropriations panel hearing. Rivian, Advanced Micro Devices and Arista Networks report. 

Wednesday: The Fed meeting finishes and Chair Jerome Powell speaks to reporters. Disney releases earnings. The Brazilian central bank is forecast to cut rates. Disney and Carvana report. 

Thursday: The Bank of England is predicted to cut interest rates, US jobless claims data is released and the Bank of Canada issues its Financial Stability Report.

Friday: New York Fed president John Williams as well as Fed governors Adriana Kugler and Michael Barr speak in Reykjavik. Governors Lisa Cook and Christopher Waller, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee speak elsewhere.

Check out the full rundown on the week ahead.

Word from Wall Street