Berkshire cash hits a record as the week ahead turns to inflation

Berkshire Hathaway reported third-quarter operating earnings of $12.705 billion, down 5.8 percent from $13.485 billion a year earlier, and net earnings of $22.112 billion, down from $30.796 billion, as investment gains fell to $9.407 billion from $17.311 billion, in a release published Saturday morning. For the first nine months, net earnings rose to $57.885 billion from $47.769 billion, and operating earnings rose to $37.034 billion from $34.286 billion. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term securities stood at $377.4 billion, a record, according to Seeking Alpha. Berkshire bought back about $9.6 billion of its own shares in the quarter, the most so far this year, bringing the nine-month total to about $14.4 billion, with 1,418,900 Class A equivalent shares outstanding on September 30.

The drag came from insurance. Insurance underwriting income fell 43 percent, as auto insurer Geico faced an 8.5 percent increase in losses and a 17 percent surge in underwriting expenses, and insurance net investment income fell 14 percent to $2.7 billion, largely because of lower short-term interest rates, according to Bloomberg Law. Net earnings per average equivalent Class A share were $15,502 for the quarter, against $21,413 a year earlier.

The release urges investors and reporters to read the 10-Q, which has been posted at berkshirehathaway.com, saying the summary alone is not adequate for an informed investment judgment. Berkshire shares trade on Monday, and the first verdict on the quarter will be whether the market reads the record cash pile as patience or as a company finding too little to buy at current prices.

President Donald Trump said on Friday evening that United States forces had carried out a small-scale attack targeting Iranian air defence systems on Qeshm Island, in the Strait of Hormuz, describing the operation as limited and saying the system was destroyed in about 15 minutes, perhaps five, according to the Associated Press and other foreign media. Iranian state media reported that two missiles struck the Suza area of Qeshm Island, and state broadcaster IRIB said Iranian forces had shot down a United States MQ-9 Reaper drone over the island. United States Central Command issued no statement on the attack, and the drone claim has not been confirmed by the United States. It was the second round of strikes on Qeshm this week, after limited strikes on Qeshm and Hengam islands on November 2.

The Strait itself stays restricted. Thirteen commercial ships crossed on Friday, five of them tankers, and one had crossed by 10:12 UTC on Saturday, against a seven-day average of 8.7 a day, about 10 percent of normal traffic, according to AIS counts published by hormuz.now. The Joint Maritime Information Center keeps the regional threat level at SEVERE. At least 11 ships were attacked in and around the Strait in the week ending November 6, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations weekly report, which said three of them sank.

The ship's manager said one crew member was killed in the explosion aboard the Greek-managed tanker MT Velos Sapphire on November 5; the cause of the explosion has not been confirmed, and that casualty report is carried here as reported, not confirmed. On diplomacy, Qatar continues to mediate, Iran's seven conditions for negotiations and reopening the Strait still stand, and Trump said the talks had made a lot of progress. Iran sent the United States a proposal concerning its nuclear programme through Qatar on Thursday, and Washington was said to be reviewing it. West Texas Intermediate settled at $90.83 a barrel on Friday, up 0.34 percent, and January Brent at $98.32, up 0.03 percent, with both benchmarks down about 13 percent on the week, according to the Journal.

October consumer prices arrive on Tuesday, November 10, at 8:30 a.m. ET, with headline inflation expected to rise 0.3 percent on the month, down from 0.6 percent in September, and core inflation expected to rise 0.2 percent, down from 0.3 percent. No year-on-year figures will be available, because the October 2025 report was not published during the government shutdown. It is the last consumer price report before the Federal Reserve decides on December 8 to 9. October producer prices follow on Friday, November 13, with headline prices expected to rise 0.4 percent, down from 1.3 percent in September, and core prices 0.3 percent, against 0.7 percent. After Friday's jobs report, Fed funds futures implied roughly an 80 percent chance of a December hike, according to LSEG data, with about two more standard 25-basis-point increases expected in total for this cycle, according to Reuters.

Rates start the week where Friday left them: the 10 year Treasury yield closed at 4.867 percent, the 2 year at 4.528 percent, and the 30 year at 5.262 percent, while the dollar index stood at 102.28, up 0.72 percent, and the Bank of Canada daily reference rate was 1.4113 per United States dollar, or 70.87 United States cents. The Bank of Canada, which raised its overnight rate to 2.50 percent on October 28, publishes its summary of deliberations on Tuesday and decides on December 9, the day after the Fed. The Bank of England raised Bank Rate to 4 percent on November 5. Elsewhere on the calendar, China reports October consumer and producer prices on Monday, Germany publishes final October inflation on Wednesday, the United Kingdom reports its first estimate of third-quarter GDP on Thursday at 7:00 a.m. UK time, and the euro area publishes its second estimate of third-quarter GDP on Friday.

Earnings keep testing the rebound. On Monday, Constellation Energy, KKR and Occidental Petroleum report, with Take-Two Interactive and Rocket Lab after the close. CoreWeave reports after the close on Tuesday, and SoftBank also reports that day. Applied Materials reports after the close on Thursday, and Cisco Systems is expected to report fiscal first-quarter results during the week, with earnings of $1.32 a share and revenue of $18.1 billion expected. Wednesday, November 11, is Veterans Day: United States stocks trade a full session while the bond market is closed, and OPEC publishes its monthly report. Federal Reserve speakers on the calendar include Bowman and Goolsbee on Monday and Schmid on Tuesday.

Compare Friday to the last four sessions and the shape is a rally, then a rout, then a split. Monday split the tape, with the Dow up 0.41 percent and technology down. Tuesday split it again, with the Nasdaq up 0.83 percent and the S&P 500 up 0.36 percent, but the Dow down 0.38 percent. Wednesday reversed the split and then some, with every major index rising together and the Dow up 3.03 percent. Thursday reversed Wednesday by more, with the Dow down 3.44 percent, the S&P 500 down 4.36 percent in its worst day since April 2025, and the Nasdaq down 5.52 percent into correction. Friday reverses Thursday only in part and only in one place: the Nasdaq and the chip index rebound while the Dow falls, Asia's chip markets enter bear markets, and India rallies on its own.

The chain linking the drivers runs in order. First, politics: the midterm sweep first lifted broad equities on gridlock, then turned on the chip and data center trade as oversight was priced in, and on Friday the chip leg is doing the work in both directions, down hardest in Asia and bouncing hardest in the United States. Second, oil: Brent's fall from $113.43 last Friday to $98.32 is a drop of $15.11 in a week, and Friday's swing above $100 and back below it shows the floor is set by diplomacy headlines, not by inventories. Third, rates: a hot jobs report on a morning of falling equities is the hardest combination for the Federal Reserve's December decision, because strong hiring and strong wages argue for the hike that the equity market has spent the week fearing, while Canada's weak report argues the opposite for the Bank of Canada on the same day. Fourth, earnings: Vistra, Airbnb, and Moderna all beat or raised, and the market is now paying for revenue already booked, not for the infrastructure spending that might produce it later.

The week also carried a quieter signal about who was selling. JPMorgan estimated leveraged exchange-traded funds sold more than $60 billion of equity exposure this week, according to the Journal, and technology credit-default spreads stood at five-year highs. That is forced selling and hedging, not a single verdict on artificial intelligence demand, and it fits a bounce that is partial rather than decisive. What would change the reading is Tuesday's consumer price index: a cool print would let the chip rebound run and soften the December hike case, a hot print would lift yields back toward 5 percent and turn the hike from backdrop into headwind. If the Strait of Hormuz produces a confirmed escalation, oil's $98 level becomes a floor to test, not a relief to enjoy.