Berkshire's portfolio bounces back a bit

Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio rebounded along with the stock market this week as Congress passed, and President Trump signed, a $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill.

Berkshire's top ten publicly-traded U.S. stocks are up 11.3% compared to last Friday's close.

The benchmark S&P is up 10.3%, its best week since March, 2009. The Dow did even better, with a gain of 12.8%. That is its biggest one-week rally since 1938.

Over the past five weeks, the total market value of Berkshire's top ten stocks has dropped from $203 billion to $148 billion, a decline of 27.5%.

The S&P is down 23.9% over the same period, while the Dow is off 25.4%.

The calculations for Berkshire's portfolio assume the number of shares held for each company hasn't changed since December 31, 2019, as disclosed to the SEC in mid-February.

We'll probably have to wait until mid-May, when Berkshire discloses its holdings as of March 31, to see if Buffett and his portfolio managers have been taking advantage of the dramatic price declines for stocks.

Invest in yourself ... by washing your hands

While we haven't heard anything from Buffett on whether he's finding investing bargains, he does have advice on slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

Genius Brands, the children's media company that produces the Amazon Prime animated series "Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club," has made a COVID-19 PSA voiced by Buffett that encourages children to wash their hands for 20 seconds.

In the spot, Buffett doesn't directly refer to the pandemic, but does say thorough hand washing is "how we keep ourselves and our friends and our family safe." 

In a company news release, Buffett is quoted as saying, “I am proud to participate in these PSAs with Genius Brands to deliver the overarching message to children everywhere that the best investment they can make, is an investment in themselves and today that means safe hygiene.”

Buffett often tells young people the best thing they can do is "invest in yourself" by developing their minds and their talents, as he did in this excerpt from the 2001 Berkshire shareholders meeting.

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BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH

BERKSHIRE'S TOP STOCK HOLDINGS 

Berkshire's top stock holdings by market value, based on today's closing prices. The number of shares held is as of December 31, 2019, as disclosed in the company's February 14 13F SEC filing, except for DaVita, which is as of March 16, 2020.

The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)

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For information on how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you are sick, go to the CDC's Coronavirus (COVID-19) information page.

-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch