FRI, JAN 24, 2025

WARREN BUFFETT WATCH

Pilot reportedly exits oil trading to focus on truck stops

Berkshire Hathaway's Pilot Company is shutting down its international oil trading business, according to a Reuters report this week.

Sources tell the news service Pilot will instead focus on growth strategies for its Pilot Flying J service stations and truck stops.

REUTERS/Gary McWilliams

The company is not specifically commenting on the shutdown and the resulting departure of some veteran energy traders who had been hired in recent years, as detailed by Reuters.

But in a statement, a company executive said, "Our core capabilities are focused on delivering reliable fuel supply to our travel centers and customers across North America."

Pilot started its international oil trading in 2017, after Berkshire initially took a 39% stake.

It began to trim those operations in 2023, when Berkshire increased that stake to 80%.

Berkshire bought the 20% of Pilot it didn't already own last January following the resolution of a legal fight over how much it would have to pay for the remaining slice.

BNSF plans almost $4B in capital spending this year

BNSF Railway plans to spend $3.8 billion on capital investments this year.

A news release from the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary says more than $2.8 billion will go to maintenance, including the replacement of 2 1/2 million rail ties and 410 miles of rail.

BNSF's Los Angeles Intermodal Facility, September 15, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan

Another $535 million will be spent on "expansion and efficiency" projects, including the completion of a multi-year expansion at its Cicero Intermodal Facility in Chicago.

BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET

Some links may require a subscription

CNBC Pro (subscription): Berkshire Hathaway hasn’t paid a dividend in nearly 60 years — Could that ever change?

GOBankingRates on MSN: Warren Buffett: 6 Best Pieces of Money Advice for the Middle Class

Fortune (subscription): Meet the man picked to succeed Warren Buffett

KETV NewsWatch 7 video: What Omahans would do with Warren Buffett's fortune (1996)

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ARCHIVE

Forget about the word 'stock' (2008)

Warren Buffett explains the lens through which he and Charlie Munger view the stock market.

BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH

Four weeks

Twelve months

BERKSHIRE'S TOP U.S. STOCK HOLDINGS - Jan. 24, 2025

Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly traded stocks in the U.S., Japan, and Hong Kong, by market value, based on today's closing prices.

Holdings are as of September 30, 2024 as reported in Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filing on August 14, 2024, except for:

Bank of America, which is as of October 15, 2024
Mitsubishi, which is as of June 12, 2023. Tokyo Stock Exchange prices are converted to U.S. dollars from Japanese yen.
Occidental Petroleum, which is as of December 19, 2024

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

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

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Also, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There are collected here on Berkshire's website.

-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch

900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632

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