Markets are fairly quiet in the early going, with stocks, crude oil, Treasuries, and the dollar all not moving much. The same goes for gold and silver.
Some investors are worried about big spending by tech hyperscalers...but Warren Buffett doesn’t appear to be. His investment vehicle Berskshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A) just disclosed a $4.9 billion stake in Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), one of Buffett’s rare forays into the tech sector. The “Oracle of Omaha” is stepping down this year due to age and handing the reins over to his deputy Greg Abel.
BRK.A, GOOGL (YTD % Change)
Data by YCharts
Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly launching a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup called Project Prometheus. The company is in the process of staffing up, with 100 hires and $6.2 billion in funding so far. The firm will focus on AI applications in industries like engineering and computer manufacturing.
In other news, the private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice sealed a deal to buy Sealed Air Corp. (SEE) for $6.2 billion. The company makes Bubble Wrap, as well as other packaging products like Cryovac bags and Instapak foam. The stock already surged last week amid rumors of the takeover, so it actually eased back a bit today when the buyout price of $42.15 was revealed.
Lastly, the digital asset selloff has driven smaller “altcoins” to levels not seen since the pandemic days. The MarketVector Digital Assets 100 Small-Cap Index tracks 50 smaller assets, and it just slid to its lowest since November 2020. For its part, Bitcoin has given up almost all of its 2025 gains, while Ethereum is now down about 5% year-to-date.
