We recently published a list Starter Stock Portfolio 12 safe shares to buy. In this article we will look at where Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) stands against other best beginners stocks.
The US stock market has experienced a turbulent first quarter of 2025, characterized by increased volatility and negative returns on the most important indices. Concern about rates, economic data and the performance of important technological shares have contributed to this challenging period for investors.
The year started with the revelation of Deepseek, an artificial intelligence (AI) software developed in China, which competed with his American competitors, such as Chatgpt. The software was considered revolutionary compared to others, which sent shock waves at the world markets. Reuters reported a global sale of investors in the American indexes, with one of the most important technology companies alone lost $ 593 million in one day.
The US government was quick to implement policy aimed at promoting American technology companies and at the same time reduced the impact of the Deepseek AI, such as the use of rates against Chinese companies.
The uncertainty of the US economy contributed to market volatility after the Federal Reserve had announced that it would maintain the interest between 4.25% and 4.50% in the short term. The banking sector, which is considered a good investment in times of high interest rates, is not completely immune. Analysts who previously regarded 2025 as a low interest rate year year will now prices in the impact of possible NPLs (non-performing loans) due to consistent fed rates.
In March, President Trump announced further global rates to Europe and China, which feeds the concerns of investors. In retaliation, Europe introduced counter -rates. Emily Bowersock Hill, CEO and founder at Bowersock Capital Partners, who has $ 850 million in assets under management, responded in an e -mail to the methodology in calculating the rates by the US as:
“So simplistic and frankly primitive that the market was wondering, have his architects ever used Econ 101?”
The US has announced the rates of 54% on Chinese goods, which will come into effect on April 9, 2025. China, in response, implemented “mutual” rates for American goods of 34%, as reported by the official Xinhua press agency of the country. This led to the American market indexes experienced the greatest decrease since COVID-19, in which investors were concerned about the impact of these rates at the supply chains of companies worldwide.
The US economy is considered “continuous stagflation”, which is defined as continuous inflation with very low growth and high unemployment. The CBOE Volatility Index (AKA VIX) is currently 29.68%, well above the average of 1 year of 17.6%. In such economic circumstances, investors must look for shares that must yield steady/ growing income, dividend growth, low cyclicity and considerable cash flows and have a sustainable competitive advantage. Systemically important sectors are therefore ideal for investors, including energy, real estate, health care, finance and technology.
