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\u201cBond King\u201d Bill Gross offered a bearish view of the stock market, just as the \u201cOracle of Omaha\u201d Warren Buffett also signaled less optimism.<\/p>\n
In a post on X<\/a> early Friday, Gross said there are very few \u201cbull stocks\u201d and pointed to pipeline master limited partnerships, banks, and financials in general.<\/p>\n \u201cInvestors should stop talking about buying the dip and start asking about selling recoveries,\u201d the cofounder of PIMCO added. <\/p>\n The tweet came before stocks sold off<\/a> hard on weak payroll data<\/a> Friday morning but after a steep dive on Thursday, when a surprisingly low reading of the Institute for Supply Management\u2019s manufacturing index sparked a reversal in the market.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Berkshire Hathaway\u2019s second-quarter earnings report<\/a> revealed that Buffett\u2019s conglomerate sold a net $75.5 billion worth of stock and nearly halved its stake in Apple. <\/p>\n The transactions took place before the recent stock selloff, when the S&P 500 was regularly setting fresh record highs. <\/p>\n \u201cYou could conclude this is another sell signal,\u201d Jim Shanahan, an analyst at\u00a0Edward Jones, told Bloomberg<\/a>. \u201cThis was a far higher level of selling activity than we were expecting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Buffett\u2019s stock dump was so aggressive that he didn\u2019t rule out the sale of Berkshire\u2019s remaining Apple stake, which he estimates is about 400 million shares. \u201cI don\u2019t think zero\u2019s out of the question now.\u201d<\/p>\n His stock selling spree has continued into the third quarter. Over the last few weeks, Berkshire has unloaded nearly $4 billion in Bank of America shares<\/a>. <\/p>\n CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert told the Associated Press<\/a> that Berkshire\u2019s Apple stock sale looks more like responsible portfolio management, given that the iPhone maker had grown to such a large chunk of Buffett\u2019s holdings.<\/p>\n It follows earlier moves to trim that part of the portfolio. In May, Berkshire disclosed the sale of 100 million Apple shares<\/a>, amounting to 13% of its stake at the time.<\/p>\n Still, Seifert acknowledged that Buffett may be bracing for a downturn: \u201cThis is a company girding itself for a weaker economic climate.\u201d<\/p>\n But others on Wall Street remain bullish. Jay Hatfield, CEO at Infrastructure Capital Advisors, said in a note Friday that the jobs reports confirms the economy is slowing but doesn\u2019t signal the U.S. will enter a recession.<\/p>\n He reiterated a 6,000 price target on the\u00a0S&P\u00a0500, indicating 12% upside from the last close, and predicted a rally toward the end of the year the election offers more clarity and the economy continues to show slow growth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRecommended Newsletter: <\/strong>CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. Subscribe Now<\/a>.<\/div>\n