Good morning, you're listening to Markets Desk.
Greg Abel is putting his stamp on Berkshire Hathaway, and he's doing it with a full acquisition strategy rather than the stock-picking approach that defined the Buffett era. Abel trimmed fifteen equity positions in the first quarter of two thousand twenty six and deployed less than three billion dollars into new stocks outside of Alphabet, signaling a clear preference for buying whole businesses over minority stakes. Shareholders should watch how that changes capital allocation discipline going forward.
Shifting to the trade desk, President Trump has invoked the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act against Canada, a Depression-era law that no sitting president has ever used in this way. The administration is citing Section three thirty eight to justify retaliatory tariffs tied to the Canadian auto industry, but trade lawyers are already warning this sets a precedent with unpredictable escalation risk. Canada is unlikely to stand down, which means this dispute has room to get considerably more expensive for both sides.
And in Japan, Japan Airlines reported a drop in first quarter net income, with higher fuel costs driven by Middle East tensions compounding the pressure from a weaker yen lifting operating expenses across the board. The airline maintained its full fiscal year outlook, but the margin squeeze is real and reflects a broader challenge facing Asia-Pacific carriers navigating currency and energy volatility simultaneously.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
