Alex Wong / Getty, REUTERS / Rebecca Cook
- Warren Buffett and Elon Musk are moving the markets this year.
- Berkshire Hathaway’s bets on Verizon and Chevron boosted both stocks this week.
- Musk’s tweets raised GameStop, Dogecoin, Etsy, bitcoin and other assets.
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Warren Buffett moves the markets with his decisions, as many investors trust the judgment of the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and rush to buy what they have bought and sell what they have sold.
Other investors anticipate this behavior and rush to take advantage of buying or selling before Buffett’s faithful, making the process somewhat self-fulfilling.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has demonstrated a similar ability in recent weeks, taking stocks and cryptocurrencies to the sky with his tweets.
The Buffett Bump was on full display this week after Berkshire released multi-billion dollar stakes in Verizon, Chevron and Marsh & McLennan after the markets closed on Tuesday. The telecommunications titan’s share price rose 5% on Wednesday, while the shares of the energy giant and the financial services group rose about 3%.
The highs added about $ 19 billion in total to the market capitalizations of the three companies.
Likewise, there have been “Musk Movements” in several titles this year. Tesla boss tweets about GameStop, Dogecoin and Etsy helped – at least temporarily – raise their prices.
Musk’s tweets about the Signal encrypted messaging app and the techno song “Sandstorm” have been associated with releases in totally unrelated titles.
In addition, Tesla’s $ 1.5 billion purchase of bitcoin this month was a key catalyst in the latest rise in the digital currency. Musk’s endorsement was hailed as a milestone in the acceptance of cryptocurrencies.
It is clear that Buffett’s support continues to translate into billions of dollar increases in companies’ market values. He has some competition from Musk, whose seal of approval has a similar effect, albeit less accurate and sustained, also in the markets.