The S&P 500 total return, including dividends, is essentially unchanged since November 4th, 2024, the day before the presidential election. Given the attention given to market volatility in those six months, that may surprise many investors. Asked by CNBC’s Becky Quick at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting Saturday, May 3rd, whether the company had deployed any of its enormous cash position, Warren Buffett responded that the recent move(s) “is really nothing”. Noting that Berkshire’s stock price had declined 50% three times since he acquired the company, he pointed out that “this is not a huge move”. “The Dow Jones Average hit 381 in September of 1929, it got down to 42. So that’s like going from 100 to 11. This has not been a dramatic bear market or anything of the sort.”
