by Greg Guenther, Midnight Trader
If you Google âWarren Buffett value investingâ, youâll gain access to more than 650,000 entries dissecting the Oracle of Omahaâs investing style.
You wonât have to dig too far before you realize many have argued that Buffett is not the great value investor the media has portrayed. Some claim Buffettâs stock picks relied more on growth over the years. Others say that while his great individual investments are flaunted, itâs his derivatives trading andother complex deals that have actually netted a bulk of his fortune.
But what if Buffett is a closet market technician? What ifUncle Warren, hiding behind his old-school, value investing adages, is actually trading the biggest, most powerful trends on the market?
Sound crazy?
Letâs take a look at the charts of two of Berkshire Hathawayâs bigger moves this past quarter to test this theoryâŠ
Bought: 15.6 million shares of Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE)
Judging by this weekly chart, it looks as if Deere & Co. has been working on a huge ascending triangle and a breakout above $90 for close to four years. Whatâs not to like about this long-term chart? Sure looks bullish to meâŠ
Sold: 41 million shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM)
Sure, oil tanked during the fourth quarter. But was Buffett dumping shares because Exxonâs lucrative move finally ran its course? Check out the breakdown and subsequent failure on the re-test of previous supportâall of which happened when Berkshire was unloading sharesâŠ
Itâs worth noting that the XOM sell was a total liquidation of a position that Berkshire had only held since 2013. So theyâre obviously not shy when it comes to cutting losses when a trade doesnât work out, either.
These look like the footprints of an investor who is at least somewhat aware of trends and technicals. What do you think?
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Photo: Quartz
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