NEW YORK, Jan 17, 2026, 10:02 EST — Market closed.
- Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares rose 0.14% on Friday to $493.29; the last after-hours trade was $493.74. (StockAnalysis)
- Policy risk around U.S. credit card rates and a choppy start to earnings season are back in focus ahead of Tuesday’s reopen. (Reuters)
- Big moves in Berkshire’s major listed holdings were mixed on Friday, leaving the stock to drift with the broader tape.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B shares (BRK.B) ended Friday up 0.14% at $493.29, a small move into a long weekend for U.S. markets. The stock last traded at $493.74 in after-hours. (StockAnalysis)
The muted action came as Wall Street wrapped a choppy session nearly flat, with the Dow down 0.17% and the S&P 500 off 0.06% as the first week of fourth-quarter earnings got under way. “Most investors will take that as a win,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, pointing to the S&P 500 staying “within spitting distance of 7,000.” (Reuters)
For Berkshire holders, one near-term headline sits outside the company: President Donald Trump’s call for a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10%, which he said would start on Jan. 20. “Policy volatility is likely to create market volatility until there is a clear path forward for banks and regulators,” said Brian Mulberry, a senior client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management. (Reuters)
Berkshire’s stock often takes its cues from its sprawling mix of operating businesses and its equity portfolio, and Friday’s read-through was messy. Apple slid 1.1%, Bank of America rose 0.7%, and American Express climbed 2.1% in the regular session.
The company is also still settling into its new era. Berkshire said earlier this month that Greg Abel took over the top job on Jan. 1, with Warren Buffett staying on as chairman, after Reuters reported Berkshire had been trimming stakes in Apple and Bank of America while building a record cash pile. “It’s hard to imagine that there will be the same cult following,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management. (Reuters)
A filing also showed Berkshire raised Abel’s annual cash salary to $25 million effective Jan. 1. Investors are watching for any early signs on whether Abel leans toward buybacks, deals, or patience. (SEC)
Traders are also bracing for a bumpier tape after Friday’s monthly options expiration, which can remove a short-term “pinning” effect in the index. Options are contracts that give investors the right to buy or sell at a set price by a set date; when lots of them expire, hedges can shift fast. “I think this options expiration will allow the S&P 500 to start moving around a bit more,” said Brent Kochuba, founder of options analytics service SpotGamma. (Reuters)
But the downside case is straightforward: if policy pressure builds on banks and card lenders, the broader financial complex can get dragged lower again, and Berkshire tends not to be immune when risk appetite thins out. A deeper earnings-season wobble would also hit the mark-to-market value of Berkshire’s listed holdings, even if its operating businesses are steady.
U.S. stock and bond markets are closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, with regular trading set to resume Tuesday. That reopen lands on the same day Trump has pointed to for the credit card-rate cap to begin, though the proposal remains short on detail. (Investopedia)
When trading resumes, investors will be watching whether the early earnings-season tone holds, with reports due next week from companies including Netflix, GE Aerospace and United Airlines. For Berkshire, Tuesday’s session will be an early test of whether the stock stays in its recent narrow range — or starts to trade more like the rest of the market again. (Investors)
