New York, Feb 1, 2026, 10:10 EST — Market closed.
- Berkshire’s Class B shares climbed 0.9% on Friday, while Class A rose roughly 1%.
- Wall Street slipped, with investors digesting Trump’s Fed chair nominee, inflation clues, and the looming threat of a government funding deadlock.
- Coming up this week: a House funding vote, the U.S. jobs report, and more earnings from megacap companies.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B shares climbed 0.9% to $480.53 on Friday. Class A shares edged up 1.0% to $722,500, finishing the week stronger despite broader market declines.
With U.S. markets closed over the weekend, Berkshire shareholders face Monday amid a tangled backdrop of macroeconomic and political issues. For a stock often seen as a broad gauge of corporate America, rates and risk appetite are carrying extra weight right now.
Washington headlines and the direction of interest rates will likely drive the next few sessions, impacting Berkshire’s large financial stakes and the returns on insurance funds pending payout. Traders now face another hurdle: the government shutdown increases the chances that key data releases will be postponed or shuffled.
Wall Street’s key indexes slipped on Friday after investors reacted to Donald Trump’s selection of Kevin Warsh, viewed as a hawkish candidate likely to favor maintaining higher borrowing costs to combat inflation. Earnings reports and inflation figures also factored into the mood. “Markets are calibrating to Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh,” noted Michael Hans from Citizens Wealth. (Reuters)
Berkshire’s largest public stakes showed a mixed finish to the week. Apple Inc. shares ticked up 0.3% following its quarterly earnings, Bank of America gained 0.3%, while American Express dropped 1.8%.
Warsh was tapped to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair once Powell’s term wraps up in May 2026, according to Reuters. On Sunday, Trump expressed confidence that Warsh might win over some Senate Democrats, despite a Republican senator’s threat to block Fed nominees connected to a Justice Department investigation into Powell. (Reuters)
Washington threw a new wrench into the works. The U.S. government slid into what Reuters called a probable short shutdown early Saturday after Congress missed a funding deadline. The Senate approved a spending package 71-29, but the House wasn’t expected to consider it until Monday. (Reuters)
The shutdown impacts markets well past the political fallout. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics warned that release dates might shift “due to the lapse in government services,” though it still has the Employment Situation report — the key monthly U.S. jobs data — scheduled for Friday, Feb. 6 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Berkshire is navigating a transition year. According to a recent SEC filing, Greg Abel took over as president and CEO on Jan. 1, with Warren Buffett staying on as chairman. (SEC)
Investors are watching Berkshire’s usual late-February pattern. Historically, the company drops its annual report — complete with Buffett’s shareholder letter — on a Saturday morning, timed with an earnings announcement. (Berkshirehathaway)
Still, the setup isn’t foolproof for Berkshire bulls. A prolonged shutdown risks clouding the economic outlook, while a fresh market selloff—fueled by rate worries or tough megacap earnings—would probably weigh on Berkshire’s equity holdings, even if its core businesses hold firm.
Traders are eyeing Monday’s House vote on a funding deal as the next key catalyst, alongside market reactions to the Fed’s outlook ahead of Friday’s February 6 jobs report. The week is packed with earnings, featuring heavy hitters like Alphabet and Amazon. (Reuters)
