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Warren Buffett shopping extravaganza kicks off with Squishmallows pit

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Squishmallows in the images of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger display at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting at Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2024.

Sarah Min | CNBC

OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett’s annual shopping event, the pregame to Berkshire Hathaway‘s annual meeting, is wowing shareholders flocking here this weekend.

With over 20,000 square feet of showroom space and more than 50,000 items of inventory, the exhibit hall at the CHI Health Center features goodies from various Berkshire’s holding companies, from Brooks Running to See’s Candies to Jazwares.

Only shareholders can participate at the event and they can buy items at a special discount.

The annual meeting will be exclusively broadcast on CNBC and livestreamed on CNBC.com. The special coverage will begin Saturday at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Jazwares

Squishmallow pit at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2024.

Sarah Min | CNBC

Jazwares, the American toymaker best known for its Squishmallows plushie line, was a hit last year when it first displayed its wares at Berkshire Hathaway’s conference, including the debut of a Warren Buffett plushie. This year, the company expanded its exhibit in the convention hall, making it three times larger.

Displays at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nevada on May 3, 2024. 

Sarah Min | CNBC

Some highlights include the latest Squishmallows toys in the images of Buffett and his longtime Berkshire partner, Charlie Munger, a splashy Squishmallows pit, as well as other displays.

‘Poor Charlie’s Almanack’

Charles Munger remembrance ahead of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting at Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2024.

Sarah Min | CNBC

The Bookworm only had one book to sell this year: “Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger.” That was at the request of Buffett in honor of his business partner of more than 60 years, who passed away in November at the age of 99.

FlightSafety

FlightSafety at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2024.

Sarah Min | CNBC

Berkshire acquired pilot training company FlightSafety in 1996. At Friday’s shopping event, the firm brought a taste of what its training program looks like for professional pilots. Shareholders lined up to put on virtual reality glasses and experience the flight simulation training.

Pilot Travel Centers

Pilot Travel display ahead of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting at Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2024.

Sarah Min | CNBC

Truck-stop giant Pilot Travel Centers put up a big display with a real-sized red truck. The firm is largest operator of travel centers in North America, with more than 750 locations. Berkshire now fully owns Pilot Travel after buying the remaining 20% ownership interest from the Haslam family. The deal was not without drama as the Haslams last year sued Berkshire in a complaint that accused the conglomerate of using so-called pushdown accounting without authorization from the family.

Duracell

Duracell display at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2024.

Sarah Min | CNBC

In 2016, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought Duracell from Procter & Gamble, offering the consumer giant $4.7 billion of the shares it owned in P&G in exchange for the battery maker.

Brooks Running

Displays at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2024.

Sarah Min | CNBC

Brooks Running attracted a long line of shareholders snapping up the 2024 special edition of its running shoes with “brk” on the side and a cartoon of a running Buffett on the insoles. Many shareholders are also set to participate in the Brooks “Invest in Yourself” 5K fun run and walk on Sunday, the morning following the annual meeting.

Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen display at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2024.

Sarah Min | CNBC

Warren Buffett bought Dairy Queen in 1998 in a roughly $600 million transaction, and has made trips to the Omaha locations with his great-grandchildren. According to The Wall Street Journal, the billionaire investor has said in the past that his favorite DQ order is a vanilla soft serve topped with chocolate syrup and malted milk power.

Correction: Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting is held in Nebraska. Captions in an earlier version didn’t cite that state.

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Morgan Stanley picks China stocks to ride out a worst-case scenario in U.S. tensions

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Elon Musk endorses Trump’s transition co-chair Howard Lutnick for Treasury secretary

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Elon Musk at the tenth Breakthrough Prize ceremony held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on April 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

The Hollywood Reporter | The Hollywood Reporter | Getty Images

On Saturday, Elon Musk shared who he is endorsing for Treasury secretary on X, a cabinet position President-elect Donald Trump has yet to announce his preference to fill.

Musk wrote that Howard Lutnick, Trump-Vance transition co-chair and CEO and chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald, BGC Group and Newmark Group chairman, will “actually enact change.”

Lutnick and Key Square Group founder and CEO Scott Bessent are reportedly top picks to run the Treasury Department.

Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, also included his thoughts on Bessent in his post on X.

“My view fwiw is that Bessent is a business-as-usual choice,” he wrote.

“Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt so we need change one way or another,” he added.

Musk also stated it would be “interesting to hear more people weigh in on this for @realDonaldTrump to consider feedback.”

Howard Lutnick, chairman and chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald LP, left, and Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., during a campaign event with former US President Donald Trump, not pictured, at Madison Square Garden in New York, US, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In a statement to Politico, Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt made it clear that the president-elect has not made any decisions regarding the position of Treasury secretary.

“President-elect Trump is making decisions on who will serve in his second administration,” Leavitt said in a statement. “Those decisions will be announced when they are made.”

Both Lutnick and Bessent have close ties to Trump. Lutnick and Trump have known each other for decades, and the CEO has even hosted a fundraiser for the president-elect.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that Lutnick has already been helping Trump review candidates for cabinet positions in his administration.

On the other hand, Bessent was a key economic advisor to the president-elect during his 2024 campaign. Bessent also received an endorsement from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, according to Semafor.

“He’s from South Carolina, I know him well, he’s highly qualified,” Graham said.

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Protecting your portfolio against risks tied to Trump’s tariff plan

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Biggest Risks After the Rally: Trade & Top Valuations

Money manager John Davi is positioning for challenges tied to President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff agenda.

Davi said he worries the new administration’s policies could be “very inflationary,” so he thinks it is important to choose investments carefully.

“Small-cap industrials make more sense than large-cap industrials,” the Astoria Portfolio Advisors CEO told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week.

Davi, who is also the firm’s chief investment officer, expects the red sweep will help push a pro-growth, pro-domestic policy agenda forward that will benefit small caps.

It appears Wall Street agrees so far. Since the presidential election, the Russell 2000 index, which tracks small-cap stocks, is up around 4% as of Friday’s close.

Davi, whose firm has $1.9 billion in assets under management, also likes staying domestic despite the tariff risks.

“We’re overweight the U.S. I think that’s the right playbook in the next few years until the midterms,” added Davi. “We have two years of where he [Trump] can control a lot of the narrative.”

But Davi plans to stay away from fixed income due to challenges tied to the growing budget deficit.

“Be careful if you own bonds for sure,” said Davi.

Since the election, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield is up 3% as of Friday’s close.

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