Buffett set to break his silence amid pandemic
| Buffett speaks! For the first time since mid-March, we will hear from Warren Buffett tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon at the "virtual" 2020 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting.
Perhaps the biggest question is what, if anything, has Berkshire been doing with its $128 billion in cash as the COVID-19 pandemic sent stock prices plunging in March, followed by a partially rebound in April?
We may, however, not get a complete answer. The Berkshire news release outlining tomorrow's proceedings says Buffett "will not discuss politics or specific investment holdings." And the company is not required to disclose its end-of-Q1 stock portfolio until mid-May.
Any Berkshire stock repurchases, however, may show up in the company's 10-Q, which will be released along with its earnings tomorrow morning.
 Based on Charlie Munger's Wall Street Journal interview, in which he said the "phone is not ringing off the hook" with companies seeking capital, it appears Berkshire has not been doing the kind of multi-billion cash infusions we saw during the 2008 financial crisis.
And as far as we know, Berkshire hasn't bought any businesses outright.
The lack of clarity may be disappointing to shareholders like Greg Womack of Womack Investment Advisers, who told CNBC.com, "Cash is not paying anything right now, so it behooves to take some of this capital and deploy it."
We probably will hear how Berkshire's insurance operations are coping with economic fallout from COVID-19. As CFRA Research's Cathy Seifert points out, Berkshire has a big reinsurance business in which it takes on the risks of other insurers, and "something that doesn't tend to be top of mind, but maybe should be, is what's their degree of exposure to the pandemic within the reinsurance business."
We will almost certainly hear Buffett reassure us that in the long run, America and its economy will come through this crisis, just as it has survived its past challenges. (See "Buffett: Never bet against America")
Who, what, when, and where The proceedings are scheduled to begin at 4:45 pm ET with the formal business meeting, in which the board is elected and other corporate matters are handled.
Due to the ongoing virus threat, no shareholders will be physically present.
Only Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman-Non-Insurance Operations Greg Abel will be in the room. (That's helping to support the already generally-held belief that Abel is in line to be the next CEO of Berkshire.)
After the formal meeting, Buffett and Abel will respond to shareholder questions already submitted to the three journalists who had been scheduled to be at the meeting: CNBC's Becky Quick, retired Fortune editor Carol Loomis, and Andrew Ross Sorkin of CNBC and The New York Times.
 Becky, by video remote, will be asking "those questions that the journalists decide are the most interesting and important." As usual, Buffett and Abel won't know in advance what questions will be asked.
Charlie Munger will not be participating.
We don't know how long the Q&A will last, but we assume it won't be the six-hour marathon we usually get at shareholders meetings.
Everything will be live streamed by Yahoo Finance with a pre-meeting show beginning at 4pm ET. The meeting will also be posted Monday morning on CNBC's "Warren Buffett Archive."
Usually there are plenty of things for shareholders to buy during the meeting weekend. While that won't be happening in person, Berkshire isn't letting the opportunity totally get away from it. It's posted a page with links to subsidiaries offering special items or discounts, including Berkshire-branded clothing and "collectibles."
Berkshire meeting previews from around the web (Some links may require subscriptions)
BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET Some links may require a subscription
BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH
  BERKSHIRE'S TOP STOCK HOLDINGS
 Berkshire's top stock holdings by market value, based on today's closing prices. The number of shares held is as of December 31, 2019, as disclosed in the company's February 14 13F SEC filing, except for Bank of New York Mellon, which is as of April 8, 2020.
The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)
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For information on how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you are sick, go to the CDC's Coronavirus (COVID-19) information page.
-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch
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