Though Warren Buffett is known as a highly successful ‘get rich slow’ investor, he has, nonetheless, made multiple trades that are exceptionally well timed and appreciated swiftly.
The latest such trade occurred between December 17 and December 19 when the legendary ‘Oracle of Omaha’ purchased a staggering 8.9 million Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) shares at an average price of $45.99, as uncovered by Finbold’s insider tracker.
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Along with its size, the $409 million OXY stock investment was remarkable for its timing. Specifically, the oil giant’s shares were at their lowest point since the rapid rally of February 2022.
In fact, by press time on January 17, Occidental Petroleum had risen 13.72% from the purchase price, meaning that Buffett is already $55 million up on the trade.
Why anybody could have made the OXY stock investment
As impressive as the timing was, it is worth pointing out that the stock pick didn’t require uncanny clairvoyance.
It has been known for months that Ukraine would shut down the passage of Russian gas through its territory on January 1, thus increasing the European Union’s reliance on American fossil fuels.
Additionally, starting in December 2024, Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic has been claiming that the U.S. is preparing to impose sanctions against the country’s oil corporation – NIS Petrol (BEL: NIIS) – due to the ownership structure, which heavily features Russian Gazprom (MOEX: GAZP).
The U.S. denied the allegation essentially until the sanctions were officially unveiled, and few lent credence to Vucic’s statement as it was widely seen as a misdirection tactic due to the mass series of protests triggered by a fatal collapse of a train station canopy on November 1 and the ensuing political violence.
Finally, both the Ukrainian shutting down of fossil fuel transit and the sweeping sanctions that targeted hundreds of entities in January led to a substantial increase in the price of oil that, in turn, furthered the OXY stock rally.
Warren Buffett goes on massive stock buying spree
The Occidental Petroleum stock purchase came in a series of major Warren Buffett investments that followed a concerning deluge of selling, mostly in the third quarter (Q4) of 2024.
After raising a historically large cash pile worth hundreds of billions of dollars, ‘The Oracle of Omaha’ went on something of a shopping spree which, by press time, featured a $90 million investment in VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN) executed throughout December and a $107 million buy of Sirius XM (NASDAQ: SIRI) stock on the same day as the Occidental Petroleum trade.
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