Just caught something interesting in the new CEO's playbook. When Greg Abel rolled out his first shareholder letter at Berkshire Hathaway, he made a point of calling out four stocks as "will compound over decades" material - Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Moody's. Fair enough. But here's what got my attention: two of Berkshire's five largest positions didn't make the cut.

One of them is Bank of America, sitting at 8.1% of the portfolio. Now, Berkshire's got serious history with BAC - back in 2011 they pumped $5 billion into it, and that turned into a solid win. But the new CEO's silence on it is telling. Over the past few years, Berkshire actually halved its stake. The banking sector has been a drag since the financial crisis, and with all that cash Berkshire's been hoarding lately, it seems like they're bracing for tougher times ahead. Banks just haven't delivered like they used to. BAC's trading around 175% of tangible book value - not cheap by historical standards - so maybe the new CEO is thinking there are better opportunities elsewhere.

Then there's Chevron at 6.5%. This one surprised me more, honestly. Berkshire's been loading up on energy over the past couple years, especially since the new CEO actually ran Berkshire Hathaway Energy. They even kept buying Chevron after mid-2023. The company's doing solid fundamentals - strong balance sheet, $12 billion in buybacks last year on track to continue, nearly 3.8% dividend yield. Plus it's got upside exposure to Venezuela production and acts as a hedge if Middle East tensions spike oil prices. So why didn't the new CEO mention it as core?

My read: Bank of America probably is getting the side-eye for real. But Chevron? That feels more like it's just not in the "decades-long compounder" bucket rather than heading for the exit. Still, the fact that the new CEO specifically called out what he does want to hold long-term and left these two off the list definitely changes how you should think about them.