Just read through Greg Abel's first shareholder letter as Berkshire's new CEO and honestly, there's some interesting stuff buried in there about how he's actually thinking about the portfolio. The guy gave way more detail on Berkshire's equity holdings than Buffett typically did, which tells you something about his approach.

What caught my attention most was when Abel specifically called out four stocks where he expects to see basically no trading activity. He described them as businesses Berkshire understands deeply, respects the leadership on, and expects will compound over decades. That's a pretty telling statement about their long-term philosophy.

Let's break down what these four are. Apple sits at about 18.9% of the portfolio, though that's actually down significantly from where it was a few years back. Berkshire trimmed the position pretty hard recently, which some people found surprising. But if you think about it, when a single holding gets that massive and tech stocks have run this hard, taking some chips off the table makes sense. Apple's been conservative on the AI spending compared to some peers, which probably appeals to Berkshire's mindset.

Then there's American Express at 14.7%. This one's been a cornerstone holding since the 1960s and basically never gets touched. The closed-loop network they run is genuinely hard to replicate. They charge nearly $900 annually for platinum cards and people pay it. That's the kind of pricing power that compounds wealth over time. The network creates a moat that just gets stronger.

Coca-Cola makes up 10.2% and it's been there forever too. Not flashy, not an AI play, but it's the kind of business that will exist for decades. They've been a dividend king for 63 years now. When you're thinking about what compounds reliably over decades, this is exactly the type of asset Berkshire targets.

The fourth one that surprised people more is Moody's at 3.7%. It's the smallest position but still their eighth-largest holding overall. They basically control a third of the debt ratings market alongside two competitors, and that market is heavily regulated. The real moat here is that virtually anyone issuing debt needs their ratings. Their data analytics business is growing too. That's another example of a compound wealth machine.

What's interesting about all four is the pattern. These aren't flashy growth stocks. They're businesses with structural advantages, steady cash generation, and leadership teams Berkshire trusts. The fact that Abel specifically highlighted these and said to expect limited trading activity is basically him signaling that the philosophy isn't changing. This is still a buy-and-hold, think-in-decades kind of operation.