“Stock God” Buffett delivers a scathing critique of US stocks turning into a “church with a casino attached”: everyone is gambling, and it’s hard to find value

The “Oracle of Omaha” at the age of 95, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has once again sounded the alarm over the currently overheated market. According to CNBC, Buffett, in a recent interview, harshly criticized that today’s stock market is being dominated by “speculative trades,” saying, “When everyone prefers gambling, it’s hard to find real investment value.” He also likened today’s Wall Street to “a church with a casino attached,” urging investors, amid this AI- and new-IPO-driven frenzy, to stick to the discipline and patience of long-term investing.
(Background: Buffett admits a mistake—failing to buy Google early was a big error! To this day, “is more likely to be the winner”)
(Additional background: The “Oracle” cuts ties with Bill Gates! Buffett stops donating to the Gates Foundation, leaving all 12 million shares of Berkshire stock to the family)

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• “When everyone prefers gambling, it’s hard to find value”
• AI and new stocks fuel the frenzy, Buffett: good opportunities should be scarce
• Reaffirm long-term discipline, accelerating the push to donate wealth

Despite risks from Middle East geopolitical tensions and the impact of energy prices, the U.S. stock market in 2026 continues to repeatedly set historical highs amid wave after wave of exuberance. Yet in this seemingly prosperous capital feast, value investing master Warren Buffett chooses to stand at the sidelines and issues a stern warning about the speculative atmosphere pervading the market.

“When everyone prefers gambling, it’s hard to find value”

According to CNBC’s latest report, in an interview with the well-known financial anchor Becky Quick, Buffett did not hide his concerns about the current stock market ecosystem. He said bluntly, “It’s tough to find values when everybody is preferring gambling.”

The 95-year-old Berkshire Hathaway chief pointed out that today’s stock market is increasingly being driven by short-term “speculative trades,” rather than long-term investing based on companies’ fundamentals. In fact, earlier this year, Buffett had also sarcastically likened the U.S. stock market to “a church with a casino attached,” and specifically called out the widely popular zero-day options (0DTE) trading, which in essence is pure gambling behavior.

AI and new stocks fuel the frenzy, Buffett: good opportunities should be scarce

The report states that Wall Street is currently being boosted by multiple speculative forces. Not only are AI-related concept stocks continuing to soar, but leveraged ETFs and various derivative financial products are becoming “accelerants” as well. Large numbers of retail investors are pouring into the market, crazily chasing popular targets such as memory chip maker Micron and, more recently, SpaceX, the space giant that just completed a century-scale IPO.

Faced with such a frenzy, Buffett reiterated his belief in value investing, emphasizing that genuinely meaningful investment opportunities are becoming increasingly scarce, requiring immense patience and discipline. He said earnestly, “Sometimes, opportunities come crashing down like rain, and you can’t catch them all… but most of the time, you’re lucky to find something good within a few years. And that latter thing is what the market should be like.”

Buffett further lamented that because humans are naturally gamblers, Wall Street finds it far easier to “train gamblers” than to “train investors” to generate ample profits. This is precisely the fundamental reason why truly good value in the market has become extremely scarce.

Reaffirm long-term discipline, accelerating the push to donate wealth

Buffett’s remarks mirror his earlier warning in May this year at Berkshire’s shareholders meeting about the “gambling atmosphere” in the market, showing his high level of caution about the current overvaluation environment. He repeatedly urged investors that investing should be something long-term and highly disciplined, not seeking short-term thrills and windfall gains in the market.

In addition to his views on the market, the report also mentioned Buffett’s latest moves in personal wealth planning. As one of the most generous philanthropists in history, he is currently accelerating his charitable giving plans, with the goal of donating the vast majority of the wealth accumulated by Berkshire Hathaway before 2034, fully putting into practice his commitment of “take from society, use for society.”