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All right, let's finally take a look at Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile here. We teased this one earlier on. The cash pile has reached a record 325.2 billion dollars in the third quarter. This as Warren Buffett continues to trim significant stakes including Apple. Berkshire's holdings in the iPhone maker are down 60% since the beginning of the year. Joining us now, we've got Lee Munson, Portfolio Wealth Advisors President and CIO. Lee, always a pleasure to grab some time with you here. So, I mean, the significance of this cash pile and and dry powder that you got to imagine is going to be put to use at some point or another, are there top areas that you would be keeping in mind that we might see Berkshire Hathaway eventually put some of this cash pile to use?

Well, there's a couple of places that they really love and they're really working. Um, first thing is aerospace. I mean, you know, when you look at their industrial sector, which is about 30%, it was pretty weak, you know, sort of hit and miss, but aerospace precision cast parts is one of their companies. That's a place where you're seeing big double digit revenue, earnings, everything is there. Um, you know, I'm a big fan of a little mini Berkshire Hathaway called Transdime. I love that stock and that's what they're doing as well. They're just buying up all these OEMs, all the parts for that. So, I think that that's a place that I would I would spend a lot of attention on. I think also energy, I mean, obviously Buffett is pouring tons of money into Occidental. I don't really really see, you know, anything outside of that. So, all I can tell you is for Warren Buffett, this is a classic move. He's a contrarian, you know, he wants to pile up cash when things are going well and then he wants to see what he can buy, you know, when we're going to have some changes next year. And I think just the interest rate volatility, the uncertain about what interest rates are going to be next year, it's going to create some opportunity, especially in companies that are heavy on fixed assets, you know, those industrials, materials, things of that nature where those interest rates can really, you know, jack with the price of stock and the enterprise value. That would be where, you know, outside of that, I felt there's a pretty dull uh quarter. I think it's telling that he didn't do any buybacks, though.

Yeah, certainly, Lee. That's one of the things that jumped out to me. Just real quick, follow up on the cash pile, though. The fact that we are at a level that we haven't seen before, just what do you think that speaks to more macro level wise just in terms of how hard it is to find a good deal in this environment?

Well, my whole life I've been hearing about how Buffett's cash pile is is never been larger. It's kind of like listening to uh politicians talk about the national debt. It just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And it's it's true. He suffers from a size issue. What can he buy? He has to buy the whole company. Um, I don't necessarily think that the fact that it's an all-time high says as much as we do where, you know, the buybacks, I think says the most. He thinks that even his own company isn't worth buying back right now. And so I think you're going to have to see a market that trades much lower in valuation before you get him to do anything. And if he does anything that's not in a market that's getting crushed in its valuation, I think it's because he's going to look at again, look at things that he knows best or that are doing best. And that's going to be in energy or in some of these industrial aerospace things that have been working well.

Where where do you then on the other end of this expect him to continue trimming? I mean, he's already pulled back so much on Bank of America. We were talking about some of the trimming within Apple as well, which had been and was one of the largest positions and continues to be a more outsized waiting at the company here, but where else could be next?

You know, I don't know. You know, it's been eight consecutive quarters, they've been net sellers. And earlier this year, there was this, you know, we don't really know why they sell. That's the other thing. We talk about it as if we, you know, as if I have a cell phone directly to Warren Buffett and I chitchat before I come on. You don't, Lee? No. I don't. No, I don't. And I know the other analysts, they they always come off like, well, I was just chatting with Buffett. And that's not the case. You know, there are articles written this week about like, oh, he sold Apple because of capital gains concerns. There were just little comments that he made back in May regarding capital gains going up or down. So I think when you have to look at this, we don't really know what they're doing. We also have a 90, you know, four-year-old dude and two people who are not spring chickens under him. And so I think that thinking that we really understand the grand master plan, you know, I think the grand master plan is they buy stuff when it's attractive and when things get to a certain point, they take money off the table. I don't really see them selling much more going ahead. I think the Bank of America was this big 10-year bet they're winding down and Apple's just obvious. When you buy something years ago and you get two, three, four, five times on your money, it's okay to take a little profit. If you read Berkshire for years, he always says, you know, 3, 400% profits, you can take a little off the table, pay some tax.

Lee, what's it going to take to uh see more of a risk on approach, then, from Buffett?

You know, I think that we're going to have to see a very different price in the overall market. I think that we're going to have to see earnings come in. I think we're going to have to see some sort of break in interest rates. I think if we see interest rates trend above 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, I think that's going to make a rumble in equity markets. Also, we've got a historic election this week and I think that either party could cause enough volatility to start a trend. I think you're going to have to wait until next year before you see Buffett make a move. I don't think we're going to see markets get cheap in the next three months to to do anything interesting.