Warren Buffett hasn't seen a lot to like in the stock market lately. Through the first three quarters of 2024, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) sold $133 billion worth of stock from the portfolio he manages for the conglomerate. While he's made a few new purchases in that time, they total just $5.8 billion.

Though the Oracle of Omaha has been a net seller of stocks for two years, you can be a confident buyer of these three industry-leading businesses in the new year.

Steve Ballmer has an unorthodox investing approach. The former Microsoft CEO is worth $151 billion, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the ninth richest person the world. That puts him ahead of famed investor Warren Buffett by a nearly $10 billion margin.

Since Warren Buffett became the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK.A 0.80%) ( BRK.B 0.95%) in 1965, its stock has delivered a compound annual return of 19.8%. That would have been enough to turn a $1,000 investment into $42.5 million, whereas the same investment in the S&P 500 would have grown to just $325,053 over the same period.

The purchases were made Tuesday through Thursday. The Occidental Petroleum buy was the first since June, suggesting Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett now finds the stock attractive.

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