What's going on?

Looks like Buffett�s been up to his old tricks: a filing released by Berkshire Hathaway late on Tuesday revealed it�s sold off some of its Apple stock and quietly bought into three other companies.

What does this mean?

Investors don�t usually find out what the Buffett-run investment firm has been buying and selling until its quarterly updates, so this one-off filing might�ve caught investors off guard � especially because it was selling off some of its stake in Apple and holding on to �just� $120 billion worth of the tech giant�s shares. But Berkshire didn�t just trim back there: it recently sold stakes in JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo too. And since that freed up some loose change, the conglomerate bought into telecom giant Verizon, insurance broker Marsh & McLennan, and bruised oil major Chevron instead.

Why should I care?

For markets: When Buffett talks, investors listen.

Berkshire Hathaway is a global bellwether for investors: where Buffett�s team boldly goes, other investors follow. So it might come as little surprise that Verizon, Marsh & McLennan, and Chevron�s shares initially rose on Wednesday, while Apple, JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo�s fell. Investors might�ve seen that coming, though: data from TipRanks shows investor sentiment had recently turned �very negative� on the three stocks Berkshire sold.

For you personally: Portfolio rebalancing in practice.

There�s a lesson in Berkshire�s latest update too: the importance of rebalancing your portfolio. See, banks have done well in the last few months, and Apple � which is the investment firm�s single biggest investment � has even seen its value triple since Berkshire last sold some of its stake back in 2019 (tweet this). By selling those stocks, then, Buffett�s business locked in some profits and made sure no single industry or company sways its portfolio too much.