Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reported its third-quarter holdings on Wednesday, revealing it’s growing confidence in the U.S. financial and tech industries, even as tech and finance stocks have retreated sharply. The third-quarter holdings report of the firm revealed 35 million new shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and 41 million shares of software giant Oracle (ORCL), with stakes worth $4.02 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively.Along with the aforementioned two, the firm also bought smaller stakes - 6 million shares in PNC Financial (PNC), as well as 3.5 million shares in the insurance company Travelers (TRV). Berkshire’s confidence in the US banking sector is notable, given that half of the firm’s top 10 positions are in some of the nation’s largest banks like Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), U.S. Bancorp (USB) and Goldman Sachs (GS).

Carlyle Group is set to acquire a stake in American International Group Inc.-owned DSA Reinsurance. DSA currently reinsures $36 billion of AIG's Legacy Life and Annuity and General Insurance liabilities.Other major asset management/private equity firms, Blackstone Group LP and Apollo Global Management LLC, already have investments in insurance platforms.

While previously it did not allow itself to repurchase shares at prices 20% or more above its book value, Tuesday’s announcement from the firm indicates potentially less stringency going forward. According to the announcement, Berkshire's new policy would let CEO & Chairman Warren Buffet and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger buy back shares whenever they felt that the firm’s stock price was below its “intrinsic value, conservatively determined”.cash that would be available for shareholders) of the firm discounted to present value. With Berkshire's stockpile of cash ballooning to more than $115 billion by Q4 2017, and staying above $108 billion as of Q1 2018, many people might view the firm’s shift in buyback policy as a natural move.