‘It’s tough to find values when everybody is preferring gambling’

Warren Buffett has criticized the stock market as increasingly driven by speculative trading rather than long-term investing.

“It’s hard to find value when everyone is choosing to gamble,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick.

Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman had harsh words for the stock market earlier this year. In May, he compared the stock market to “a church with a casino” and specifically called the rise in one-day options trading a “gamble.”

The stock market has soared to all-time highs this year, climbing a wall of anxiety that includes an energy shock from the ongoing war with Iran. Skeptics say there is too much speculation in stocks tied to AI, and tools like options and leveraged exchange-traded funds are adding fuel to the fire. The stocks are increasingly attracting retail traders, who are buying shares of memory chip maker Micron and the recently IPO SpaceX.

The 95-year-old billionaire investor, known for his strong commitment to value investing, expressed his belief that the most meaningful investment opportunities are fewer and far between and require a patient and disciplined approach.

“There are times when opportunities are thrown at you so quickly that you can’t do it, it’s incredible,” the Berkshire chairman said. “And there are other times when you’re very, very lucky if you find something within a few years. And the latter should always prevail.”

“But because people love gambling so much, training gamblers actually makes more money than training investors,” he said.