Apple is now one of Warren Buffett’s top stocks

Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, lauded the “miraculous” qualities of the USA economy over the weekend in highlighting another stellar year for his company, Berkshire Hathaway. Apple is now Berkshire’s second-largest holding after only Coca-Cola, and the company’s stake in Apple is worth nearly $18 billion.

On Saturday, Buffett said he has “no doubt” he will win the bet. He also named his preferred choice – Vanguard’s S&P 500 index fund. On 30-year US Treasury bonds, Buffett said: “It absolutely baffles me who buys the 30-year bond” and that doing so was not sensible at current yields. “Both large and small investors should stick with low-priced index funds”. “The probability is also very high that the person soliciting your funds will not be the exception who does well”, Buffett wrote.

The company also owns dozens of stocks including Apple, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, the four biggest U.S. airlines and more than one-fourth of food company Kraft Heinz.

On Monday morning, Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick Berkshire Hathaway doubled its Apple investment to 133 million shares in the first quarter, buying millions of shares before its record 2016 results, released at the end of January.

Though he did not mention Donald Trump, Mr Buffett expressed optimism about the future prosperity of the United States and championed the economic benefits of immigration and the rule of law – just as the new President is trying to block immigrants and has attacked the courts.

Buffett puts Berkshire in that category, using the letter to tout the successes of his conglomerate’s more than 90 operating units.

Berkshire Hathaway’s operating profit from its businesses fell 6% in the fourth quarter, with its insurance investing and railroad, utilities and energy segments leading the decline. (BRKa) reported that its fourth quarter profit improved almost 15 percent from the year-ago quarter. However, for example, in 2016 Berkshire Hathaway bought large stakes in Apple (AAPL – Free Report) and sold a majority of their stake in Wal-Mart (WMT – Free Report) in an active charge to find yield.

And one thing he knows is that people continue to have an “incredible stickiness” with Apple’s iPhone.

Joking aside, Buffett has warmed up to investing in big technology companies lately, even though he is famous for having shunned them in the past.

Plus, he added that Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook had done a ‘terrific job’.