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 Berkshire Hathaway CEO spent more than $400 million on Occidental Petroleum shares, which just hit a nearly three-year low amid fears that oil prices may keep falling.