Obligatory Buffett paraphase: there are no called strikes in investing (ie if you choose not to swing at an opportunity, that then turns out to be good, nobody penalizes you)

As much of Berkshire's success has been based on limiting losses as pushing successes. "Buffett declines to invest in company" is a less sexy headline than "Buffett buys large stake in X" though.

Maybe Buffett's old. Maybe Berkshire is played out. Maybe they miscalled the pandemic churn. Or maybe the market is just so screwed up now that they're declining to swing.

I believe Berkshire has always been a macro-trend company? If we're looking for someone who traded in and out of pandemic dips and bubbles, that's very much not-Berkshire.