The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday, Aug. 5, edition that Warren Buffett slashed Berkshire Hathaway's interest in Apple in a move that could prove unsettling for the broader stock market -- both because the investor is so revered and because there had been little positive financial news lately. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe reports that just two years ago Mr. Buffett called the stock one of the four giants of his conglomerate's business. That gave investors the impression that Mr. Buffett might hold onto Apple indefinitely as he has with the Coca-Cola and American Express shares he bought decades ago. However, he has trimmed the Apple interest over the past year and has recently also sold off some of his stock in Bank of America and Chinese EV maker BYD, while doing very little buying. As a result, Mr. Buffett is now sitting on nearly $277-billion (U.S.) in cash, up from what was already a record $189-billion (U.S.) just three months earlier. Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan says, "This could alarm the markets especially given the news from last week with weak tech earnings, a disappointing jobs report and uncertainty about the future of interest rates."