The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that it is a bit alarming to discover that Warren Buffett has been making the same trades as everyone else. A Financial Times of London item inside the Post says that Mr. Buffett built his reputation on the financial equivalent of running into burning buildings. One of the most well-worn items in his aphorism collection, "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when they are fearful." Now, big trades by his investment company Berkshire Hathaway included selling off shares in JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs and buying into Barrick Gold. This looks a lot like being fearful when others are fearful. Banks have lost a third of their value since the pandemic first gripped markets in February. At the same time, the gold price is at an all-time high and Barrick is up almost 30 per cent. The fall in bank shares and the surge in gold are both closely linked to falling interest rates, and neither has anything particularly good to say about the economy. If you believe growth is set to recover, you think rates will rise, and with them bank margins and profits. The FT points out that rising rates, meanwhile, are almost always bad for the gold price.