Load up the station wagon and point it toward middle America; it's time once again for Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A) annual meeting! Breakout is going to be there along with self-proclaimed devotees of the value investing religion as preached by Warren Buffett.
Like all things related to the Oracle of Omaha, it's tough to separate the genuine capitalist genius from the hype. Buffett has done more to help individual investors put their money to work wisely than any living American. He's a bit like Ben Franklin: a massively wealthy American original with a gift for doling out timeless wisdom he himself only occasionally follows.
If Buffett feels conflicted about being the man who first characterized derivatives as "financial weapons of mass destruction" while at the same time being one of the largest and most successful derivatives traders in history, he doesn't show it. Being the best long-term investor in history means never having to say your sorry.
None of which says much about the merits of attending the annual meeting. In the attached video Lee Munson of Portfolio, LLC says investors shouldn't confuse the spectacle with the substance of Buffett's message. "One of the biggest mistakes I see from clients of my firm is that they'll go through the annual report from Berkshire Hathaway, they'll take a look at his largest positions, and they'll buy them."
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