#1  BUFFETT BEATS THE MARKET, AGAIN

Here's the main reason you can't count out Warren Buffett: he beats the market .. a lot.  As we begin the last trading day in 2007, Berkshire Hathaway's Class A shares are going for $141,100 each, an increase of over 28% from 2006's close of $109,990.  (That's after they took a hit from Barron's and its 'Sell Buffett' cover story.)

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That's almost seven times better than the benchmark S&P 500 index, which is up 4.2 percent this year.  It's also the best year for Berkshire's stock since 1998's 52 percent advance.

Earlier this year, an academic study found that Berkshire's stock portfolio beat the market in 28 out of 31 years, and the average annual return of its portfolio outperformed the S&P by 14.65 percent from 1976 through 2006.

Warren Buffett would be the first to tell you he won't beat the market every single year.  And there are still nay-sayers who think his best years are behind him.  But I expect that when I'm writing '2008: The Year in Warren' he will once again be ahead of the game.

Here's to a happy, healthy, and profitable New Year.

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