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Warren Buffett Watch
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After two of Buffettstock's three days of peace and money, we're still looking for the big headline.
Warren Buffett will hold a news conference tomorrow (Sunday) and that could produce a major story. He might even comment on Microsoft's decision to walk away from its bid for Yahoo. (I'll be there for Warren Buffett Watch.)
But after five hours of listening to Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger answer all kinds of questions from shareholders today, the reporters gathered in the press box near the top of Omaha's Qwest Center failed to reach a consensus on the day's major headline.
I was spared that dilemma by the chronological nature of the live blogging that kept me very busy during those five hours. I didn't have to organize the sprawling Q&A into a traditional journalism school 'pyramid' story, with the most important news at the top.
LIVE BLOG ARCHIVE: Warren Buffett's Q&A With Shareholders (Morning Session)
LIVE BLOG ARCHIVE: Warren Buffett's Q&A With Shareholders (Afternoon Session)
So, what was the day's big headline? Take your pick.
Buffett did make some minor news in his television interviews before the shareholder session, when he told CNBC and Bloomberg that he doesn't see any conflict of interest in Moody's triple-A rating of Berkshire's new bond insurer.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has said he's taking a look, since Berkshire is Moody's biggest shareholder. Buffett points out that both Moody's and Standard & Poor's had given triple-A ratings to Berkshire Hathaway itself long before it owned any Moody's shares.
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Buses carrying Berkshire Hathaway shareholders leaving the Qwest Center after today's marathon Q&A session with Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. |
"I don't think there's much there," he told our Becky Quick (video and transcript), although he said Blumenthal is right to investigate the larger question of why the ratings process "failed in the last six months in the mortgage market."
Pretty good, but not 'stop the presses.'
So far, I think the biggest headline is the event itself. This isn't an especially original thought, but it's very evident here in Omaha. The city has been invaded by tens of thousands of people who crowded into an arena for more than six hours on a sunny, spring day to listen to opinions, advice and jokes from two elderly investors. Not rock stars, not Hollywood actors, not powerful politicians ... a pair of modest, unassuming investors. And many of those in attendance paid at least the price of a Berkshire Class B share (currently $4,480) to be there. That's an expensive ticket.
That doesn't happen every day. That's news.
Current Berkshire price: [US;BRK.A
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See Warren Buffett Watch on CNBC's The Call, most weekday mornings at 11:50a ET
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Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes