Voices from Berkshire's Annual Meeting

On the scene in Omaha, journalists and bloggers weigh in on Warren Buffett's annual paean to capitalism

Jimmy Buffett crooned a special version of Margaritaville in a tribute to his distant and more famous cousin, master investor Warren Buffett.

Microsoft (MSFT) founder Bill Gates made the trek for a game of Ping-Pong with Warren and a couple of Berkshire Hathaway board members.

And the Oracle of Omaha even took center stage, armed with a ukulele, to sing Red River Valley with the Quebe Sisters Band from Texas.

It was, of course, the mother of all annual corporate meetings: Buffett's annual paean to capitalism, his Woodstock-like love fest for more than 25,000 shareholders, friends, and relatives of all things Buffett. The world's most famous investor told a reporter that the annual meeting is "similar to sex. The longer they last, the better." This one was a doozy, a marathon six-hour session.

On the Beat

And as is often the case, journalists came out in full force to cover the Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) event. The best of the Web offerings?

Omaha World-Herald staff writer Joe Ruff posted a sprightly written blow-by-blow account of the day, starting at 8:55 a.m. "Thunderstorms did not deter Berkshire Hathaway shareholders from getting up early today and standing in line at the Qwest Center Omaha…" wrote Ruff. "People wore raincoats and hats and they carried umbrellas. When the doors opened at 7 a.m. the soundspeaker in the auditorium blared Pink Floyd's song Money and men in business suits literally sprinted to get front-row seats. Others gathered at various booths set up around the Qwest Center hawking wares sold by Berkshire subsidiaries like car insurance from Geico and Dilly Bars from Dairy Queen."

"Berkshire Hathaway-a-ville"

The surprise appearance of Jimmy Buffett got plenty of play.

The webmaster at BuffettNews.com noted that the reworked version of Margaritaville began with, "Living on sponge cake, and Omaha beef steak, watching the shareholders running around." The chorus? "Wasting away in Berkshire Hathaway-a-ville." It did not escape MSNBC that the singing Buffett, clad in a trademark Hawaiian shirt and shorts, stumbled through lyrics placed at his feet. "Warren gave me a really big budget for a teleprompter here," quipped Jimmy.

Sound Reporting and Advice

Some of the best dispatches from Omaha were filed by Motley Fool contributor Matt Koppenheffer, who dashed off seven quick takes on Saturday's annual meeting in addition to a nicely written curtain-raiser to the event. "If you can't make it to the big event, fear not!" wrote Koppenheffer. "The Fool has sent yours truly to the land of steaks and corn to join the other 20,000-plus attendees and keep you abreast of the happenings."

He certainly did. He quoted Buffett as saying most companies searching for people to sit on their compensation committees are "looking for cocker spaniels with their tails wagging," and later describing gambling as a "tax on ignorance."

He then re-created Buffett's answer to a 17-year-old shareholder who asked what he could do to become a better investor. "Not surprisingly, Buffett went straight to the books," wrote Koppenheffer. "That is, he told the teen to read everything related to investing that he could get his hands on. Buffett said he was still young when he had already read every book—some of them multiple times—in the Nebraska public library having to do with investing…Buffett cautioned, though, that the difference between investing on paper and investing with real money is like the difference between reading a romance novel and, as he delicately put it, 'doing something else.'" "There's nothing like having a little experience in investing," he said. Once you've done that, you can decide whether, as Buffett said, "it turns you on."

Buffett Blogosphere

This year, several bloggers also made the pilgrimage.

David Neubert, a former Wall Street trader whose writings appear at ThePanelist.com, blogged live from the annual shareholder meeting. He relayed Buffett's thoughts on global warming: "It doesn't keep me up at night with respect to our financial results, but every citizen should be concerned." Regarding his outlook for the dollar: "We are following policies in this country that will lead to a continued decline in the dollar." Neubert also took photos of the event under the headline, "Millionaires Wait in Line an Hour for a Free Sandwich."

One enterprising blogger who goes by the name of "George"—he calls himself an amateur investor and Buffett aficionado—is collecting as many stories as he can find and is posting them at FatPitchFinancials.com in what he calls the "Ultimate 2007 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Guide." As of Monday evening, he listed more than 50 blog posts, news stories, and photos.