Money and Finance

The wit and wisdom of Warren Buffett – By Carol J. Loomis

Fortune met Warren Buffett by accident in 1966. I was writing an investing article about another man, Alfred Winslow Jones, who wasn't famous at that moment, but was about to be because of the article. Jones was running something called a hedge fund, and Fortune's description of what that was and how Jones operated started a miniboom in the hedge fund business. Buffett Partnership Ltd. -- a sort of competitor of Jones's fund -- got a single line in the article. To my everlasting dismay, I misspelled Buffett, giving it only one "t."

A bit later, my husband, John Loomis, met Buffett and came home saying, "I think I have just met the smartest investor in the country." I'm sure my eyes rolled. But then I, too, got to know Warren (and his wonderful late first wife, Susie) and realized how impressive this largely unknown fellow was. The Loomises bought stock in his small company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA); we became good friends of the Buffetts; and ultimately I became the pro bono editor of his increasingly famous annual letter to shareholders.

Meanwhile, Fortune set off on a long-term course of covering Buffett. He got two paragraphs and a picture in a 1970 Fortune story called "Hard Times Come to the Hedge Funds" -- his fund was a rarity, having 13 straight years of profits -- and by 1977 we were running a 7,000-word piece by Buffett on "How Inflation Swindles the Equity Investor."

Now, 46 years after Fortune first met the man, we have a book, Tap Dancing to Work, that collects everything important we've done about him (and some lighter stuff too), with commentary written by me. All the articles mentioned above, from the A.W. Jones story on, are in it -- and that's just the start. In total, the book is a Buffett banquet.

……………..

Related book: Tap Dancing to Work

- Fortune's Carol Loomis To Retire
Link to article: Fortune's Carol Loomis to retire Not only is she the longest-serving employee at Fortune, but she’s also arguably the greatest business journalist of our time. And now, sad to say, Carol Loomis is saying goodbye............... Related...

- Beating The Market By Buying Back Stock – By Carol Loomis
Via csinvesting. This story is from the April 29, 1985 issue ofFortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012, a Fortune Magazine book, collected and expanded by Carol Loomis....

- Bill Gates' Book Review Of "tap Dancing To Work"
I never pass up the chance to spend time with my friend, Warren Buffett, because time with him is the essence of time well spent. Every time we get together, I learn a lot. I laugh a lot. And I leave hungry for more. So it’s no surprise that I’m really...

- For Buffett, The Long Run Still Trumps The Quick Return
Thanks to Will for passing this along. I thought both the Klarman mention and the comments about shorting were especially interesting. Mr. Buffett was in a reminiscing mood about a bygone era, in part because he was in New York to make the rounds on television...

- Fortune: Loomis, Burke - Buffett's Metric Says It's Time To Buy
Looks like Carol Loomis, Doris Burke and me (and Will, who emailed me about this months ago) are all on the same page. - - According to investing guru Warren Buffett, U.S. stocks are a logical investment when their total market value equals 70% to 80%...

Money and Finance