Best in Class: Berkshire Hathaway

OMAHA, Neb. (TheStreet) -- With Warren Buffett about as close as a capitalist can come to being canonized by the markets, Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B) can't exactly fly under the radar. Still, one of the most unique aspects of Berkshire Hathaway is that, unlike other marquee securities within the U.S. corporate elite, Berkshire Hathaway's shares have always traded on the QT.

This, of course, all changed last week, when Berkshire Hathaway's B shares completed a 50-to-1 stock split.

Granted, five days of trading history with the new Berkshire B shares doesn't provide much of a window onto long-term return potential. Average daily trading volume in the Berkshire Hathaway B shares has soared though, from 41,000 shares traded to as high as 6.6 million shares traded -- and that was just on Monday. In the past five days, approximately 50 million Berkshire Hathaway shares have been traded.

Consider this: the 50 million Berkshire Hathaway shares traded over the past five days represent what would have previously amounted to almost three-and-a-half years' worth of trading volume for the Berkshire Hathaway B shares.

It's not hard to understand why there was such interest in Berkshire Hathaway after the stock split. The difference between a $3,400 share and a $70 share means the market's most revered investment company can be purchased for a similar price to a few mail-order grass-fed Omaha steaks.

All of which justifies, by our way of thinking, a closer look at today's new Buffett B shares. For that, read on....