Opinion: Don't Question the Almighty

If Adam, Eve, Job, Ruth, Esther -- or any other subject or chronicler of the Old Testament -- were around today, they'd tell you that it's no easy chore covering God. You sort of just sit there and let Him speak.

Apparently, covering Warren Buffett is no easier, judging by the reports from Berkshire Hathaway's(BRK.A Quote) annual meeting in Omaha over the weekend. Buffett was there, of course, along with 35,000 people -- a record crowd even for Warren. A host of media folk -- like good disciples -- scribbled down every syllable his Lordship said. Some even dared to ask a question or two, but overall, the rules of the Old Testament remained in place: You don't talk back to the almighty one.

This was no time to genuflect, however. Buffett, and Berkshire Hathaway, had an awful year in 2008. The company's Class A shares lost 32% of their value, and while Berkshire Hathaway reported $4.99 billion in profit, that tidy sum was a 62% drop from the year before. Even in Buffett's annual letter to shareholders, he said himself, "during 2008, I did some dumb things in investments." ...