The berkshire hathaway annual meeting takes over Omaha every spring with the force of a Hell's Angels rally. The cheapest tickets cost $3,000, the price of a Berkshire Hathaway B share. This year's hoopla drew 19,500 shareholders eager to glean advice from the investment sage. Alas, Buffett's musings are philosophical and historical; he doesn't give stock tips. That doesn't stop Buffett fans from trying to imitate him. They may ape his stock purchases once Berkshire's holdings become public. Or they may apply his style of value management to the selection of other stocks. But nobody else's stock-picking record comes close to Buffett's in both cumulative percentage gain and dollar magnitude. Berkshire shares were worth $15 apiece when he took over the company 39 years ago; now they go for $85,500, and the company's market value is $131 billion. In recent years, however, the performance engine has lost some steam, and some imitation Buffetts are doing better than the real thing.
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