On the road to Omaha

This week I'm off to Omaha for the Berkshire-Hathaway annual shareholder meeting. I'm actually speaking Thursday at the W. Dale Clark Library, 215 S. 15th St., in Omaha from noon - 1:30 PM. I'm going to talk about how regulations and registration requirements affect both financial services professionals and investors. Should be a rip-roarin' good time.

Friday, I'll be doing the Friday Free Broadcast (on Taxation) from my luxury hotel room then trying to figure out what the heck to do in the Lincoln-Omaha area for the rest of a Friday. Knowing me, I'll be blogging, writing practice questions, or otherwise engaging in geeky pursuits.
Saturday is the shareholder meeting, and my two B shares (BRK.B) get me into the event. Luckily, this year a panel of journalists will ask a question after each shareholder question is posed. In previous years, the shareholder questions have gotten so far off track, it reminds me of a Series 7 class being run by a lazy instructor who sneaked a few cold ones at lunch on a Friday. With any luck, this year we'll get to talk about the holding company known as Berkshire-Hathaway and any investment wisdom that Warren and Charlie care to impart.

So, yes, I'm excited about the week ahead, which, by definition, makes me a nerd. That's okay. It's spring in the Midwest, I own two whole shares of Berkshire-Hathaway, and I get to write about my little roadtrip to an appreciative audience. Things could be worse.

I promise I'll only write about topics related to the exam, but that should not be hard. From the cumulative or statutory voting used at the meeting, to the income statement and balance sheet, to the EPS and P/E ratio, there will be plenty of test-related informaton to impart from the road. If you really want to dig in, read the annual shareholder report at:
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2008ar/2008ar.pdf

Be well and study hard. See you in Omaha, if you happen to, like, live there.