Warren Buffett is far from infallible. He missed out on the dot-com boom of the late 1990s -- though he did recently enlist Susan Decker from Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) to sit on the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A) (NYSE:BRK-B) board. And his enviable streak of asset-growing years suffered a slight dip in 2001.
That doesn't mean we love him any less around Fooldom. In fact, we haven't previously tackled Berkshire Hathaway in Dueling Fools because it's always been hard to find a bear.
My luck changed last week, when Chuck Saletta welcomed the challenge. I didn't even have to break out the thumbscrews. He's got a bearish argument to present this week, but we've also got Buz Livingston with the bullish side of things.
Berkshire Hathaway owns several companies you know, including Benjamin Moore, GEICO, and Dairy Queen. Buffett's also a blue-chip magnet. When you're tending a $61.5 billion portfolio that holds only a few stocks, your purchases will be substantial. The company owns an 18% stake in Washington Post (NYSE:WPO), 17% of Moody's (NYSE:MCO), and nearly a 13% chunk of American Express (NYSE:AXP).
So let's kick back and enjoy a bout that I've been waiting to see for ages. Who will win? Even the Oracle of Omaha doesn't know for sure.
Duel on!
- Read the bull argument
- Read the bear argument
- Read the bullish rebuttal
- Read the bearish rebuttal
- Sound off in Motley Fool CAPS
- Vote for the winner
Berkshire Hathaway is an Inside Value recommendation. Moody's and Yahoo! are Motley Fool Stock Advisor picks. Check out either service free for 30 days.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz holds no shares in any companies mentioned above. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
