An interesting piece, partly considering where it was published...
By Bethany McLeanPosted Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011, at 5:22 PM ET
Warren Buffett It's not even a week old, and Warren Buffett's deal to invest $5 billion of Berkshire Hathaway's money in Bank of America has already been dissected, parsed, praised, and even criticized. This isn't surprising, of course. Every word that passes Buffett's lips and every move he makes get scrutinized. Part of the fascination with Buffett is simply that he's one of the richest men in the country. But another part of it is the notion that the means by which he made his fortune—his investing prowess—is something that can be replicated by ordinary people. All we have to do is watch and listen, and we'll absorb the magic.
Buffett is one of the greatest investors in history, and you can learn a lot by looking at his older investments. But some of Buffett's recent deals follow a different model than his investments of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. The Bank of America deal is actually a case study in why the rest of us can't invest like Warren Buffett.
For starters, Buffett has access that ordinary investors can only dream of having. The genesis of the Bank of America deal was a phone call from Buffett's assistant to the office of BofA CEO Brian Moynihan last Wednesday. Moynihan, of course, took the call, and Buffett offered to make the investment. Your average Bank of America shareholder would be lucky to speak to Brian Moynihan's assistant's assistant. [continued...]