November 2009

Hoarders

Sun, 11/29/2009 - 17:36

One of the questions I am asked most often is "how did you organize all that material for The Snowball?" Fortunately, I had five years to do it. I built a file room in my house to hold all the material. Now I'm trying to declutter.

Buffett's scorecard and Wall Street greed

Sun, 11/29/2009 - 13:43

My recent Bloomberg column on Wall Street ethics got me thinking about the common questions people ask in me interviews about Warren Buffett.  For example, isn't Buffett a hypocrite for getting special deals like Goldman Sachs? Don't the special deals invalidate his track record?

Thanksgiving

Wed, 11/25/2009 - 19:17

Is close to a religious holiday for me. I try to write down a few things I feel grateful for each day. The choice to spend a whole day devoted to gratitude is one of the great things in life. Every year it's become more and more of a ceremony for me to spend time reflecting on just how many things there are to be grateful for in this world, no matter what is going on in my life. I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. Now, I'm off to get a head start on some cooking.

Piling Onto Goldman Sachs

Fri, 11/20/2009 - 18:27

I had a funny conversation with my Bloomberg editor today about whether the media is "piling on" to Goldman Sachs. Apparently Goldman feels that way. We are in the midst of the greatest outcry against any company that I can recall in my career -- besides Enron -- and yet I really don't think it's overkill. Here's why...

All Buffett All the Time

Tue, 11/17/2009 - 18:32

Along with a paperback drop comes a flurry of media and writing responsibilities. I've been blogging on Motley Fool, HuffPo and a few other places and doing interviews. Some of this was prompted by the BNI deal. I can blog more at some other time about the difference between  being a "media person" who who is also an author versus an "author" who appears in the media.  Right now I'd  like to explain  what it means to be a biographer. 

TGIF

Fri, 11/13/2009 - 08:28

My latest Bloomberg column is out this morning. It's the first one in which I said something REALLY  inflammatory about Wall Street (even though 100% true) and I was sort of dreading logging into my Bloomberg email to pick up the backlash. Once, and this is not a joke, somebody threatened to strangle one of the other women columnists with her own pantyhose. (Every now and then Bloomberg management has to go talk to a Wall Street firm about an employee because of threats against the columnists that may or may not be serious.)Writing can be a scary way to make a living sometimes.

Radio Tour

Fri, 11/06/2009 - 18:02

Yesterday was the most interesting day I've had in a while. I did 19 radio interviews on the phone over the course of less than 9 hours - woah. After you do a ten minute break you realize that the hosts who are on the air for as much as three or four hours at a stretch without a teleprompter are working their tails off.  It draws a huge amount of energy out of you.

Warren the Railroad King

Wed, 11/04/2009 - 18:14

   This deal reminds me of some stories. I wrote in The Snowball about the giant train set in Warren's attic; about how, as a boy, he used to go to the Brandeis department store at Christmas and "drool," as he put it, over the huge multi-track train display that raced around the eighth floor toy department. One of his fondest memories as a child was being taken on a train to Chicago as a surprise by his grandfather to see a Chicago Cubs game.

Speaking to Students

Sun, 11/01/2009 - 11:23

I was at the University of Texas this week speaking at the McCombs Business School VIP Distinguished Speaker Series. McCombs does an incredible job of welcoming speakers -- visits with the President of the University, Bill Powers, to Dean Gilligan of the business school, the Associate Deans, and two groups of students. It's hard to say which is more interesting, talking to the people who run the school or the students. Probably the students.