Buffett's fading powers of perception

Matthew Lynn

Maybe it is his age, his probable retirement or the mediocre performance of Berkshire Hathaway Inc's...

Maybe it is his age, his probable retirement or the mediocre performance of Berkshire Hathaway Inc's shares over the past two years. Whatever the cause, Warren Buffett's ruminations on the financial markets have taken on a grouchy, quarrelsome tone of late. For years, investors have pored over the annual statements of the world's second-richest man. Buffett, 75, has been called the Oracle of Omaha, with every folksy, homespun piece of wisdom elevated to the status of unimpeachable truth. Stop and look more closely, however, and it turns out you would have more chance of success by checkin...