Hard times come to the hedge funds

• Can you beat the stock market?

  By Daniel Seligman

  This story is from the December 26, 1983 issue of Fortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012, a Fortune Magazine book, collected and expanded by Carol Loomis.

  FORTUNE -- Most people interested in the stock market fall into one of three categories: (1) academic scholars who doubt that anybody really knows how to beat MORE

  Nov 21, 2012 11:47 AM ET
  Posted in: Berkshire Hathaway, Tap Dancing to Work, Warren Buffett

• Capital Cities' capital coup

  Wall Street cheered as the 16th-largest communications company prepared to swallow ABC. The outfit that will run the combined operation is famously lean, but its cost-cutting bosses know how and when to spend - and how to motivate managers.

  By Stratford P. Sherman

  This story is from the April 15, 1985 issue of Fortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett MORE

  Nov 21, 2012 11:46 AM ET
  Posted in: Berkshire Hathaway, Tap Dancing to Work, Warren Buffett

• Merger fees that bend the mind

  Executives fume at the tens of millions they pay top dealmakers. But they shudder at the thought of swinging deals without expert help. No early collapse of fees is likely.

  By Peter Petre

  This story is from the January 20, 1986 issue of Fortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012, a Fortune Magazine book, collected and expanded MORE

  Nov 21, 2012 11:45 AM ET
  Posted in: Berkshire Hathaway, Tap Dancing to Work, Warren Buffett

• The inside story of Time Warner

  The year's fiercest takeover tangle sparked elation, despair, fury, and accusations in the courts and three boardrooms before its surprising conclusion. Here's what happened.

  By Bill Saporito

  This story is from the November 20, 1989 issue of Fortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012, a Fortune Magazine book, collected and expanded by Carol Loomis.

  FORTUNE -- Around six MORE

  Nov 21, 2012 11:44 AM ET
  Posted in: Berkshire Hathaway, Tap Dancing to Work, Warren Buffett

• Buffett to Disney: All thumbs up

  By Carol Loomis

  This story is from the April 1, 1996 issue of Fortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012, a Fortune Magazine book, collected and expanded by Carol Loomis.

  FORTUNE -- Just in from Omaha and making a do-it-yourself delivery, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) Chairman Warren E. Buffett strolled into the downtown Manhattan offices of Harris Trust MORE

  Nov 21, 2012 11:43 AM ET
  Posted in: Berkshire Hathaway, Tap Dancing to Work, Warren Buffett

• Beating the market by buying back stock

  A company just isn't in the swim today unless it's buying its own shares. Are buybacks a fad - or do they pay off for investors? A ground-breaking Fortune study shows that buybacks have made a mint for shareholders who stuck with the companies carrying them out.

  By Carol Loomis

  This story is from the April 29, 1985 issue of Fortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in MORE

  Nov 21, 2012 11:42 AM ET
  Posted in: Berkshire Hathaway, Tap Dancing to Work, Warren Buffett

• Should you leave it all to the children?

  If you do, you may not be doing them a favor. But if you want to, there are sensible ways of passing on what you have without depriving the kids of a feeling of achievement.

  By Richard I. Kirkland Jr.

  This story is from the September 29, 1986 issue of Fortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012, MORE

  Nov 21, 2012 11:41 AM ET
  Posted in: Berkshire Hathaway, Tap Dancing to Work, Warren Buffett

• A tale of the rich and infamous

  By Carrie Gottlieb

  This is a sidebar that ran with Should You Leave it All to The Children? in the September 29, 1986 issue of Fortune.

  FORTUNE -- Dexter D. Coffin III, 37, grew up with servants, yachts, private boarding schools, and a U.S. family tree that dates to the mid-1600s. That's when his Dexter and Coffin forebears settled Cape Cod and Nantucket Island. He is heir to more than $6 million, held in three MORE

  Nov 21, 2012 11:40 AM ET
  Posted in: Berkshire Hathaway, Tap Dancing to Work, Warren Buffett

• How to - and not to - give it away

  By Maggie McComas

  This is a sidebar that ran with Should You Leave it All to The Children? in the September 29, 1986 issue of Fortune.

  FORTUNE -- Go ahead, give it all to darling daughter Debbie. And while you're at it, disinherit John Jr. He can't spend it in reform school anyway. But remember, merely putting such desires in a will may not ensure that your estate winds up in the right hands.

  Debbie may MORE

  Nov 21, 2012 11:39 AM ET
  Posted in: Berkshire Hathaway, Tap Dancing to Work, Warren Buffett