RE:RE:God I hope they don’t lose this window as well. One can cherry pick dates and highlight the concept of opportunity cost, I don't disagree with that train of thought. However, one can also use your dates and expand out the timelines a bit:
If one were to invest in WRN in mid 2011 at $4 versus investing in the DOW at the same time it would have been a losing proposition. WRN has lost over half its value whereas the DOW has tripled. If a WRN buyout occurs in the next year or therabouts, the question must be asked at what price?
If WRN is bought out at the $15+ figure I believe it will be, then the argument can be made that WRN on a buy and hold basis for 12 years would be the better investment, unless of course you expect the DOW to hit 50,000 soon.
Consider also, that inflation is good for commodities but bad for general stocks. In a "race" using today as a starting point, the DOW would be facing serious headwinds going up against WRN.
Long story short, if we hit $12 or higher in a buyout the WRN buy and hold crowd ends up winning. Yes, the rabbit is winning in the middle of the race, similar to the popular fable, but the tortoise should end up winning this race.