Buffett and Munger fill arena for annual Berkshire meeting

Buffett said the question-and-answer period, when he and Berkshire vice chairman Charlie Munger field any and all queries, is his favorite part of the meeting too because he likes to know what's on shareholders' minds.

"Our attitude is partnership. These people are our partners," Buffett said during interviews about three hours before he was scheduled to take the stage.

Shareholders will likely ask about the state of the economy as well as Berkshire's latest earnings report.

On Friday Berkshire reported first quarter net income of $940 million, or $607 per share, in the quarter ended March 31. That's down significantly from the net income of $2.6 billion Berkshire generated a year ago.

The biggest reason for the drop in net income was an unrealized $1.6 billion pretax loss Berkshire recorded on its derivative contracts.

Including the derivative losses, Berkshire's net investment losses in the quarter totaled $991 million. A year ago, the Omaha-based company recorded a $382 million investment gain.

Before the traditional meeting festivities began, performance artist Michael Israel painted a portrait of Buffett. The painting, done on an outdoor stage in front of the arena, was completed in roughly 10 minutes. It will auctioned off later with the proceeds going to one of Buffett's favorite charities, Girls Inc.

Berkshire officials predicted the crowd at the Qwest Center Omaha would top 30,000 Saturday. The crowd has grown bigger every year as shareholders bring family and friends to hear Buffett and Munger, and more business school groups make the trip to Nebraska an annual pilgrimage.

Some shareholders, like Jack Smith, are attending the Berkshire meeting for the first time. Smith said he traveled from Springfield, Ill., partly out of curiosity and partly for the "entertainment value" of the weekend.