| 英文班
This week, I could fulfill a childhood dream of owning a share of Berkshire Hathaway.
本周我就能實現兒時的夢想了：擁有伯克希爾-哈撒韋公司(Berkshire Hathaway Inc.)的股票。
When the company closes on its purchase of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Berkshire is expected to split its fractional Class B shares 50 to 1, for a dollar value so low that even I could buy them (not that I will)!
隨著伯克希爾完成收購鐵路公司Burlington Northern Santa Fe的交易，預計其會以1拆50的比例拆分價格較低的B股，其價格將會低到連我都能買得起的水平（不表示我會買）！
But how Warren has turned my once-lofty sights so pedestrian.
然而巴菲特在我心目中曾經高高在上的形象怎么會變得如此平常了呢？
Spotting the anomaly of Berkshire's outsize shares in The Wall Street Journal tables nearly 25 years ago is my first memory of the stock market. The shares stuck out by trading at low quadruple digits compared to double digit stocks for all other companies. This had the same impact for me as charting the price of the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card: it had allure and mystery because it traded for thousands.
25年前我在《華爾街日報》刊登的股價列表中注意到伯克希爾股價之高，那是我對股市的最初印象。伯克希爾當時的股價是四位數，而所有其他公司的股票價格都只是兩位數。對我來說，這就跟看到1952年Topps發行的米奇?曼托(Mickey Mantle)球員卡的效果一樣：既誘人又神秘，因為它的價格竟然上千。
Well, now, to accomodate his 'bet' on the American recovery, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett is believed to be bowing to the gods of tax-efficient mergers and gobbling up the rest of Burlington Northern with cash and split-shares of Berkshire's B Class. (And, eek, even a new issuance.)
而現在，作為他押注美國經濟復蘇的舉動之一，伯克希爾董事長兼首席執行長巴菲特據信將接受在稅負方面比較劃算的并購形式，以現金加拆分后的伯克希爾B股的形式收購其余的Burlington Northern股份。（甚至還發行了新股。）
Yes, the sanctity of the A Class shares will remain, but all of a sudden Berkshire Hathaway will count thousands to millions of new shareholders and may even snag inclusion in the S&P 500.
沒錯，該公司A股依然是凜然不可一世，但突然之間，伯克希爾將會有成千上萬的新股東，甚至有可能被拒于標準普爾500指數成份股之外。
While I don't fault this shareholder-friendly transaction, I can't help think that Uncle Warren is going soft as he continues to plot his legacy as one of America's greatest creators of wealth.
盡管挑不出這樁對股東有利的交易的毛病，但我忍不住想，在巴菲特繼續演繹他作為美國最偉大的財富創造者之一的傳奇之時，他是否在走下坡路呢？
Just think of the example he's setting for his shareholder-value proteges.
想想此事對于那些信奉股東價值至上的巴菲特追隨者會有怎樣的影響吧。
Would Sergey and Larry 'do evil' and chop up Google shares for more tuck-in technology acquisitions? Could Microsoft dish out its tremendous cash hoard in a special one-time dividend?
谷歌創始人佩奇(Larry Page)和布林(Sergey Brin)會不會“作惡”，為了更有利可圖的技術并購而拆分谷歌的股票？微軟會不會將其天量現金用于發放特別的一次性股息？
Well, that once happened in 2003 after years of tech firms declaring that they were their own best stewards of cash.
呃，這種情況曾經在2003年發生過，在那之前的多年里，科技公司一直宣稱它們的現金最好還是攥在自己手里。
So, with Buffett splitting Berkshire shares once again, could the sin of a dividend be next on Buffett's bucket list?
那么，在巴菲特再度拆分伯克希爾股票之后，接下來會拿股息做文章嗎？ 英語進修
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