Investors Scramble for Stock in Buffett

Warren Buffett’s renowned Berkshire Hathaway joins the S&P 500 today, and just about everyone wants a piece of it. Millions of ordinary Americans who in the past couldn’t afford the company’s high-priced shares will now be able to get on board, either through an index fund, or by buying B shares, which underwent a 50-to-1 split so that their dollar price would be low enough to join the index.

Funds tracking the S&P control more than $1 trillion of investor money, and they’ll all need to buy some Berkshire stock as well. And all the interest surrounding the stock has made it a magnet for fast-moving day-traders—the kind of investors Buffett’s always sought to avoid. All of which has market watchers bullish on Berkshire, the Wall Street Journal reports; the stock’s already up 10% since the split. (More S&P 500 stories.)