Warren Buffett is a gifted teacher who explains complex topics in a digestible format. This year he touched on Berkshire Hathaway’s massive cash hoard, among other items.

Picking Buffett's brain happens a number of ways. Quarterly filed Form 13Fs allow investors to see which stocks he and his top advisors, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, have been buying and selling. Likewise, Berkshire's quarterly operating results provide insight on whether Buffett and his team are net buyers or sellers of stocks.

So it’s tougher to forecast economic and political trends, and to model investment and business risk based on those expectations, at a time that seems more of a major upheaval than a momentary shift.