Warren Buffett attributes his success to spending the majority of his day reading, hunkered down in the details of company annual reports, business periodicals, and numerous other books. It's little surprise, then, that reading is a common theme when savvy investors make a pilgrimage to attend Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) annual shareholder meeting, also known as Woodstock for Capitalists.

Every year, tucked away in a corner of the vast convention center that Berkshire uses to showcase See's Candies, Fruit of the Loom, and its other businesses, you'll find a booth reserved for the Bookworm Store. This Omaha-based establishment stocks dozens of books and DVDs to help shareholders learn more about Buffett and Charlie Munger, including an inside peek at how their way of doing business has created such phenomenal wealth over the years.

In many instances, the selections have the Berkshire seal of approval. Buffett and Munger specifically mention a number of titles each year, both during the annual meeting and in various interviews throughout the year. Here are three key titles to get you started.

● The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, edited by Lawrence Cunningham

Buffett mentioned this book during this year's meeting. The pitch was somewhat in jest, though, in that he highly recommended the author -- himself. The book offers a compilation of writings and other "gems of wisdom" from the Berkshire Hathaway annual reports that Buffett has written over the years. The new edition of Essays now includes information running through the 2007 annual report, all compiled by

Think you're ready for life after the office? Here's your chance to prove it.

ON YOUR MARK...

What percentage of current workers say they expect to retire at age 65 or older?

a. 37%
b. 47%
c. 57%
d. 67%

Answer: C. That figure has been increasing steadily for more than a decade. In 1995, when the Gallup organization asked workers to pinpoint the age when they expected to retire, fewer than half of respondents -- 46% -- said they planned to leave the office at age 65 or older. Last year, in response to the same question, 27% of surveyed workers said they planned to retire at age 65 -- and fully 30% said they planned to retire after 65. (In 1995, only 12% of respondents said they planned to retire after 65.)

What percentage of retirees say they left the work force earlier than planned?

a. 31%
b. 41%
c. 51%
d. 61%

Freddie Mac beat Wall Street's expectations in the first quarter, but the mortgage finance company didn't vanquish concerns about its ability to weather the housing bust.

Changes in accounting practices helped McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac achieve better-than-expected results Wednesday. For example, Freddie adjusted how it accounts for derivatives, financial instruments used to hedge against swings in interest rates.

Under the new accounting practices, the company said it lost more than $1.3 billion on those derivatives in the first quarter, compared with a loss of nearly $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007.

"If you change the accounting rules, things can look better," said R. Christopher Whalen, managing director of consulting firm Institutional Risk Analytics.

Others saw the change as a needed improvement that better reflects performance. In a research note, Citigroup analyst Bradley Ball cited "improved accounting methodologies" as a reason for Freddie's positive results.

Freddie reported a first-quarter loss of $151 million, or 66 cents a share, beating the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Financial, who expected a loss of 92 cents per share.

Skeptics have long warned that Freddie and its larger government-sponsored sibling Fannie Mae won't be

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumer prices slowed in April despite the biggest jump in food costs in nearly two decades. But with oil near record levels, Americans should brace for more pain at the pump in coming months.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices edged up 0.2 percent last month, slightly lower than expected and better than the 0.3 percent rise in March.

The lower inflation reflected a flat reading for energy, which helped offset a 0.9 percent jump in food. That was the biggest one-month surge since a 1.5 percent increase in January 1990.

Last month's increase was driven by widespread increases in a number of areas from bread, butter and margarine to milk and coffee. Food prices have been climbing rapidly over the past year, reflecting higher world demand and the impact of increasing energy prices on the cost of fertilizer and transportation of products to grocery store shelves.

For April, energy prices were unchanged and gasoline prices even fell by 2 percent, a decline that would strike motorists as strange, given that they have been watching the price of gasoline rise relentlessly in recent weeks.

However, since gasoline prices normally rise in April, the 5.6 percent increase in gasoline prices for the month was turned into a 2 percent drop after the government adjusted for normal seasonal variations -- little comfort to people now paying pump prices that hit a new national record of $3.758 per gallon on

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- More U.S. homeowners fell behind on mortgage payments last month, driving the number of homes facing foreclosure up 65 percent versus the same month last year and contributing to a deepening slide in home values, a research company said Tuesday.

Nationwide, 243,353 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in April, up 65 percent from 147,708 in the same month last year and up 4 percent since March, RealtyTrac Inc. said.

Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida were among the hardest hit states, with metropolitan areas in California and Florida accounting for nine of the top 10 areas with the highest rate of foreclosure, the company said.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

One in every 519 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in April. Foreclosure filings increased from a year earlier in all but eight states.

The combination of weak housing sales, falling home values, tighter mortgage lending criteria and a slowing U.S. economy has left financially strapped homeowners with fewer options to avoid foreclosure. Many can't find buyers or owe more than their home is worth and can't get refinanced into an affordable loan.

Efforts by government and the mortgage industry to stem the tide of foreclosures aren't keeping up with

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Oil prices were steady Wednesday after moving back from an overnight trading record near $127 a barrel on concerns that Iran may cut production.

Iranian officials denied production cuts were imminent but acknowledged they had been discussed.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery dropped 5 cents to $125.75 a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe. Oil prices hit a trading record of $126.98 a barrel Tuesday before settling at $125.80.

Analysts said traders reacted quickly overnight to the news that Iran's government was considering cutting crude oil production.

But James Cordier, president of Tampa, Florida-based trading firms Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com, said he doubts Iran will actually cut production.

"They need all the petrodollars they can get," because the nation's economy is in bad shape, he said.

In sending crude prices higher Tuesday, investors shrugged off gains in the dollar. A stronger dollar often prompts selling by investors who had bought commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation. Also, a stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for investors overseas.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency, an adviser to mostly western, industrialized nations, said