Al Gordon, Age 105

Perhaps the neatest (to use a word from my early youth) story crossing the wires Wednesday was this one from Bloomberg on Al Gordon. He's 105 years old and has been on Wall Street since the 1920s.

Gordon is currently bearish on US stocks, partly because of the national debt:

He prefers shares of companies such as Canada's EnCana Corp., Wal-Mart de Mexico SA de CV and Petroleo Brasileiro SA. "At least three-quarters of whatever I own is foreign stocks,'' he says from his Manhattan apartment overlooking the East River.

Further down the piece:

When it comes to investing, Gordon looks for companies that will grow for years, says Arthur Byrnes, who is co-head of Deltec Asset Management with Gordon's son John. "Despite the fact that he's an old man, he buys things not for a quick trade,'' Byrnes says. "Al is a long-term investor, if you can believe that someone who's 105 years old can be a long-term investor.''

I guess some habits are hard to break, right?

Actually, some folks snicker at 89-year-old Kirk Kerkorian buying General Motors (GM/NYSE) stock as a long-term investment. Heck, he's a kid compared to Gordon.

Back to the article:

When it comes to investing, at least one of Gordon's contemporaries agrees that overseas stocks can provide more robust returns than U.S. shares.

"Al Gordon is right,'' says Irving Kahn, 100, chairman of New York-based investment firm Kahn Brothers & Co. He says global wealth imbalances and the rise of extremists should give investors pause: "You don't have to be too alert to see how much terrorism is spreading.''

Christine Harper wrote the Bloomberg piece. Hats off to her for a great profile.