(FORTUNE Magazine) – Most great institutions have an exemplar, an individual who per-sonifies just what's so great about them. Jazz had Duke Ellington; the '27 Yankees had Gehrig; Fortune has Carol Loomis.

As our cover indicates, Carol has done it for us again. Almost exactly a year has passed since her last cover story warned, Cassandra-like, of the dangers of those exotic financial instruments bearing the unfortunate name derivatives. Shortly after her story appeared, the year of the derivative began, first with corporate speculators reporting big losses, then with the exposure of incredible imprudence by Robert Citron, the gold-decked treasurer of Orange County, California.

Carol's story picks up where the rest of the press left off. It is fitting that we've illustrated it with an actual derivative contract, for in tracking down and decoding such documents she particularly excels. A colleague once told me his definition of a good "investigative reporter": someone who knows how to find the courthouse. The great ones, like Carol, know what to do when they get there.

Not that editing Carol Loomis is easy. It's sort of a refresher course in journalistic ethics. Every word of every headline and caption must be argued over to ensure that no fact has been distorted, no confidence betrayed, no false impression conveyed, or even seem to have been.

In 41 years at Fortune, our prima reporter has won two Gerald Loeb awards--the coveted high honor of business journalism--plus a special lifetime award. Characteristically, in accepting this last, she said she hoped it wouldn't disqualify her from winning more standard-issue Loebs in the future. Managing editors may come and go, but I begin my tenure at the helm of this great magazine with deep gratitude that, so far, Carol Loomis has just stayed. As long as we have the like of her, we shall always have a good business story to tell you.