The recent crash in the energy markets reminded me of an article we wrote in 2012, which outlined famous value investor Prem Watsa’s investment in International Coal.  This article is highly relevant to what is going now and how money can be made over the long-term, through investing in cyclical industries during downturns.  Value investing is a process with a longer-term time horizon and if you focus on the short-term stuff or hot momentum stocks, you are destined to fail.  One thing I found interesting was that in the article, which I wrote in 2012, we talked about financial stocks, which we had owned for some time and still continue to own and talk about.  We’ve dollar-cost-averaged, taken profits when attractive and sold countless puts but we are still generating profits from that sector.  Volatility is our friend and my hope is that the current dislocation creates the next huge long-term opportunity for us to profit, but regardless we will keep our eyes open and will do the research necessary.  I hope that you get the same appreciation of Watsa’s investment discipline as I do, as this is the true mark of a great investor!

 

https://www.ttvalueinvesting.com/profile-of-a-value-investment-prem-watsas-international-coal-history/