Vitaliy Katsenelson
War in Ukraine: Part 4 – Are There Neo-Nazis in Ukraine? – Ep 151
In his speech declaring war on Ukraine, the dictator of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said the goal of his “special operation” was the de-Nazification of Ukraine. He’d remove the democratically elected government and install a Russia-friendly puppet...
War in Ukraine: Part 4 – Are There Neo-Nazis in Ukraine?
In his speech declaring war on Ukraine, the dictator of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said the goal of his “special operation” was the de-Nazification of Ukraine and ridding it of drug addicts. He’d remove the democratically elected government and install a Russia-friendly puppet government instead, thus expanding the power and influence of the Russian empire. But are there neo-Nazis in Ukraine?
War in Ukraine: Part 3 – The Future of Russia – Ep 150
Sanctions have a checkered history. They didn’t get rid of Castro in Cuba or the Kims in North Korea. It took more than a decade for sanctions against South Africa in the 1980s to bear fruit. But the world has never seen sanctions like this....
War in Ukraine: Part 2 – The New World – Ep 149
Just as 9/11 dramatically changed the flow of history, resulting in two wars and hundreds of thousands of deaths, so too will Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Right now, we are seeing only the first effects and getting glimpses of second-order effects....
War in Ukraine: Part 3 – The Future of Russia
Sanctions have a checkered history. They didn’t get rid of Castro in Cuba or the Kims in North Korea. It took more than a decade for sanctions against South Africa in the 1980s to bear fruit. But the world has never seen sanctions like this. Ironically, these sanctions may give Putin even more power.
War in Ukraine: Part 2 – The New World
Just as 9/11 dramatically changed the flow of history, resulting in two wars and hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of lives ruined, so too will Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Right now, we are seeing only the first effects and getting glimpses of second-order effects. The broad third-order effects will not be visible for a long time, though they’ll be obvious in hindsight.
War in Ukraine: Why I Was Blindsided, Part 1 – Ep 148
Eight days before Russia invaded Ukraine, Vitaliy wrote an article saying there would be no war. He was certain of it, and he was completely wrong. How could he get it so wrong? The more you knew about the situation, the less likely you were to see it...
War in Ukraine: Why I Was Blindsided, Part 1
Eight days before Russia invaded Ukraine, I wrote an article saying there would be no war. I was certain of it. I was wrong. Why I was blindsided? The more you knew about the situation, the more likely you were to get it wrong.
See More Clearly With These Two Mental Models
I'm a big fan of mental models. They allow you to think through analogy, often folding complex concepts into simple ones and transporting them from one discipline to another. They're thinking shortcuts. If you arm yourself with mental models, you’ll often see what others don’t.
McKesson: Why the Best is Yet to Come – Ep 147
IMA has owned McKesson stock since 2015. It has been very stressful at times, but also very rewarding. But the best is yet to come for McKesson. Vitaliy provides an update on his MCK investment, and why he believes its brightest days are ahead....
COVID, Inflation, and Value Investing: Answers to “Millenial Investing”
I was recently interviewed by Millennial Investors podcast. They sent me questions ahead of time that they wanted to ask me “on the air”. I found some of the questions very interesting and wanted to explore deeper. This article is that exploration.
Not So Quiet on the Eastern European Front
To understand the situation, we have to at least attempt to understand the Russian perspective. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US and Western allies made a promise to Russia that NATO would not expand its membership to countries that had borders with Russia. In the US we are spoiled by our geography; we feel secure. Russia sees Ukraine joining NATO as a clear and present danger to its national security.
The Disciplined Investor Podcast with Vitaliy Katsenelson
In this podcast with the Disciplined Investor, Vitaliy touches on a wide variety of topics, particularly pertaining to how to invest in inflation, historical stock returns, his market outlook going forward, and the link between interest rates and...
How to Build a Portfolio for Today’s Crazy Markets
We don’t know what the stock market will do next. We have opinions and hunches, and we never act on them. We never try to predict the market’s next move. Neither we nor anyone else is good at it. The only thing we can do is to trim the sails of our portfolio to align with the winds of inflation.
I Kid You Not Crazy – Ep 146
It seems that every year, just as Mr. Market is hitting new highs, and speculative stocks soar to new levels, Vitaliy thinks we have hit the peak of craziness. But late 2021 / early 2022 might just be it. Vitaliy takes the listener through the levels...
Position Sizing: How to Construct Portfolios That Protect You
Some investors think the fewer positions you own, the cooler you are. I remember meeting two investors at a conference. One had a seven-stock portfolio, the other had three stocks. Sadly, the financial crisis humbled both. On the other hand, too many positions breeds indifference. At IMA, our portfolio construction process is built from a first-principles perspective.
GuruFocus Interview – Value Investing with Vitaliy Katsenelson
In this podcast interview with investment website GuruFocus, Vitaliy shares the full gamut of how he invests, where and why. He touches on the role of being eclectic when investing, how to invest abroad, and how value investors should think about...
Why Green Energy is a Luxury Belief – But Won’t Be One Forever
Being a rich country has allowed us to develop what some call “luxury beliefs” – ideas that make us feel good but that fail upon contact with objective reality. We ignore inconvenient truths about green energy and keep marching on, trying to convert an even larger portion of our economy to wind and solar, without contemplating the related costs. When it comes to electricity generation, luxury beliefs can be dangerous.
McKesson: Why the Best is Yet to Come
What we have today in MCK is the largest drug distributor in the US, with a very stable and growing business. It is very cash-generative, doesn’t need much capital to grow, and has a very high return on capital. Owning the stock was very stressful at times but also very rewarding. But the best is yet to come for MCK.
How to Invest When There’s Nowhere to Hide – Ep 145
It seems every year, Vitaliy believes we have finally reached the peak of crazy, only to be proven wrong the next year. The stock market and thus index funds, just like real estate, have only gone one way – up. You don’t have to be a stock market...
I Kid You Not Crazy
It seems that every year I think we have finally reached the peak of crazy, only to be proven wrong the next year. The stock market and thus index funds, just like real estate, have only gone one way – up. Index funds became the blunt instrument of choice in an always-rising market. But you don’t have to be a stock market junkie to notice the pervasive feeling of euphoria.
