In this Q&A session, Vitaliy Katsenelson was asked about his biggest errors over the past five years. His response: “I would argue like the obvious one—my cable stocks so far have been capital misallocation,” he admitted. He still holds hope that the thesis will eventually play out, but added, “At this point I’m like, I think I still going to be right in long term, but we’ll see.”
He also reflected on a more subtle but recurring pitfall: “I sell too soon and those are mistakes I usually cost my clients the most.” Rather than focusing on losses from poor picks, Katsenelson emphasized missed upside. “Let’s say the same 5% position and it doubles and I sell it and then it goes up three or 4x—which has happened to me—well my opportunity cost loss was actually more like 20%.”
It’s not just about numbers—it’s about emotions. “I just got impatient and I sold it too soon and the fundamentals continued to play out as I expected but I just got emotionally drained.” Those, he says, are the most painful lessons.
But investing also demands humility. “Just because it done so well over the last 100 years or whatever—the future is not promised to anything anymore,” he warned. “The rate of change [is] increasing so much.”
So how does he adapt? “When I look at a company I kind of look at the Mazlow hierarchy of needs and I see where it fits in.” He reasons that some things—like food, energy, and security—are constants. “We’re going to need energy—that’s not going to change. What energy—that may change… We’re going to need food—that’s not going to change.”
And when it comes to defense, especially in Europe, he’s confident: “Our need for security is not going to change and therefore I would argue our defense spending in Europe is not going to go down but only going to go up.”
You can watch the entire session here:
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