In short: Third-worst performer at -24.5%, from the published table. No commentary.
In short: Third-best YTD performer at +55.1% (5-yr CAGR +4.9%, 10-yr +9.0%) — the clearest case in the table of a one-year move on a modest long-run record. Performance table only.
In short: Best watchlist performer of the year so far at +50.3% — on the weakest long-run record in the top ten (5.1% over five years, 8.7% over ten). A chemicals cyclical; not rated Buy and not discussed.
In short: Named as one of the owner-operators he aligns with — the Chow family at Westlake (a US chemicals maker), alongside the Gottwalds at Ethyl and Steinberg at Leucadia: smart capital allocators who own a lot of stock and understand both the business and how to allocate capital, in cyclically depressed industries.
Westlake is a large U.S. chemicals and building-products maker controlled by the Chow family. Robotti lists it among the "owner-operators" he likes to align with — families and founders who own a big slice of the stock, think like long-term capital allocators, and run cyclically depressed businesses with patience.
The bet isn't just "cheap chemical company"; it's "cheap chemical company run by people whose interests are the same as mine, who buy well at the bottom of the cycle." That alignment, in his experience, is what turns a cheap stock into a great investment rather than a value trap.
25:43capital allocators. So you weren't just buying cheap stocks; something shifted. Can you talk about that, because it seems like such an important part of your own evolution as an investor? Well, we bought cheap stocks originally, and cheap stocks frequently sometimes deserve to be cheap because they're really not a good business; but certain times they are controlled by someone who is a great capital allocator who also sees the same opportunity and is buying in and is using it as a vehicle. And therefore
Nothing matches this filter.
Verbatim excerpts from the public transcripts (auto-pulled at each mention's timestamp, lightly cleaned). Timestamps link into the video; "source page" opens that commentator's full analysis at this row. Click a mention's header line to expand it (one open at a time). For personal study — not investment advice.