"At Poplar Forest, we approach investing the way I shop at Oliver’s – by focusing on what’s on sale. We don’t buy every special (some things are on sale for worrisome reasons), but when we see a good deal on a great stock, we jump on it. I think this bottom up approach is better than preparing a list at home (equivalent to a top-down forecast), then simply buying everything on that list. And can you imagine the index fund approach to grocery shopping – simply buying a little of everything in the store?" - J. Dale Harvey

While it may be difficult to believe after having won three of the last four NBA championships, in the not so distant past, the Golden State Warriors looked like a value investment. At an estimated current market value of $3.1 billion, they are anything but a value investment today, and are certainly a far cry from the $450 million price tag when they were an unloved and underappreciated team just eight years ago. In this month’s quarterly letter, Dale discusses the importance of imagination, conviction and patience in value investing, especially when value investing is out of favor. Just as Joe Lacob and Peter Guber applied these traits when purchasing the downtrodden Warriors in 2010, we continue to apply them every day in our investment process while sticking to our game plan of seeking market-beating, long-term results for our investors.

“We want to understand the volatility of each underlying business, how much leverage is being deployed, the downside in a recession and the price we are paying relative to the underlying value of the company. We invest in companies for the long run when we see a favorable tradeoff between these risks and expected returns in a normal/mid-cycle time frame. We think a recession is likely sometime in the next few years and we want to be comfortable that we will survive a spill in the financial halfpipe without a trip to the intensive care unit. We believe that judgement, hard work and discipline are keys to our investment survival.” - J. Dale Harvey