A simple focus on what is now a well-known phenomenon helped Mario Gabelli execute what he calls some of the best trades in his decades-long career. Back in the mid-1970s, high interest rates and soaring inflation steered many investors away from stocks, the Gamco Investors CEO and chairman told CNBC in an interview at the Morningstar Investor Conference in Chicago. Having covered broadcasting and media companies in his previous role as an analyst at Loeb, Rhoades & Co.
The other money-making trade, on the now defunct Lin Broadcasting, was one Gabelli said he made a "significant amount of money" on. "The capex they put in was three times as productive as the capex that we're replacing, their earnings were related to the advertising on U.S. consumer companies, and the consumer companies were able to raise prices just like they are today," he said of both companies.