What if you had copied Daily Journal?
Charlie Munger's portfolio
The verdict
Copying Daily Journal's 13F filings from Jan 2020 would have turned $10,000 into $14,670, less than the S&P 500 did.
The S&P 500 turned the same $10,000 into $25,636 over the same days. The copy returned +5.8% a year against +14.8% for the S&P 500, 9.0 points a year behind. Its worst fall was 49.9%, from Jan 6, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020. The S&P 500's worst fall over the test was 33.7%.
Copied Jan 6, 2020 to Nov 9, 2026 · SEC 13F filings and daily closes
What $10,000 became
- Copying Daily Journal$14,670
- S&P 500$25,636
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded$18,019
If you had bought their first portfolio and never traded, you would have ended at $18,019, so following every move cost $3,349.
- $10,000 copied
- $14,670
- +46.7%, +5.8% a year
- In the S&P 500
- $25,636
- +156.4%, +14.8% a year
- No trading
- $18,019
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded
- Worst fall
- −49.9%
- Jan 6, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020
- Trades
- 6
- 5 buys, 1 sales over 29 filings; about 15% of the copy traded a year
The moves that made the most
- WFCWells Fargo+$3,173
Held since Jan 2020, the stock up 93%
- BACBank of America+$2,686
Held since Jan 2020, the stock up 71%
- USBUS Bancorp+$119
Held since Jan 2020, the stock up 41%
- PKXPosco+$8
Held from Jan 2020 to Jan 2023, the stock up 21%
The moves that cost the most
- BABAAlibaba−$1,316
Held since Apr 2021, the stock down 51%
Year by year
| Year | Copy | S&P 500 | Gap, pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020from Jan 2020 | −25.7% | +17.7% | −43.4 |
| 2021 | +33.6% | +28.7% | +4.9 |
| 2022 | −20.5% | −18.2% | −2.3 |
| 2023 | +8.8% | +26.2% | −17.4 |
| 2024 | +36.4% | +24.9% | +11.5 |
| 2025 | +35.0% | +17.7% | +17.3 |
| 2026to Nov 2026 | −7.2% | +11.5% | −18.7 |
A historical test on paper, before costs and taxes. It trades at the close of the first trading day after each filing comes out, up to 45 days after the quarter, and skips delisted companies, which flatters it.