Charlie built the Wheeler, Munger partnership from 1962 through 1975. It did exceptionally well for the first 11 years, compounding at 28.3 percent gross (20 percent net) versus 6.7 percent for the Dow, without a single down year. But the partnership was hit hard in the vicious bear market of 1973 and 1974 when it fell 31.9 percent and 31.5 percent in back-to-back years, as the partnership’s largest holdings, Blue Chip Stamps and New America Fund, fell sharply. This decline was despite, as Charlie puts it, “having its major investments virtually sure of eventually being saleable at prices
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