[Value Investing] Curtis Carrollfaces a group of inmates in San Quentin explaining that the only difference between the wealthy and poor comes from just four steps. Each is simple SaveLots. ControlCosts. BorrowPrudently. DiversifyThoughtfully. Academic research has shown that families stewarded by people who have made money raise children who are far more likely tothrive financially. Unfortunately, Mr. Carroll was born into an Oakland family more akin to a Breaking Bad episode. His single mother and grandmothersufferedaddictions to crack. Curtis received littleguidancefrom his elders. Hewiggledhis way out of homework rendering himself illiterate. The only thing he learned was that hehated school. Curtis was eventually forced onto the streets with his brother at an early age homeless. Agangtook him in. Then a robbery ended inmurder. Curtis Carroll has lived in jail for two decades since ageseventeen. He has thirty-four years left on hissentence. The light at the end of histunnel is two hundred dollars and a hard shove out of theprison gates. Do You Play Stocks? afellowinmate asked one day. Curtis wasbaffled. He listenedintentlyas the man explained This is where white people keep their money. The conversation ignitedMr. Carrollsdefinite major purposeof succeeding inequity investments. To do so required theabilityto read. He focused hisburning desireon decipheringpopular t-shirts and wrappers ofcandy he ate. As hisliteracygrew he consumedthe financial media. The world ofWall Streetcame to absorb the attention of every fiber of his being. Curtis studied the market every day untilcollapsefrom exhaustion. He recorded andtrackedhis stock picks on paper in an envelope stuck to his cell wall. The San Quentinnicknameof Curtis Carroll quickly became Wall Street. Hisfollowinghas grown. Every Thursday night, according to National Public Radio (NPR), about a hundred inmates meet to hear hispurely positive messagethat even though people are in prison that they are on the same ground as Warren Buffet. Inmatesworking with parents, siblings and spouses on the outside can invest in the same stock Buffet buys and sells. They can’t buy as many shares, but they can buysharesin the same firms. Warren Buffets Top 10 Stock Investing RulesThe San Quentin Freeman Capital financial literacy inmate group of Curtis Wall Street Carroll teaches wisdom straight from the lips of theOracle of Omaha1. Save and Persist. Only a burning desire directed persistently atthe definite major purpose of succeeding in stocks can carry you through.2.Live Lavishly Frugal. Focus your attention on each household expense to determine the best use of your funds. When you spend money on anything from a car to household furniture determine the best balance between cost and long-term utility.3.MinimizeRisk. Develop as many alternative scenarios that can play out after you invest your money.4.Think First. You always have the most choices before you lock up your savings. Think your defensive tactics through before you invest.5.CutLosses. Cut your losers, ride your winners. Plan your maximum allowable loss beforehand.6.Seek High Potential. Invest in companies with proven management at the helm. Follow managers you would be delighted to have in your family.7.Limit Debt. Dont buy stocks wallowing in other-peoples-money (OPM). Cash out credit cards each month.8.Cultivate Fearlessness. Buffett says that he can tell who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out. Buy great stocks on the cheap just after a major market crash. Act when other investors tremble.9.Compound Your Gains. Reinvesting your profits is the best way to really get your money working for you.10.Become Steady As a Rock. An iconoclastic think-for-yourself mentality is the only road to investment success. Shun chit-chat regarding stocks tips, rumors and investment newsletter recommendations that poison your independent thinking and action. Warren Buffett doesnt measure success in terms of alavish lifestyle. He measures success by the degree to which hesqueezesevery drop of potential profit out of the investment portfolio he stewards. He follows his owninternal score-card. An ever frugal Buffett shunsglossy external displays(score-cards) of wealth commonly projected by Wall Street Fortune 500 CEOs. Buffett’sfrugalityrings true throughout the history of financial greatness. Think and Grow RichAt the turn of the last century the richest man in the world commissioned a young man with the unlikely name ofNapoleonto document a universal philosophy of wealth. After decades ofunpaidtoil Think and Grow Rich became an enduring best-sellerthat has inspired millions. Case in point is anotherdestitutelad, not unlike Mr. Carroll, who decided to shun poverty after readinga discarded copy of Think and Grow Rich.W. Clement Stone had tired of throwing rocks atstokerstending steam locomotive coal tenders out of horror of the possible injury of others. He had been doing what he had to do to survive. This action helped his family heat their home in otherwise lethally cold northern winters wi
