Freeman Capital

Sometimes I come across a story that is so good that I can’t stand not to share it. This one was sent to me by a friend of this blog.

Curtis Carroll has served 20 years of a 54 year to life sentence in the notorious San Quentin state prison for robbery and murder. However, he has become so good at investing in the stock market that he is even acting as a financial advisor for the prison guards.

Curtis, aka Wall Street, is quoted as stating, “I couldn’t believe that this kind of access to this type of money could be accessible to anybody. Everybody should do it, and it’s legal!” Absolutely correct. There isn’t a minimum requirement to open a Schwab brokerage account. Anybody can learn to play this game.

Born in Oakland, CA Carroll lived on the street. His mother and his grandmother were both crack addicts. After becoming a member of a gang, his crimes landed him in prison at age 17.

Carroll accidently fell into a life of finance one day when he asked another inmate to read him the financial section of the newspaper. He thought it was the sports section. He didn’t know what stocks were, but he found out. He concluded, “Whoa, I think I stumbled across something here!”

Starting with small investments in high risk penny stocks, Carroll began studying the financial news as he taught himself to read. Working all night and into the early hours of the morning, Wall Street learned how to make predictions. He learned how to keep track of his investments.

Wall Street and Troy Williams, a fellow inmate, founded a prison financial group they named Freeman Capital. With help from volunteers they are teaching the basics of personal finance to a class of 70 prisoners. Even though Carroll doesn’t have access to the Internet, he is still able to check the market by calling members of his family. He observes, “I’m in prison, but I’m on just the same playing field as Warren Buffett. I can pick the exact same companies. I can’t buy as many shares, but technically we’re just the same.”

At this point, I want to cheer.

Carroll teaches his fellow prisoners a four step system:

Savings
Cost Control (living on a budget)
Borrowing Prudently
Diversification (In your investments)

He is correct when he states, “Every person on this planet that has made money has mastered these four steps.”

Word about Wall Street’s skills is making its way to the outside. A few small community investment clubs are asking him for his advice. I hope this story makes its way to the governor of California.

This world needs Curtis Carroll.

Here is a link to the original article:

Inmate with Stock Tips Wants to be San Quentin’s Warren Buffett