Those were the words of admirer and barber Nelson Uracca, for 14 year old fund manager Brandon Conley. The barber shop is also pegged in the Wall Street Journal; Tales of a Ninth-Grade Fund Manager June 23, 2007 (Paul Glader) with this tipoff:

A Cut and Stock Tip: Brandon trades market gossip at Nelson’s Barber Shop, whose owner’s son is Brandon’s accountant.

Brandon has found a passion and he’s working it hard with his parents’ oversight.

Brandon and his crew are hardly the first teenage market junkies to come along, but their story suggests that some child investors are now hitting a new level of sophistication, and, sometimes, obsession.

Take out the word “teenage” and “child”, and you have part of what it takes in any world to be a successful investor.

Brandon has taken on many of the conventions of a professional investment fund. He and his staff are raising money from outside investors, developing relationships with companies, and even speaking up at shareholder meetings. He even shorted some stocks right before a February stock-market decline.

Looks like Brandon has a well rounded education. (My theory is lots of free time spent in a library involves lots of learning.)

Part of Brandon’s home-school curriculum involves finding unusual classes and learning opportunities on the Internet and in New York City, including volunteering and training at the Brooklyn Public Library, online math classes through Ivy League schools, chess clubs and Lord of the Rings reading societies. The unorthodox schedule allows Brandon to spend as much as eight hours a day researching companies and investments and making trades.

The WSJ article also provided some links on The ABC’s of Finance for “budding hedgies”.

Posted by Susan Ryan

Jun 23 2007 in News-Commentary, Reasons to Homeschool, Unschooling HelenTags: Encouraging Words
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