The Value Of Information

Growing up in the city I remember at an early age believing that money was the ultimate valuable object one could possess.  A funny thing happened as I started my quest for money I realized that information is just as valuable if not more.  The concept didn't dawn on me until I began educating myself through books, people, school and work.

A few semesters ago I had to leave early from one of my chemistry classes.  It was the first day of class so I asked a girl sitting next to me for her email address.  I emailed her to ask what I had missed. She gave me the book titles and was kind enough to share the site she was going to get them from.  The site she recommended saved me $100, she introduced me to the world of college book rentals.  We ended up helping each other out throughout the semester at that moment her information; that brief email was worth $100.  I always try to enter a friendship with the goal to help out but we don't always know what will happen.

A few years ago at a stock trading conference I approached this guy in his early thirties.  He introduced me to the world of prop trading that is where he learned some of his techniques.  I am glad I met him he gave me information I would have not found in books.  It saved me a lot of time.  He showed me a sheet of all the day trades he had done on a particular day that's how I learned how to make $200 in 2 minutes.  I had to see it to know it was possible at that moment that piece of information was worth $200 but the fact that it opened my eyes on how to make money quickly it was worth much more.  As you can see from the picture below my first attempt was with (GE) although I did not make $200 in 2 minutes It was a good try $110 in 7 minutes.

Information is all around us and easy to access yet we have to filter it to meet our needs and for it to be accurate. The beauty of information is that we can carry it with us and at the right time convert it into money or anything else of value to us.