In 2019, Jaydyn Carr’s mom, Nina, gave him 10 GameStop shares that cost $6 apiece as a Kwanzaa gift. At the time, he was only eight years old. Fast forward to 2021, Jaydyn, 10, is in the middle of a stock surge.
Share prices of GameStop tumbled following bets placed by Citron Research and Melvin Capital that the gaming company will collapse but a group of social media users rallied and skyrocketed the prices of the struggling company from single to triple digits at the blindside of Wall Street.
As a result, GameStop stock rocketed from below $20 earlier this month to more than $400 Thursday. Amidst the GameStop trading frenzy, Jaydyn is reeling from excitement after selling his shares for about $3,200 on Wednesday, the San Antonio Express-News reports.
“My phone was going off, because I have GameStop on my watch list,” Jaydyn’s mother Nina said of watching prices skyrocket. “I was trying to explain to him that this was unusual, I asked him ‘Do you want to stay or sell?'”
According to Nina, she has been teaching Jaydyn about trading. “Any time I learn something, I show him as well,” she said. “I wanted to pass on the knowledge I have now because I learned it late in life. I want to give him a step up.”
Commenting on how they plan to use the money, Nina said $2,000 of the funds will be kept in Jaydyn’s savings account while using the $1,000 for more investment. “I have to train him to let him know you can’t just buy anything, you have to read the charts,” Nina said.
Jaydyn has expressed more interest in trading after his big win. He is reportedly considering investing in Roblox, an online game hub set to make its market debut.
Meanwhile, online trading platform Robinhood has restricted trading in GameStop due to the rabid buying by small investors, thegrio reports. Per the restrictions announced, investors would only be able to sell their positions and not open new ones in some cases, and Robinhood will try to slow the amount of trading using borrowed money, thegrio added.
Also, Robinhood noted that trading in stocks such as AMC Entertainment, Bed Bath & Beyond, Blackberry, Nokia, Express Inc., Koss Corp. and Naked Brand Group would be affected by the latest restrictions.
