When Jaydyn Carr unwrapped his GameStop shares his mom gifted him for Kwanzaa two years ago, neither mother nor son expected he’d eventually be in the middle of a stock surge.
Stock talks this week are centering on small investors, but Jaydyn might be the smallest and youngest, at least in San Antonio. He became a GameStock shareholder on Dec. 30, 2019, when he was eight, long before Reddit users combined and skyrocketed the prices of the struggling gaming company’s shares from single to triple digits, blindsiding Wall Street. The now 10-year-old fifth grader is reeling from the excitement of selling his first set of stocks amid the GameStop trading frenzy.
Nina, Jaydyn’s mom, said her son is her “duplicate” and learns alongside her, even about trading. For Kwanzaa 2019, she wanted to give her son a gift reflective of Ujamaa, one of the seven principles of the festival which focuses on cooperative economics. Nina bought Jaydyn 10 GameStop shares for $6 each and printed off a certificate she found online to give him something to unwrap. The smile he flashed in the 2019 holiday photo is even bigger now, after selling for a little under $3,200 Wednesday morning.
“My phone was going off, because I have GameStop on my watch list,” the mother 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?'”
While even adults are asking for stock-savvy friends to explain the situation to them, Jaydyn said he wasn’t at all confused by his mom’s urgency or what was going on.
“Any time I learn something, I show him as well,” Nina 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.”
The mother-son investing duo said $2,200 of the funds are going to Jaydyn’s savings account. They’ve decided to leave $1,000 out to invest in more.
Jaydyn gave a resounding “yes” when asked if he’s even more interested in trading after his big win. His eyes are set on Roblox, an online game hub which is preparing for its market debut.
“I have to train him to let him know you can’t just buy anything, you have to read the charts,” she said.
Nina admitted she regrets not originally having enough interest in GameStop to swipe stocks for herself when she bought Jaydyn’s gift.
“I was not into video games, that was not my scene,” she said with a laugh. “But I’m going to let him have his win.”
