San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Boy, 10, levels up after cashing in Gamestop gift he got for Kwanzaa
When Jaydyn Carr unwrapped the GameStop shares his mom gifted him for Kwanzaa a little over a year ago, neither mother nor son expected he’d eventually be in the middle of a stock surge.
The talk of the financial world last week centered on young small investors and their organized effort to take on Wall Street’s hedge funds, but 10-yearold Jaydyn might be the smallest and youngest, at least in San Antonio.
He became a GameStock shareholder on Dec. 30, 2019, when his mother, Nina Carr decided she wanted to give her then 8-year-old a gift for Kwanzaa that was reflective of Ujamaa, which focuses on cooperative economics and is one of the seven principles of the festival. She bought Jaydyn 10 GameStop shares for $6 each. So that he’d have something to unwrap, she printed off a certificate she found online.
Thirteen months later, GameStop was making headlines as Reddit users joined forces to send the price of the struggling gaming company’s share skyrocketing from single to triple digits.
“My phone was going off, because I have GameStop on my watch list,” Carr said. “I was trying to explain to him that this was unusual, I asked him ‘Do you want to stay or sell?’ ”
On Wednesday, Jaydyn cashed in — for a little under $3,200.
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,” Carr 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.”
On Friday, Jaydyn and his mom were featured on Charles Payne’s Fox Business Show “Making Money.” Carr told Payne that after Jaydyn’s father died seven years ago, she set out to make sure he would be financially literate.
The mother-son investing duo said $2,200 of the funds are going to Jaydyn’s savings account. They’ve decided to reinvest the remaining $1,000.
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 that 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.
Carr admitted she regrets not having enough interest in GameStop to snare some 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.”