The Waitress

Holly Pyndiura, 26, restaurant waitress

Brookfield Property Partners LP Unit. Bought at $11.65 and holding at $13.63

The stocks app on Holly Pyndiura’s iphone has entered what she calls her circuit of apps. Whenever she picks up her phone and finishes cycling through Facebook and Instagram, her thumb will immediately guide her to her watchlist. That app was allbut ignored before March, when Pyndiura was laid off from her job as a waitress in Hamilton. With the extra time, she thought she’d learn how to invest in stocks because the $50 she was earning on a yearly basis from the interest in her tax-free savings account wasn’t going to cut it.

She opened an account with an online brokerage and added $5,000. In April, she used $2,000 and started buying positions into conservative ETFS made up of Canadian dividend stocks, mostly financials. Seeking diversification, Pyndiura discovered Chorus Aviation and Brookfield Property Partners LP Unit after surfing through Reddit, while psychedelics company Champignon Brands Inc. was a penny stock she added for fun.

With $3,000 worth of dry powder to deploy, Pyndiura is still playing it safe. She’s been hesitant and she admits it has cost her. A prospective investment into Canadian Tire Corporation slipped through her fingers because she didn’t want to buy at $95, $100 or $110. She won’t risk going into U.S. stocks such Apple or Tesla that have shares that are “too highpriced.” Despite this, she says she’s up 30 per cent and that’s already 12 times more than what she was earning in interest through her bank. “I would rather have less returns than no returns at all,” she said.