I was surprised to read that Robin Hood was in the news, but not as surprised as the good people of Sherwood Forest. It seems the merry men of the Robin Hood Society of Sherwood Forest suddenly had thousands of new followers on their website and on Twitter. They were so overwhelmed they thought it must be a prank or a hack. Turned out it was thousands of potential investors in the US stock market mistaking them for a day-trader app with the Robin Hood name.
The Robin Hood stock market investors managed to manipulate undervalued stocks, like AMC Theaters and GameStop, into record highs. This caused millions of dollars in pain to professional hedge fund investors who thought they had the stock market game under their control. (I have just exhausted my understanding of this part of the story.)
Someone else who was surprised by the Robin Hood phenomenon was 10-year-old Jaydyn Carr of San Antonio, Texas. Jaydyn owned 10 shares of stock in GameStop, a company that sells computer games in the mall. His mother had bought the shares for Jaydyn two years ago as a Kwanzaa gift. To introduce him to financial investing, she paid $61.90 for stock in the store he loved to visit,. Last week Jaydyn cashed-in his investment for $3,200! As an investor, Jaydyn has decided to put $2,200 into his savings account, and is looking to invest the rest. He likes Xbox and Roblox games.
An article in the NY Times reported: “Ms. Carr said she became committed to teaching her son about financial literacy after Jaydyn’s father, an Army combat medic, died in 2014 from combat-related complications. A certificate of deposit she opened with a death compensation payment provided an entry point to teach her son financial responsibility — lessons she said she didn’t learn until later in life. She has taught Jaydyn how to speak to bank tellers, how to save his money, how to use a debit card, when to recognize when something is an impulse purchase and, recently, the charming game of the stock market.” (January 30, 2021)
Jaydyn received a 5,000% financial return on his mother’s investment in him. In what or whom are you investing today? Investing in others brings the best returns. Investing with the Good News of Christ brings the highest returns. (See Matthew 6:19-21.)
Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Invest in things eternal. And let’s experience the love and power of God together while apart.
