As digital currency gains more and more popularity, the hype around investing has skyrocketed. Teenagers around the world are tuning in to company debriefs and quarterly revenue reports in the hopes of becoming the next “big-time” traders on Wall Street. Here at St. Pius X, investing has become an obsessive hobby for many students.
What’s enticing about investing?
“I like investing because I like the idea of trying to get your money as high as possible,” said sophomore Keegan Mera, adding that he used to spend 2-3 hours a day constantly monitoring charts.
However, not everybody is familiar with investing, and the abundance of specific terms can get pretty confusing.
Sophomore Emmy Lemieux thought an ETF is “Like a Bitcoin or something,” (It’s actually like a cumulation of stocks) and senior Andrew Noel said “stocks are, like the stock market.”
To clarify, a stock is “the proprietorship element in a corporation usually divided into shares and represented by transferable certificates,” according to Merriam Webster Dictionary. In other words, a stock is a small ownership of a company. Although stocks certainly bring the excitement many people desire, they aren’t exactly the safest option when investing.
It’s like “higher stakes gambling in a way, more money, more volatility” said junior Eli Lentz.
“The stock market doesn’t react to news that happens months down the road. It only thinks about the next two or three days,” said English teacher Mr. White.
What’s a safer option then?
“Bonds will sort of mitigate the volatility [of stocks] by kinda giving a steady or a less volatile growth over time” said Mr. White. He added that ETFs are also extremely useful because they are “a collection of companies, the ones I buy are typically between a hundred companies and thousands of companies and that way you’re buying a little bit of everything and you’re spreading out your risk.”
So, what are students trading? Mera said “Oracle, AMD, and Nvidia” are the hottest stocks right now.
Lentz noted the “S&P 500 has never had a year down so just put your money in that.”
Senior Kevin Sanchez said his “favorite experience in investing is when you get a quick return on your investment, especially if you’re doing a short-term [investment].”
Mr. White explained that he’s placed thousands in the “S&P 500 and the NASDAQ.”
Sophomore Les Vogel said, “I had a stock in the Braves [BATRA], it was the best one I’ve ever invested in.”
“I check my stocks frequently throughout the day, whenever there is time before or after class,” mentioned junior Kearny Prindiville.
While these students are taking advantage of their obsession, virtual currency will continue to be on the rise, and investing will only become more popular. So don’t lose your place and secure your future by investing today.
