Freshman year.

A time for finding new friends, participating in new traditions and…trading stocks?
Freshman Kendrick Kramer said he has spent his transition into high school trading stocks.

“Basically what I do is I’ll go into my AmeriTrade office, and I’ll say, “I’d like to purchase X number of shares,’” Kramer said. “I’ll then take the money out of my college savings fund. My goal is to, over a course of time, make money on that stock.”

Kramer said he has traded stocks for about a year, but he has studied finance since elementary school. He said he has been interested in business since a young age because of his dreams of trading stocks on Wall Street.

“I have always known I’ve wanted to work on Wall Street,” Kramer said. “I want to accomplish that by using my experience that I have in the field.”

Kramer said he chose to work with European stock as opposed to American stock specifically because of the advantage in the business.

“I’m particularly interested in European bonds,” Kramer said. “As you might have heard, the European market is not in the best shape right now. That gives me a lot of opportunity to maximize return.”

Kramer said he works almost completely with adults, but that fact doesn’t affect the way he functions or is seen in the stock trading business.

“I have worked on many simulations to prepare myself for real world trading, which I have recently started,” Kramer said. “Adults are impressed and tell me that they wish they would have started earlier. I don’t really find [working with adults] intimidating because I have gotten really used to spending time with [them].”

Kramer said in addition to his professional work, he feels the need to look the part as well.

“I carry a briefcase around at school,” Kramer said. “I prefer [it] over a backpack because it makes me look business-like, and papers don’t get nearly as crumpled.”

His first year with stock trading has been a successful one, Kramer said.

“It’s working out very well,” he said. “I’m very impressed [with] my performance.”