The Ninth-Grader as Hedge Fund Manager
While I have trouble buying this is as a trend, I still find this WSJ story on the financial sophistication of some young people a bit jaw-dropping. It may not supplant Bear Stearns CDO troubles in the public consciousness, but the idea of 14-year-old hedge fund managers is out-there stuff.His room is covered in papers and corporate reports. A series of clocks on his walls show the time in New York, Moscow, London and Tokyo so he can keep track of when foreign markets open. His younger siblings, Christopher, 6, and sister Joralyssa, 9, speak in ticker symbols at times, referring to McDonald's as "MCD." They've picked up the abbreviations from hearing Brandon talk and from being exposed to the constant chatter on CNBC.1...His mother, Judith, a computer programmer who home schools Brandon, doesn't mind his running an investment company out of their home. But she worries about him investing so much money, and about his frustration at things that don't normally frustrate a teenager, such as his inability to take a six-hour Series 7 exam for would-be securities traders. (You have to be working at an NASD member firm to take the test.) After finding him following Asian markets on financial TV networks at 4 a.m., she told him to get some sleep.
"I'm terrified, I have to say, as a mom," says Ms. Conley.
