The closure of nonessential businesses across the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a stock market plunge, with the market facing some of its biggest dips in history, having hit its worst drop since the 2008 Great Recession. This has made for severely stressful times for stockholders around the nation, including one who is a student at Burlingame High School.

Junior Christopher Percia has been investing in stocks since 2018. Percia mostly invests in electric companies like PG&E, as well as tech and oil companies, saying that he foresees these types of businesses continue to flourish in the later years. He began investing because he wanted to follow the footsteps of his grandfather, who was a banker for around 40 years. He enjoyed the concept of working with money and began investing stocks with the help of his parents.

“The idea of putting money to work kind of resonated with me,” Percia said. 

  Today, the market is stabilizing but still remains unsteady, as some days can be worse than others. Percia, along with nearly every other stock market investor, saw major downfall to their invested companies when the market was hit hard on Feb. 20.

Percia lost around $700 dollars that month, making it one of the worst losses for both him and other stockholders. Despite his economic losses, Percia has managed to keep his head high, using this difficult time to be productive with his stocks. 

“Whenever the stocks go down, it’s a good time to kind of reorganize your portfolio and then maybe even make more money,” Percia said. “I think [stocks] power our economy. And I think if you educate yourself on them and you go out and pursue buying stocks … you can definitely earn money off of it in the long term.”