Drawing a circle - stroke changes to gray

Up front, I am not an expert.

I am trying to draw a circle in Photoshop. In 'Stroke' the color red is selected.
However, that changes into gray once the circle is drawn. Tried over and over and even reset all tools.

Have two/three questions:

1. Am I selecting the right tool?  (Ellipse Tool)

2. Why does it change into gray

3. I might select Elliptical Marque Tool, draw a circle, then stroke,select red, but even then I  still get gray.

Anyone??

Thanks!