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Charity

The Power of Trading and Social Media

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 4/17/2022 15 min read
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I’m featured in the New York Post again … This time, it’s to feature news this announcement about my charity: nonprofit Karmagawa to donate $1 million for children in Yemen.

This donation is urgently needed. I’ve talked about it before — the situation in Yemen is catastrophic.

You can still contribute to this incredible cause — donate here. We’re grateful for anything you can give.

Political turmoil, the pandemic, and a cholera outbreak have put insane stress on the population. The people of Yemen are lacking in basic human needs like food, shelter, and medicine.

Right now, as much 80% of the country’s population — that’s more than 24 million people — are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Most horrifying of all? The effect on this crisis on the children of Yemen.

According to this Karmagawa post, a Yemeni child under the age of five dies every 10 minutes. Many of these deaths could be prevented with proper supplies, nutrition, and care.

I’m proud to contribute to…

$1 Million for Children in Yemen

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This is actually my second $1 million donation in the past few years. The first was to Pencils of Promise, to build 20+ schools.

This time, the donation will go toward things like home repairs, emergency shelter, food, and medical supplies and efforts in Yemen.

In total, it will be divided between about 10 different charities to assist this war-torn country, including Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, and the World Food Programme.

These are groups that have people on the ground in Yemen. They’re positioned to do a lot of good with the funds and resources this donation will provide.

I’m proud to be part of this donation, but I didn’t do it alone.

Thank you to everyone who has donated. I’m incredibly grateful, thankful, and humbled by the generous donations from others, as well as the fact that my social media reach helps me to bring this much attention to such a worthy cause.

The Power of Trading and Social Media

I started day trading with my bar mitzvah money, and I made my first million* while I was still in college.

Does that mean I peaked early? Nope. The really interesting stuff happened after that…

I got rich, and I’ve been featured in the media (check out last month’s NY Post article here)…

I wrote an autobiography, “An American Hedge Fund”…

Then I became a day trading teacher and have guided thousands of students to become self-sufficient traders…

Through my Trading Challenge, I’ve helped traders develop their own consistent trading strategies. I’ve helped create several millionaires like Tim Grittani, my top student who started with $1,500 and has now surpassed $12 million in profits.*

But it’s only now, 20+ years into my trading career, that I feel like I’m really getting to the good stuff.

One thing I’ve learned is that when you become rich, and when you have a big presence on social media, you start to have influence. People start to listen to what you have to say.

So when I posted about my Yemen fundraiser, people listened.

(*Please note: My trading results, along with the results of my top students are far from typical. Individual results will vary. Most traders lose money. My top students and I have the benefit of many years of hard work and dedication. Trading is inherently risky. Do your due diligence and never risk more than you can afford to lose.) 

Yemen Fundraiser

When I first posted the fundraiser to help children in Yemen on social media, the goal was to raise $200K.

After we raised $95K in just 12 hours, we knew we’d blow by the original goal…

So we decided to go big and raise the goal to $500K.

Through combined efforts on my social media, Karmagawa’s social media, and the many, many people who shared the posts, this fundraiser reached a huge audience.

Even in these trying times, people have been willing to give.

Some people gave a little. Some gave a lot. It all matters.

Right now, with four days left on the fundraiser, we’ve raised $537,848. I’d love to see it get to $600K.

I’ve donated about $370K from my June and July trading profits* … An additional donation from Karmagawa merch profits has brought the total donation to $1 million.

It’s my honor to donate and help make the world a better place. I’m proud that I can contribute to help the children in Yemen.

Evolving Goals: $1 Million to Children in Yemen

children in yemen
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Over the years, my goals as a trader have evolved. I used to care about things like fancy cars. Now, giving back and making a difference in the world motivates me.

I’m super proud to be featured in the New York Post again for the second time in less than a month. Especially for a cause that I’m so passionate about.

Going Viral for a Good Reason

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Some people don’t like how public I am about causes like this.

“Why can’t you just donate anonymously? Why do you have to make it such a big deal?”

I do it because people need to know what’s going on in the world. The children in Yemen need our help. We have the potential to pull together and make a difference.

I have a platform through my social media following. My voice can reach a lot of people, so I want to spread the word.

And this can have huge ripple effects. That’s why I want this to go viral.

If we all start talking about the tragedies around us and how we can all help, I believe more people will contribute.

As more people share, it can inspire even more people to do right by the planet and humanity. This can spread to different causes and have a real impact on the world.

For example, after I posted, it inspired this trader to make a donation of his own to the Wounded Warriors Project …

It’s not the first time this has happened. After my $1 million donation to Pencils of Promise, it inspired Brian Rose from London Real to make a donation after I was featured on his show…

You’ve gotta understand … visibility is KEY to spreading the word.

For instance, I owe a debt of gratitude to Mat Abad, my Karmagawa co-founder. He helped increase our reach by designing awesome charity merch. His vision and ability to attract people brought it to the next level. We now have over a million Instagram followers!

The following, the merch — it took my charitable efforts to the next level. When you’re visible like this, great things can happen.

I try to inspire my trading students to give back, too.

I don’t need my students to donate 100% of their profits to charity. 10%, 5%, even 1% — it all matters.

Every bit counts. It adds up, just like how small gains add up in the market for traders. 

There’s Still Time to Help Make a Difference

So far, about 19K people have joined in the Yemen fundraiser on Facebook. I’d love to see it go up even more — and there’s still time to donate.

DONATE HERE TO HELP GIVE THE PEOPLE OF YEMEN A BETTER LIFE

Anything you can give is amazing.

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CLICK THE LINK IN OUR BIO TO HELP YEMEN! Our Yemen fundraiser ends in 48 hours and 100% of the money we raise will be donated to provide food, medicine, clean water and shelter for the many families in need. People have asked us how we plan on helping the locals given that the war and naval blockade prevents outsiders from entering the country? We at @karmagawa and @savethereef have been in talks with several amazing charities like @partnersrelief that are already on the ground in Yemen, working through unimaginable obstacles to deliver emergency supplies and food to the families that are so desperate for help right now. We’re excited to donate six-figures to @partnersrelief next week and you can help us donate even more and help more families by clicking the link in our bio as we appreciate ALL donations great and small! Yemen is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world due to war and a cholera outbreak, and what’s worse is that because food prices have risen so much the past few months just as charity donations have fallen, they’re now on the brink of famine too. The numbers are horrifying: 80% of the population needs aid to survive, 66% have barely anything to eat, 64% have no access to healthcare and 58% have no clean water. Add COVID-19 and now severe flooding to the mix and the stage is set for a complete humanitarian disaster if we do nothing. So, join us in praying for the people of Yemen as we MUST help this hard-hit country, especially the children who have been hit the hardest. This is the last 48 hours you can donate to our Yemen fundraiser as we’re distributing 100% of the funds we raise next week so ALL donations are appreciated, great and small, and if you can’t donate please share this post and tag people who need to see it, make your followers and everyone you know aware about the urgent crisis here as these innocent people need our help RIGHT NOW! Videos and photos from @partnersrelief and @monarelief during their recent supply distributions to families in need last month! #saveyemen #helpyemen #flooding #yemen #yemencrisis #karmagawa

A post shared by Karmagawa (@karmagawa) on

Can’t donate? You can still contribute. Share the fundraiser on social media.

There’s so much good we can do with our charity partners, including Partners Relief and Development and Mona Relief in Yemen. They have packages that cost a little over $50 that can feed a family of up to six for a full month. These donations can go very far.

Are You Ready to Help Change the World?

I hope you see why I care about these charitable efforts so much. By using the platform I’ve developed through trading and teaching, I have the power to do a lot of good in the world.

Wanna help? Consider donating. You can share the fundraiser. Share this blog post. And you can share this Facebook post.

Let’s make it go viral so we can do more good for the world and the children in Yemen.

Are you ready to give back and make the world a better place? How can you help today? Leave a comment!

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Timothy Sykes

Tim Sykes is a penny stock trader and teacher who became a self-made millionaire by the age of 22 by trading $12,415 of bar mitzvah money. After becoming disenchanted with the hedge fund world, he established the Tim Sykes Trading Challenge to teach aspiring traders how to follow his trading strategies. He’s been featured in a variety of media outlets including CNN, Larry King, Steve Harvey, Forbes, Men’s Journal, and more. He’s also an active philanthropist and environmental activist, a co-founder of Karmagawa, and has donated millions of dollars to charity. Read More

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* Results are not typical and will vary from person to person. Making money trading stocks takes time, dedication, and hard work. There are inherent risks involved with investing in the stock market, including the loss of your investment. Past performance in the market is not indicative of future results. Any investment is at your own risk. See Terms of Service here

The available research on day trading suggests that most active traders lose money. Fees and overtrading are major contributors to these losses.

A 2000 study called “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors” evaluated 66,465 U.S. households that held stocks from 1991 to 1996. The households that traded most averaged an 11.4% annual return during a period where the overall market gained 17.9%. These lower returns were attributed to overconfidence.

A 2014 paper (revised 2019) titled “Learning Fast or Slow?” analyzed the complete transaction history of the Taiwan Stock Exchange between 1992 and 2006. It looked at the ongoing performance of day traders in this sample, and found that 97% of day traders can expect to lose money from trading, and more than 90% of all day trading volume can be traced to investors who predictably lose money. Additionally, it tied the behavior of gamblers and drivers who get more speeding tickets to overtrading, and cited studies showing that legalized gambling has an inverse effect on trading volume.

A 2019 research study (revised 2020) called “Day Trading for a Living?” observed 19,646 Brazilian futures contract traders who started day trading from 2013 to 2015, and recorded two years of their trading activity. The study authors found that 97% of traders with more than 300 days actively trading lost money, and only 1.1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage ($16 USD per day). They hypothesized that the greater returns shown in previous studies did not differentiate between frequent day traders and those who traded rarely, and that more frequent trading activity decreases the chance of profitability.

These studies show the wide variance of the available data on day trading profitability. One thing that seems clear from the research is that most day traders lose money .

Millionaire Media 66 W Flagler St. Ste. 900 Miami, FL 33130 United States (888) 878-3621 This is for information purposes only as Millionaire Media LLC nor Timothy Sykes is registered as a securities broker-dealer or an investment adviser. No information herein is intended as securities brokerage, investment, tax, accounting or legal advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, or as an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any company, security or fund. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes cannot and does not assess, verify or guarantee the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information, the suitability or profitability of any particular investment, or the potential value of any investment or informational source. The reader bears responsibility for his/her own investment research and decisions, should seek the advice of a qualified securities professional before making any investment, and investigate and fully understand any and all risks before investing. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes in no way warrants the solvency, financial condition, or investment advisability of any of the securities mentioned in communications or websites. In addition, Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes accepts no liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this information. This information is not intended to be used as the sole basis of any investment decision, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet the investment needs of any particular investor. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future returns.

Citations for Disclaimer

Barber, Brad M. and Odean, Terrance, Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors. Available at SSRN: “Day Trading for a Living?”

Barber, Brad M. and Lee, Yi-Tsung and Liu, Yu-Jane and Odean, Terrance and Zhang, Ke, Learning Fast or Slow? (May 28, 2019). Forthcoming: Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=2535636”

Chague, Fernando and De-Losso, Rodrigo and Giovannetti, Bruno, Day Trading for a Living? (June 11, 2020). Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=3423101”