Spencer Li

Video Interview with Spencer: The 20 Most Burning Questions

burning questions

burning-questions

In this latest video series, watch as Spencer answers the top 20 most commonly-asked questions by new traders & investors!

For those just starting out, this will be a big help in avoiding a lot of “beginner pitfalls” which 90% of all traders get stuck at.

 

Here is the full list of Burning Questions:

  1. What is the difference between trading and investing?
  2. Do you believe in the buy-and-hold value investing approach?
  3. What is your long-term investment strategy?
  4. Trading is risky, shouldn’t I just buy stocks with good fundamentals?
  5. What is your trading strategy?
  6. What products should I trade? How many different products should I trade?
  7. What is the difference between TA (technical analysis) and FA (fundamental analysis)?
  8. Do you use fundamentals in your trading?
  9. What technical indicators do you use to trade?
  10. What type of charts do you use to trade, and what timeframe do you use? What is your holding period?
  11. How much capital do I need to start trading?
  12. How can I become more consistent in my trading results?
  13. How can I predict the price of a stock? How do I know when the price will turn and start going up/down?
  14. What is a good % return per year I should aim for? How much returns can I expect from trading?
  15. When should I trade? During the day, or the night? When is the best time to trade?
  16. How do you trade the news? What news should I look at and how can I profit from news?
  17. Is trading safe? Can I end up losing all my capital and more? How do you manage your risk?
  18. If everyone uses the same trading strategies (your strategies), will they stop working?
  19. What is the difference between trading for a fund and trading your own money?
  20. How can I get started on trading and investing? Any good resources?

Click here to download for free: 

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Spencer Li

15 FREE Animated Videos on the Basics of Trading & Investing

1b Stock Market Basics

Trading & Investing

In collaboration with TradeHero (now Ayondo) & SGX (Singapore Exchange), we have developed a series of 15 animated video tutorials that will make learning fun & easy for all beginners!

I have been tasked as the mastermind behind the content, drawing from my knowledge of the 200+ books I have read and 10,000+ hours of professional market experience as mentioned in the video.

The videos are divided into 5 parts:

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Spencer Li

What Are Some of the Biggest Problems with Crypto Trading Platforms?

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After trading cryptocurrencies for almost half a year and coaching many others to do the same, I had realised that many new traders seem to face the same gripes about the limited trading platforms. This issue is extremely prominent if traders are used to other platforms such as forex or stock brokerages.

Here are some of the biggest complications about the existing platforms:

  1. Long waiting period for account opening, verification, or funding
  2. Misleading and unfriendly user-interface
  3. Expensive trading fees and wide spreads
  4. High charges by banks for fund transfers

When cryptocurrency was first introduced in 2010, only a handful of specialised exchanges offered trading services. Throughout the years, cryptocurrency trading grew larger in number and size. Comparing the existing functions and complexities of Forex to any other cryptocurrencies brokerages, there is still a huge room for improvement for cryptocurrencies. As of today, many emerging companies are out in the market, competing to resolve the problems consumers are facing.

Crypto Trading Platforms

While browsing the net, I came across many new promising brokerages, and I had a chat with some of them to find out more about where the industry is headed.

One of them is Cryptaw, a new brokerage that aims to provide simplicity and reliability for Bitcoin trading. When I spoke with the management, they told me that  “Singaporeans should not pay a premium for cryptocurrency.”

On Cryptaw’s website, which they have just launched this month, they have made some really bold promises which could potentially disrupt cryptocurrency brokerage industry:
– Direct SGD Deposit
– Low trading fee of 0.6%*
– Simple user interface
– Fast account verification within 3 working days

If Cryptaw is able to address the 4 big issues, it will make it a lot easier not only for new traders (of which many are still waiting weeks/months for their accounts to get verified), but also for existing traders who can benefit from a simpler execution platform.

*Original trading fee of 1.2%. User will be able to enjoy discounted trading fee with promo codes and referral codes. Users will be able to enjoy 50% off trading fee until 3 Aug 2018

 

Note: This post is sponsored by Cryptaw.

Our policy & disclaimer on 3rd party products & services: https://synapsetrading.com/disclaimer/

For sponsored posts or other marketing opportunities, please contact us at https://synapsetrading.com/partnership-opportunities/

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Spencer Li

Swing Trading vs. Intraday Trading: Which is Better?

stressed traders

When it comes to trading, most people think that trading is stressful and boring because it involves staring at a screen the whole day and watching prices move, and then having to execute trades at lightning speeds to make any profits.

That is quite often what is shown in the movies, and very much dramatized.

In reality, there are many different kinds of trading, and here is a simple infographic depicting the main categories.

Swing Trading vs. Intraday TradingSource: Forex Useful

 

Generally, what you see in the movies tend to depict scalpers and day traders, which is the most stressful kind of trading. I myself tried it for a couple of years, but it started to take a toll on my health, which I decided was not worth the money, even though it was pretty good.

Position trading is more useful in timing the market to build your long-term portfolio, as I mentioned in my previous blog post: https://synapsetrading.com/how-to-build-a-1m-dollar-portfolio-by-30-the-practical-stuff/

Hence, I find that the most useful kind of trading for anyone who is doing it part-time, or does not want to get too stressed out, is to use a swing trading approach. This means taking tactical positions to capture the medium to long-term trends.

With just 15 minutes a day, it is more than enough for me to place and manage my swing trades, which leaves me more free time to focus on the things that matter in life.

Of course, there are some drawbacks to swing trading as well, for example your income will be more lumpy as compared to intraday trading, and you will need a ton of patience in waiting to enter the perfect trades, and also waiting for trades to play out.

In summary, the type of trading style really depends on each individual personality and amount of free time, but personally I prefer to use the swing trading approach because it gives me the best returns for my time and effort.

Do you know what is your preferred style, and does it play to your strengths? 😀

 

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Spencer Li

How to Build a $1M Dollar Portfolio by 30 (The Practical Stuff)

monthly portfolio updates October 2016 1

This is the dream of many millennials, to build a million-dollar portfolio as soon as possible, so that they can live off the passive income, and focus on pursuing their dreams, interests or hobbies, without having to worry about money any more.

When I was in my 20s, that was my dream as well, which was why I read over 2000 books ranging from investing, trading, psychology, motivation, philosophy, biographies, businesses, digital marketing, finance, accounting, etc. And that was when I realised that most of wealth creation boiled down to 3 simple core principles.

 

1) Multiple sources of Cashflow

The first thing you need to get started is a solid base capital, so at the start if you do not have much capital, almost all your time and resources should be focused on generating as much cashflow as possible to build up your ammunition.

If you have a well paying job, then you can start saving aggressively, but to speed up the process, most people will seek to generate multiple sources of income or cashflow. Some examples include working a side job, starting an online business, etc.

For me, I decided to use forex trading, because it did not require much capital to start, and also because I did not have much spare time, and could only afford to spend 15-30 minutes a day. Now, it provides me a steady monthly cashflow, which allowed me to move on to step 2.

 

2) Timing your portfolio purchases

Once you have sufficient capital and consistent cashflow, the next step is to start building your long-term portfolio. Start by having a rough idea oh what your ideal portfolio is, and what kind of risk/return profile you are looking for. Look out for assets that have a good chance of capital appreciation, as well as passive returns in the form of dividends or rental yield. Over time, I tend to favour having more “passive income” type of investments.

Timing your portfolio purchases

Do not be in a hurry to buy everything at once. Watch and study the market cycles, and aim to buy stuff only when they are cheap or “undervalued”. This can be done easily by looking at the charts of any product over the past 50-100 years of history. There is no need to spend hours reading financial reports or analyst reports. Remember, our goal is to get the most out of our limited time.

 

3) Re-invest the passive income

As your portfolio grows, and you continue to add to it via your monthly cashflow contributions, the real kicker is when the effect of compounding kicks in.

The best way to do this is to also re-invest the passive income which you get from the portfolio itself, creating a snowball effect which will literally grow your portfolio exponentially.

Once you have assembled your ideal portfolio, all you need to do is to check on it once every 3 months or so, and do some rebalancing. In the meantime, you can pretty much enjoy the fruits of your labour, and focus on living your life instead of having to worry about money.

For me, this means travelling around the world (50+ countries to date!), and sharing my knowledge to inspire and help others do the same.

Now, are you ready to start building your own portfolio?

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