How I Started off as a Broke College Student… And Ended up with a Multi-Million Dollar Portfolio in Just 7 Years…
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How I Started off as a Broke College Student… And Ended up with a Multi-Million Dollar Portfolio in Just 7 Years…
Click on any of these buttons below if you want to jump to a particular topic:
Hi, Spencer here, founder of Synapse Trading, and thanks for dropping by!
I currently live on the sunny island of Singapore, but half the time I’m travelling around the world, while trading for a living and compounding my passive income.
Yes, this sounds like a really awesome lifestyle. Yes, it is 😀
But things were not always so rosy for me.
When I first started my trading journey, I did not come from a well-to-do family, and I had to work several part-time jobs to pay my way through college.
I knew that if i wanted to succeed, I had to work hard, study hard, and learn the correct financial skills which would help me transform my life.
At first, I thought the most direct way would be to get a formal degree, because that would get me a high-paying job in the bank. So I worked my ass off to get into the best high school, and then to one of the best business universities in Singapore.
Basically, I was a straight-A student for every single subject, and I scored in the top 2-4% for my SAT scores. And on the side, I also became a nationally-ranked (7th) chess player.
In college, I pursued double degrees in Accounting (B.Acc) and Business Finance (B.BM), to equip myself with the foundational and research skills to understand the markets.
Heck, I even got onto the Dean’s list and won some awards.
But I soon realised that even though bankers are paid pretty decent, you kinda have to sell your soul to the job, and you won’t get any chance to enjoy that money. This is pretty much the same for any corporate job.
Determined not to get stuck in the rat race, I decided that instead of working for the bank, I would tackle the financial markets myself.
So I read hundreds of books on trading and investing, spent over 10,000 hours studying the markets and looking at charts, while backtesting almost every strategy, indicator and system I could get my hands on. My research was thorough and almost obsessive.
Snapshot of my Goodreads account where I record all my readings. https://www.goodreads.com/iamrecneps
I even became a globally accredited Certified Financial Technician (CFTe), which would normally require months/years of study just to pass the tests.
I was also offered a scholarship by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute, but after clearing level 1 of the exams, I decided not to continue, as I was very close to completing my ultimate trading system.
These scores are considered top percentile scores for the CFA exams.
And finally…
After countless hours of studying, trading, testing, and tweaking, I finally completed my “15-Minute System”, which was special to me because it had a couple of very unique features:
The next few years were unbelievable.
Armed with my mobile phone and an internet connection, I realised I could crank out profits 24/7, wherever and whenever I wanted.
Hence, I decided to fulfill my long-time dream of travelling around the world. And travel I did.
I travelled to over 60 countries and hundreds of cities across 6 continents, at the same time still spending 15 minutes a day “working” and “trading for a living”.
I also compiled all my travel photos and adventures into this travel log here, so feel free to check it out if you are looking for travel ideas.
At the same time, I started funneling my trading profits into other long-term investments, to build up my portfolio of multiple sources of passive income.
I invested my monthly cashflow of profits into a mix of fixed income, ETFs, tech stocks, REITs, properties, cryptocurrencies, etc. I also started actively buying and selling many local start-ups and businesses, including a cafe, a pub, and many promising tech startups.
I also started investing in properties, including a multi-million dollar penthouse which I use to host events. For my 30th birthday, I hosted a private party on a luxury yacht for my close friends and family.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not here to brag. I’m just showing you what is possible if you are willing to put in the hard work.
Having come from a humble background and working my ass off to earn every penny, I have no intention of squandering my hard-earned trading profits just to show off.
I spend my money on practical investments, or splurge occasionally on experiences (to share the joy with my friends and family), but I have no interest in wasting my money on flashy cars or branded goods.
In fact, I do not even own a car or any luxury watches or clothes or accessories. I am happy travelling the world in just my jeans and sneakers.
But soon, the media outlets started picking up on my financial success.
The requests for interviews started pouring in, but due to my travelling schedule, I only had time to do about 20 media features.
You can check out the full list of media interviews and events which I have compiled.
“Spencer has developed his own way of reading charts to understand markets” – The Business Times
“To date, the company [Synapse Trading] has provided financial education to over a million people worldwide through its articles, videos and seminars.” – ABC News, CBS News, NBC, FOX News
I even did a rare home interview with Societe General Bank, giving my market forecast and some trading tips.
Verified by media features and interviews, I started getting headhunted by many professional funds and financial institutions (such as the Singapore Stock Exchange) to share my strategies, trade for them, and to provide training for their staff.
I tried being a “professional trader” for 1-2 years, and it was very profitable, but in the end I preferred the freedom of trading my own accounts, and not being desk-bound in an office.
But I found that I really enjoyed the training part, and I thought it would be very beneficial to retail traders and investors if I could share with them the same level of training which was given to funds and financial institutions.
Hence I embarked on my global speaking tour, doing workshops, seminars and full-weekend trainings to share my strategies to thousands of people worldwide, while at the same time trying to fit as many guest speaking invitations I could into my travelling schedule.
For such events, I used to charge up to 5-6 figures for my trainings or speaking engagements, and the events were always packed to the brim. Some events even had crowds of up to thousands of live audiences.
On many of my speaking tours, I got to share the stage with many other famous speakers, some of whom you might find familiar:
In 2015, I was also selected to speak at the National Achiever’s Congress, the largest of such events in Singapore, with a live audience of more than 2,500 people. It was a wildly awesome experience with such a success-hungry and energetic crowd.
Fast forward to today, after several years of teaching and training, and countless batches of success stories and grateful students, I have decided to take a break and “retire temporarily” from guest speaking and events.
But my mission to reach out to help more people on a global scale has not changed.
By taking a step back to consolidate all my teachings, I have now made them available worldwide to anyone who is willing to invest the time and effort to learn this valuable lifelong skill.
Which means that no matter where you are living, you can now have full access to all my trainings and benefit from my full trading system which I used to build all my wealth and success.
The only question is…
Are you ready?
After 15 years of trading…
Hundreds of books and courses…
Thousands of hours back-testing…
Presenting….
The culmination of all my life’s work and teachings…
Packed neatly into a comprehensive training program…
The core training modules contains hours of video training and tutorials personally recorded by me, and new videos are added when new content and research is conducted, to ensure that the strategies are always up-to-date.
Here is a snapshot of our training portal content:
This covers everything from the basics, all the way to our 4 proprietary trading strategies, and includes essentials like risk management, trading psychology, etc.
You can choose to watch, rewatch, and master all the material at your own time and pace.
And if you have any questions, all you have to do is ask our community members, or I myself will personally answer any questions you have.
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This section encompasses all the best stuff I have curated and created from all my various experiences, to give you the absolute best edge in your trading.
These include Q$A compilations from all my past live trainings, case studies, additional readings, the best trading tools (brokers, software, execution tools, etc), customised trading plan, roadmap, checklists, etc.
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These signals are perfect for people who do not have much time do do their own analysis, but still want to reap the rewards from the markets.
New traders can also use these signals as a learning tool, to help them find additional trading opportunities on top of their own trades for additional profit.
Although we focus mainly on forex, commodities, and indices, we will also post good opportunities on stocks and crypto when we spot them.
These signals are generated using our proprietary trading system, which has been back-tested and optimized for more than 15 years. It is based on predictive price action and behavioral analysis, instead of lagging indicators.
Push notifications are sent out to your mobile devices whenever there is a high probability trade (which is one of our 4 trading setups), and you will get 5-10 of such signals a day.
Once you get the signal, it will only take you seconds to place the trade on your mobile device, hence in total you will only need about 15 minutes a day in total.
In short, you can trade from your mobile device at any time and any place, with just 15 minutes a day!
This is only possible because of the advancement of technology, which allows me to code in my 15 years of knowledge and experience, and make use of the computer to do the 24/7 monitoring of the markets for us.
Here are the 4 different trading setups which I use, which allows me to tackle any type of market condition.
The signals will monitor all markets 24/7 and tell me when such a setup is detected, and then send me a notification.
While the signals might not make too much sense to you right now, once you have watched the clear step-by-step videos in the training, you will know exactly how to take advantage and profit from these daily signals 5-10 times a day.
As you can see, we have a comprehensive coverage of 50+ trading products including forex, stock indices and commodities, so you will never run out of trading opportunities.
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Based on the feedback from our past students, this training program has one of the best all-rounded support, not just from me, but from all the senior members in our closely-knit community.
I’m really proud to hear that! 👍🏻
Here are some of the various channels you can receive ongoing support:
Here is an example of some of our daily chats.
It could be a question about a particular trading signal, or someone asking for an opinion about the stock they have, or really just any question on trading or investing that they have.
The main thing is that I make sure every single one of their questions are answered satisfactorily.
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All 3,000+ trade records, testimonials, feedback & results database have been compiled and uploaded here on our website.
This program, which is developed and taught by a real professional trader, is unlike other existing programs out there and offers skills no book can teach.
I have read over 50 books on technical analysis, and worked several years at a front office bank job, but this course on behavioral analysis was really something new and an eye-opener. It is simple, yet powerful.
After the course, I’m able to analyse the market in different condition and hence able to apply different setups accordingly.
A very good summary of what really works in the market.
I have never traded before and felt that the course gave me adequate knowledge to start trading.
A very structured, objective syllabus and system. Good for both beginners and advanced traders.
Understanding charts and setups haven given me the confidence to place trades amidst all the market noise.
Just updating my results, 7% up and this excludes the gold trade that I am in good profit. I only spend half an hour to trade per day. Thanks Spencer for his guidance so far!
Spencer is very knowledgeable and he is very willing to provide his suggestions or feedback on any stocks. There is good support in the forum as well.
I love the camaraderie within the support network. It is the support I had where I managed to convince myself to quit and trade full time, without it, I would be like a lost fish in the ocean of traders.
Good description and examples of how to enter and exit the various setups. Very detailed!
Very satisfied. Definitely improve my knowledge on price action and decision-making. Will definitely recommend to friends.
Pleasure to have great trainer, Spencer. He is friendly and kind! The course is conducted well, easy to understand and absorb. Greatly appreciate the platform Spencer build for us, it is not only a way for us to earn some $$, but also a great educational platform!
Able to see charts with different perspective & understand the possible hidden behavior of the trend.
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Q1: What is the registration process?
To register, please click here: https://synapsetrading.com/the-synapse-program/#registration
After payment, you should get automatically redirected to a page with all the instructions to get started.
If that does not happen, please drop us an email. Thanks!
Q2: I am a complete beginner, are there any prerequisites or requirements to join?
There are no prerequisites or requirements to join, as most of the people who join are complete beginners, so the first training module starts right from the beginning.
In addition, you can learn at your own pace, and re-watch the videos if you are still uncertain until you master them.
Lastly, if you have any questions or points to clarify during the training, you can always do so via our various coaching support channels.
Q3: What is covered during the training modules and the whole program?
Here are the key things included:
Q4: What devices do I need to trade?
You can trade solely on any device, including your desktop, laptop, or any mobile device.
Of course, you will also need an internet connection.
Q5: Do I need a trading account or any software?
You do not need it at this point of this, but during the training I will share which brokers and software I use, so that when you are ready to start you can choose which ones you prefer.
Q6: What timeframes are the trading setups based on?
For the trading setups, they can be used on all markets and timeframes.
For the “Daily Trading Signals”, they are based on the daily timeframe.
Q7: How much returns can I make from trading?
If you trade conservatively (to focus on capital preservation), then as a beginner you should be looking at 3-5% returns a month.
As you progress, you can look at 5-10% a month.
If you are extremely hard-working or gifted, or more aggressive with your risk, then you can aim for 10-20% a month, but do note that this is already considered the pro level.
Q8: How is this training different from others out there?
Please scroll down to read full answer below.
Q9: Can I choose when to start my signals subscription?
Yes, you do not have to start immediately, and you can let us know exactly when you want the subscription to start.
Some students will prefer to start only after watching all the videos, while other prefer to learn while observing/trading the signals and watching the videos at the same time.
If you want to delay the start of your subscription, please inform us in advance, because the default is to start immediately.
Q10: Can I subscribe for the signals directly without attending the training?
No, the signals are meant for post-training support. Also, without learning the right trading skills (money management, psychology, trade execution), it will be hard and even dangerous for you to trade, and even with the correct trading signals, you might end up losing money if the execution is incorrect.
Q11: How much is the renewal for the trading signals subscription?
The renewal is $237 for 3 months, or $797 for 12 months.
You might be thinking, “I have seen so many different training courses, trainers, and software providers, all with impressive websites, so how do I know which is the real deal?”
That is a legitimate concern, so let me give you some tips on how to make a wise choice.
If I were to add up the cost of all my education, from elementary school, to high school, to junior college, and then to college, I estimate that the total cost of these 16 years would be about $100,000.
And if I were to add up the time and hours (about 15 years) I spent reading hundreds of books, checking out countless websites and courses, poring over charts, tweaking my system, back-testing and optmising my trading system, I think that would easily be another $200,000.
This means that the total estimated costs for me to develop my whole system is easily $300,000, and that is a very conservative estimate.
Which is why I used to charge high 4-5 figures when I was invited as a guest speaker to share my views on the market, or when I conduct workshops to impart my skills to aspiring traders.
But now that I have “retired” from my world tours of guest speaking and live events, my goal is to make all this knowledge available to as many people as possible throughout the world.
Which is why I am not going to charge you 6 figures. Or even 5 figures.
Not $200,000 or $300,000. Not even $50,000. Or $20,000.
Not even $10,000. Or $5,000. 😲
I am offering it to you for even less than $1,500.
If you ask me, that’s the best deal I’ve seen in all my training career.
So if you think that learning these trading & investing skills to secure your financial security is at the top of your priority list, then I would urge you to take the time to consider carefully, and make your decision as soon as possible.
After payment, you should get automatically redirected to a page with all the instructions to get started. If that does not happen, please drop us an email. Thanks!