Start trading properly

What We’d Ask If We Were You

We put our money where our mouth is and transparently trade in the public eye exactly what we teach. Results are replicable.

The Founder of SWS live-trades over US$600,000 in publicly followed portfolios comprising: stocks, crypto, and 3x leveraged ETFs.  

To teach our members how to trade properly under pressure, we combine two frameworks:

  1. A mechanical, rules-based system (SPA3) with an ‘edge’, founded on years of research and verified live-trading results, to provide objective, emotion-free, replicable trade signals and profitable portfolio management with precision.
  2. Mindset skills and habit training, based on the teachings of Mark Douglas (who mentored the Founder of SWS one-on-one for 11 years) and the principles of James Clear, to help you execute trades properly under pressure and under uncertainty.

 

By following this training system exactly as designed, one for the trader and one for the trades, you will transform to become a disciplined trader who is confident, consistent, calm, profitable, and spends no longer than 30 minutes a day, on average, managing any sized portfolio.

Through our live-trading Learn To Trade Properly (LTTP) Study Groups you’ll trade with a relatively small amount of your capital, while you:

  • Reframe losses and drawdown as part of the process, not something to avoid
  • Master the skill of RECOVERY – how you recover matters more than what happens to you
  • Commit and become accountable to learn the skill of CONSISTENCY alongside other traders
  • Journal, review, and measure. The goal? Replace hesitation with a structured process that you follow to the letter

Most traders don’t have a trading strategy problem; they have a consistency of execution problem. 

 

Mindset determines whether traders follow their process and execute trades properly, even when, in fact, mostly when, they’re uncomfortable. 


Because they don’t know, or won’t admit, that their biggest problem is consistency of execution, they forever default to trying to improve the analysis in their strategy, rather than how they think to improve their consistency.

Each Study Group starts on the first Monday of every month, except January. 

In the leadup to each Study Group:

  1. Complete a minimum of 4 hours of pre-requisite online training at your own pace
  2. Ensure you have a USD trading account setup with a stock broker who supports Market on Close orders
  3. Decide how much your ‘small’ will be 
  4. Read and modify (Trading Account Size) your Skills Acquisition Trading Plan
  5. Create a portfolio in SWS’s Portfolio Manager software ready to start trading when your LTTP Study Group starts 

 

Thereafter, once the Study Group starts, expect a tight loop, in which you will invest up to 2 hours a week of your time for 12 weeks:

  • Watch this week’s formal training video 
  • Complete this week’s Homework
  • Scan for and / or use the SWS Alerts & PM App Buy and Sell signals 
  • Execute the Buy & Sell signals on your broker’s execution platform
  • Enter the trades into SWS’s Portfolio Manager software
  • Portfolio and individual trades review with coaching and community feedback.

Identity, Process, Outcomes 

  1. Establishment of Trading Identity as defined by State of Mind (calm, acceptance of risk, probabilistic “edge” thinking, ‘not knowing’, objective, confident, consistent)
     
  2. Process: Trading rule-adherence %, additional analysis time, hesitation time to execute entries & exits, trading error rate, journaling of thoughts, and consistency of execution.

  3. Outcomes: Trading through and recovering from at least one (preferably two) period of greater than 10% drawdown, whilst maintaining a consistent level of mindset such that the trader continues to execute their Skills Acquisition Trading Plan with a calm and peaceful disposition thus allowing the system’s edge to manifest its way through the portfolio to ultimately form a new all-time high value, regardless of market conditions.

Rules-based, trend-following position trading (SPA3 Investor) and swing-trading (SPA3 Income & SPA3 Crypto) in stocks/ETFs/cryptos using price action with volatility, liquidity, and “trendability” filters. 

 

Entries, exits, and position size are unambiguous, so anyone can replicate the same decisions without any additional technical analysis.

 

All the analysis and research is already done for you.

Everyone’s timeline varies according to their commitment, adherence and number of mistakes. Typically, measurable results and visible improvement to modify human habits requires 66 days of consistent repetition (DYOR).

 

That is why it is so important to use rules-based, system-focused trading to learn to trade properly. And why our live-trading experience-based LTTP Study Group lasts 12 weeks.

For: Traders who have an open mind to learning new skills, de-energising dysfunctional habits, and instilling new functional habits. This means being willing to follow rules, truly accept that losses happen, and put in steady weekly time of up to 2 hours per week for 12 – 16 weeks.


Not for: System-hoppers, prediction chasers, holy-grail seekers, or anyone unwilling to execute when it’s uncomfortable and their current dysfunctional beliefs get tested.

Primarily ASX and U.S. equities/ETFs  with SPA3 Investor. 

 

U.S. 3x & 2x leveraged ETFs with SPA3 Income. 


Crypto ETFs and some coins with SPA3 Crypto, using the similar mechanical principles

You’ll use Beyond Charts for signals and our integrated Portfolio Manager to manage your trades. 


You’ll also have access to SWS Alert App, giving you rules-based signals at your fingertips.

Yes. We have live-traded, public portfolios. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future returns.

No. Our education and systems are general and don’t consider your personal circumstances. Always assess suitability for your situation or contact us for advice

In the first few weeks, you’ll need up to two focused hours per week to complete the required actions in our Foundational Training and Live-trading Study Group. As you acquire the right skills and build good habits, this routine will take only 15–30 minutes a week thereafter, if executed properly.

No. We’ll teach and guide you every step of the way. Your job is to simply show up, do the work and follow.

 

That said, our trading has managed to turn around the dysfunctional habits and bad performance of traders who have been trying for longer than a decade.

If you’re considering trading for income especially with retirement capital, these are the questions that matter most. We’ll answer them clearly, honestly, and without hype.

Is this suitable for retirement or near-retirement money?

Yes. If you approach it with the right expectations and discipline.


SPA3 Income prioritizes capital preservation first, then steady growth to be able to provide repeatable income. It uses a mechanical, rules-based process focused on limiting downside risk and maximising growth from trading 3x leveraged ETFs on the U.S. stock market.

The focus is on high growth, in excess of 20% Annualized Returns so that the excess returns above CPI can be used for paying yourself income from trading. 

Losses will still occur and income is never guaranteed but the goal is a disciplined, probability-based swing-trading trend-following system that removes emotion and promotes consistency.

Risk is managed at three levels:

  1. Position sizing rules limit how much capital is exposed on any one trade.
  2. Mechanical exit rules to take profits into an overbought trend and limit drawdowns in falling markets.
  3. Portfolio-level discipline prevents over-trading and concentration risk.


Losing periods are normal and expected. They are not a failure of the system; they are the cost of participation. They are preparation, not punishment, to continually keep re-learning to trade properly.

The goal is not to avoid losses, but to keep loss trades small and controlled relative to the size of profit trades, so the system’s edge can play out over time.

SPA3 Income has been thoroughly back-tested at the portfolio level using Exploratory Simulation. Maximum drawdowns and % Annualized Returns are shown on the SPA3 Income webpage.

Income varies based on account size, market conditions, and whether profits are withdrawn or compounded. There will be months with little or no income, and others with very strong returns.

We do not promise consistent monthly income or fixed percentages. Instead, SPA3 Income aims to provide a repeatable process that can generate income over time, without requiring constant decision-making or emotional over-involvement.

Plan to start with quarterly income while learning the nuances of the system. Calculate how much annual income is required then work back from there assuming a 25% annualized return.

We do not promise consistent monthly income or fixed percentages. Instead, SPA3 Income aims to provide a repeatable process that can generate income over time, without requiring constant decision-making or emotional involvement.

Yes. SPA3 Income is built on profitable technical concepts, rules and principles that have been traded live with real-money ‘public portfolios’ for over 10 years with SPA3 Investor. 

An Overbought Exit has been added to the SPA3 Income rules. While this specific configuration is new, it draws on over three decades of real-world trading experience, not theory or over-optimized equity curves.

Live trading with SPA3 Income began in December 2025. All live-trades are ‘published’ to existing customers via SWS’s tightly integrated Portfolio Manager.

LTTP (Learn to Trade Properly) is a Study Group of 20 – 50 students. It focuses on execution training that teaches traders how to follow processes and execute trades under pressure. SPA3 Income provides the process, the rules and the tools.

Most traders fail not because of poor analysis, but because they cannot execute their analysis consistently. LTTP bridges that gap by training the key mindset skill of consistency and building it into a habit, so the analysis can actually work as intended.

We unpack two setbooks in detail, Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas, and Atomic Habits by James Clear.

No. All analysis is all done for you in SPA3 Income.

Your role is execution, following clear rules, not interpreting charts or forming opinions.

This is intentional.

Subjective analysis creates conflict.

Objective rules create clarity.

According to Mark Douglas there is no other way to learn the trading skill of consistency than to first go through the mechanical stage of trading.

 

“The first stage is the mechanical stage. In this stage, you: 

  1. Build the self-trust necessary to operate in an unlimited
       environment.
  2. Learn to flawlessly execute a trading system.
  3. Train your mind to think in probabilities (the five fundamental
       truths).
  4. Create a strong, unshakeable belief in your consistency as a
       trader.”

         

Trading in the Zone, Chapter 11, Page 172, p. 206 Kindle

You should spend no more than 30 minutes per week trading SPA3 Income once trained in the navigation of SPA3 Income and the mindset skills of acceptance of risk, objectivity and consistency.

 

Before and during the LTTP Study Group you will need to invest between 90 minutes and 2 hours per week for 14 – 16 weeks, depending how long it takes you to complete the prerequisite online Foundational Training in your own time before the LTTP STudy Group starts.

100% rules-based.

 

There are no overrides, opinions, or gut decisions.

 

There is no screen-watching, day trading, constant market monitoring, reading of stock reports or of commentators’ worldviews about the market.

 

The only discretion is upfront when you will decide how much capital to allocate to the SPA3 Income and how many simultaneously open positions to manage in a portfolio.

29 highly liquid 3x and 2x leveraged ETFs (exchange-traded funds) listed on the U.S. markets. For example, TQQQ, UPRO, SOXL, CURE, NAIL, NUGT, UGL, ACQ…

As part of the SPA3 Income focussed SPA3 Income Universe, we are trialing 2 stocks which display the same characteristics as these leveraged ETFs. We use volatility, liquidity and trendability to determine the characteristics.

No options.

No short selling.

No futures.

 

Inverse ETFs are being explored to be used in declining markets but as yet are not part of the SPA3 Income Universe.

The system reduces exposure and stands aside in cash when conditions are unfavourable. It does not try to predict crashes, it responds to price behaviour. 

 

Mechanical exit signals occur as part of the pre-defined process to take your SPA3 Income portfolio into cash.

This is not for people who:

  • Want guaranteed income
  • Can’t follow a process
  • Prefer prediction or over-excitement 
  • Are unwilling to truly accept risks occurring, like losing trades

The system loses its edge.

SPA3 Income and LTTP exist specifically to help prevent this.

Foundational competence typically takes 14 – 16 weeks, with ongoing refinement over time. 

 

No skill can be learnt properly in less than 3 months with the necessary repetition it takes for the human brain to turn it into a functional habit that doesn’t keep regressing.

 

That said, strengthening trading skills never ends as you take your portfolio to higher levels and face the ever-changing causes of risks that play out in the market environment.



Unlimited ongoing education, updates, and community support, not isolation. 

 

By phone, email and closed discussion Forums.

We suggest that you start with a ‘small’ amount of your capital during the LTTP Study Group. Small enough that you are not tempted to break the process, but big enough to tempt you to break the rules that comprise the process.

 

This could be as small as US$2,500 but should be in the region of 1% to 2% of investible capital. Once the LTTP Study Group completes you then decide how much to allocate to the SPA3 Income strategy to generate meaningful annual income or high growth.

Structured onboarding, clear instructions and steps to learn to trade properly, no overwhelm. 

Because:

  • Buy & Hold of ETFs is easy to understand
    • …until a Secular Bear Market starts and market indices fall 50% – 80%
  • Exits are emotionally hard to execute…
    • …especially exits that lock-in loss, or conflict with commentary
  • Buying when you least expect to requires overcoming opinionated “noise”
  • Discipline is uncomfortable, especially when the market has already caused discomfort 
  • People think they know better, especially when they have an “edge” in another walk in life
  • Traders think they can know what’s going to happen in the future – “I don’t need a system!”
  • Ego…
    • …protects and tries to prove & perfect status quo strategies
    • …closes the mind to other potentially better ways


SPA3 Investor (and SPA3 Income & SPA3 Crypto) is built for people who care more about outcomes through process than prediction & commentary through stories.

How do SPA3 Income signals and indicators work?

SPA3 Income signals are generated automatically inside Beyond Charts for trading leveraged ETFs and stocks.

All trade decisions — entries, exits, and re-entries — are based on predefined, mechanical technical rules. 

These rules are fully programmed into Beyond Charts, so you do not need to analyse charts or calculate indicators manually. 

You know which leveraged ETFs are currently open trades and which are closed.

There is no discretion, interpretation, or guesswork involved.

Here is a high-level explanation. A much more detailed explanation is provided in Point 6 below.

SPA3 Income combines two complementary forms of technical analysis:

1. Indicator-based rules

The core of the system is a proprietary Adaptive ATR Breakout and ATR Trailing Stop indicator.
 This “backbone” indicator is supported by three additional measures:

  • ATRVE (volatility expansion filter), which is ATR / Price smoothed exponentially

     

  • Overbought / Oversold (OB/OS) indicator

     

  • Keltner Channel Upper Line

     

Together, these indicators determine when to enter, exit (Trailing Stop & Overbought Exit), or re-enter trades following a retracement after an Overbought Exit.


2. Price-action pattern analysis

SPA3 Income also uses Swing Chart price patterns to detect early exit conditions that may occur before a trailing stop is triggered. These pattern signals are also fully programmed into the Beyond Charts.

  • Entry signal:
     When the closing price moves above the ATR Breakout line, an entry signal is displayed.

  • Primary exit signal:
     When the closing price moves below the ATR Trailing Stop line, an exit signal is displayed.

  • Pattern exit signals:
     Certain 3-day swing-chart price patterns can trigger an earlier exit before the trailing stop is reached.

  • Weakness TimeStop exit:
     After a trade has been open for a defined number of days, the OB/OS indicator monitors for price weakness.

    If weakness is detected, an exit signal occurs before the trailing stop. After this exit, no re-entry is permitted until the next full trailing-stop exit condition occurs.

Overbought exit and re-entry:
 The Keltner Channel Upper Line detects when price has become over-extended.
 This triggers an earlier “overbought” exit.
If price later retraces, the system can re-enter the trade — still before a trailing stop exit occurs.

No.

All indicators, pattern recognition, and signal logic are fully programmed and automated inside Beyond Charts.

Your role is simply to follow the displayed signals according to the rules as each day’s trading data is added to the historical price database.

The SPA3 Income indicators and settings were not chosen arbitrarily, nor optimised to fit historical data. They are the result of many years of system research, live-market trading experience, and iterative refinement.

At Share Wealth Systems, every trading system begins with a simple question:

“What rules can be executed consistently, practically in individuals’ life scenarios, under pressure, and in real market conditions?”

From there, we test potential technical techniques across multiple market environments — trending markets, sideways markets, volatile periods, and major drawdowns. 

Only methods that demonstrate robustness across changing conditions are retained. Anything that works only in a narrow historical window is discarded. Robustness is measured using mechanical system metrics including:

  1. Expectancy (also called Mathematical Expectation or Expected Value or simply “edge”)
    1. Win Rate & Payoff Ratio are used for this calculation
  2. Risk to Reward Ratio (Maximum Drawdown / Annualized Return)
  3. Sharpe Ratio
  4. Profit Ratio
  5. Average Profit Per Trade (All trades, Winners Losers)
  6. Average Hold Periods (All trades, Winners, Losers)

The Adaptive ATR Breakout and ATR Trailing Stop form the backbone because they:

  • respond objectively to changing volatility

  • allow trends to run while controlling downside risk

  • remove the need for prediction or interpretation

The supporting indicators — volatility expansion, overbought/oversold detection, Keltner Channel structure, and swing-pattern logic — were added only where they consistently improved trade management or risk control, according to the above metrics, without increasing complexity or time requirement for the trader.

Just as importantly, every rule had to pass a second test:

Can a real person, in their everyday life scenarios, follow this reliably, without hesitation or discretion?

That is why the rules are mechanical, unambiguous, and fully programmed into Beyond Charts. The goal is not theoretical perfection — it is practical repeatability. Repeatability is the only way to acquire proper trading skills and build functional habits (while de-energizing dysfunctional skills).

In short, these indicators and settings represent:

  • decades of trading experience

  • extensive system research

  • real-world execution testing

  • and continuous refinement

All in service of one objective:
…a process that can be followed calmly, consistently, and profitably, without guesswork.

SPA3 Income deploys the following technical analysis indicators: 

  1.   A customised adaptive ATR Trailing Stop for ‘baseline’ ATR BO and ATR TSL signals.
  2.   ATRVE volatility indicator.
  3.   OB/OS indicator.
  4.   Keltner Channel Upper Line indicator.
  5. 3-day Swing Chart pattern exits.

 

All these indicators are available in Beyond Charts for generic technical analysis use.

SPA3 Investor uses indicators 1. and 2. and 5. SPA3 Crypto uses all 5.

 

ATR BO and ATR TSL

A SPA3 Income ‘baseline’ trade is one that is opened and closed by the ATR TS ONLY. This example shows a TQQQ trade that is considered a ‘baseline’ trade. Entry on an ATR BO and exit on an ATR TSL.



Those familiar with SPA3 Investor, the terminology of ‘baseline’ has been introduced in SPA3 Income to differentiate between trades shown below and those that show an early exit before the ATR TSL, caused by either an Overbought Exit or a Weakness TimeStop.

 

 

SPA3 Income Signals

The philosophy behind the SPA3 Income swing-trading system is that the instruments it trades have highly volatile characteristics compared to stocks and unleveraged ETFs. Therefore, SPA3 Income deploys technical analysis techniques for early detection of being overbought, or of price weakness.

Whilst the ATR BO & ATR TSL indicator is an excellent trend-following indicator, like all trend-following and momentum strategies, they can suffer from larger End of Trade Drawdown (ETD). ETD measures the percentage fall from the highest close price reached in a trend to the exit price when an ATR TSL exit signal occurs.

SPA3 Income uses two technical analysis techniques to reduce ETD:

  1.       An Overbought Exit when price has become too overbought relative to recent rice action.
  2.       A Weakness TimeStop.

To complete the logic of this swing-trading system, a Re-entry signal is required when the bigger picture trend continues to rise within the context of the SPA3 Income ‘baseline trade’. These are the ‘OverBought Re-entry’ signals, which occur if price strengthens again before an ATR TSL signal occurs.

 

ATRVE Indicator

The ATRVE (ATR Volatility Exponential) indicator shows values as a percent, representing the exponentially 21-day smoothed ATR as a percent of the current price of a security. 

This indicator is key in determining how volatile price movement is over any given period.

It is used in the internal calculation of the ATR BO and ATR TSL signals.

In the example above, the value shown in the bottom graph on the Value Line is 3.71% in October 2024. Meaning that the 21-day exponential moving average of the 21-day ATR (high to low price range of the daily bars, including gaps) is 3.71% of the then current TQQQ ETF price. In March 2025 it was 9.21%.

 

OB/OS Indicator

The Overbought / Oversold indicator is used in SPA3 Income (and SPA3 Crypto) to determine price strength and price weakness. In SPA3 Income it uses a 10-day period for the OB/OS Indicator. In SPA3 Income it is used in conjunction with how long a trade has been open (TimeStop) to determine:

  •         volatile price weakness, which indicates a high probability of price still being in a downtrend.

 

In line with being a swing-trading system that trades highly volatile leveraged ETFs, SPA3 Income uses a trading count in excess of 70 trading days to start looking for price weakness. When the 10-day OB / OS indicator has not reached a value of 100 for at least 10 consecutive days, SPA3 Income will generate a Weakness TimeStop exit signal.

 

Keltner Channel Upper Line

There is more than one way to calculate Keltner Channels. Beyond Charts and SPA3 Income (and SPA3 Crypto) uses ATR in its calculation of the Keltner Channel.

Keltner Channels are calculated and drawn with upper and lower channel lines, which are a user-selected ATR multiple above and below a user-selected Moving Average. SPA3 Income (and SPA3 Crypto) uses a 21-day EMA (Exponential Moving Average) for its Smoothing calculation.

SPA3 Income only utilises the Keltner Upper Line in its logic to determine with a high probability that a trend has become overbought in the swing-trading timeframe in which SPA3 Income is designed to enter and exit trades.

SPA3 Income keeps a count of how many days a given ETF has traded above its Keltner Upper Line to determine an OverBought Exit.

What ATR Multiple_Upper parameter to use and what the overbought count is, is different for each leveraged ETF as their characteristics and price movement all differ from each other. The resolution of these parameters is the outcome of SWS’s research processes.

In the example above of TQQQ, there are two OverBought Exit signals using the Keltner Upper Line. This has turned a single ‘baseline’ trade between an ATR BO and ATR TSL into 2 trades. Note how the second trade starts with an Overbought Re-entry signal and also has greatly reduced ETD (End of Trade Drawdown).

Here is what the OverBought Exit looks like with the Keltner Channel overlaid:

Is SPA3 Investor trading or investing?

SPA3 Investor is a mechanical position-trading, trend-following system. 

Average hold periods for each trade, as measured between entry and exit, is 3 – 4 months, on average.

We call it active investing. Or long-term trading.

It focuses on:

  • Long-term capital growth via unleveraged trading of large-cap stockton teh U.S. and ASX stock markets
  • Risk reduction during major market declines
  • Staying invested when conditions are favorable


You are not day trading, swing-trading, guessing tops, or reacting to news and commentator opinions.

It is a longer-term system than SPA3 Income and SPA3 Crypto, which would both fall into the category of swing-trading.

No.

You do not need to:

  • Read charts
  • Understand indicators
  • Follow market news
  • Predict anything


The system tells you what to do and when to do it. Your role is simply to follow the process and abide by the entry and exit rules.

Buy & Hold assumes markets always recover in time. Buy and Hold means you hold many years, even decades.

SPA3 Investor accepts that timing matters, especially:

  • Near or in retirement
  • Early on during major market retracements or crashes (e.g, 2000 – 2002, 2007 – 2008, March 2020, the COVID Crash) 


The key difference is exits. Buy & Hold has none. SPA3 Investor does.

Buy & Hold requires sitting through multi-year 50%+ market retracements. SPA3 Investor doesn’t.

No and that’s intentional.

SPA3 Investor does not try to:

  • Pick tops
  • Predict crashes
  • Time the market perfectly


Instead, it aims to exit early enough to avoid catastrophic damage — not to be clever.

At ‘the exact top’ the trend is still going. So we follow it…

That will inevitably happen sometimes.

Every small loss is a victory against a big loss.

SPA3 Investor accepts small opportunity costs in exchange for:

  • Avoiding large losses
  • Protecting long-term plans
  • Preserving emotional confidence


Missing part of a rebound is far less damaging than riding a major drawdown that causes catastrophic losses.

No.

Most of the time, the system is fully invested during rising markets.

It only reduces or exits positions when objective risk signals appear.

Cash is a temporary safety position, not a permanent stance.

10-years+ live-trading shows that portfolio Exposure % (% of time capital is exposed to the market – a metric automatically calculated by our integrated Portfolio Manager / Tracker) is between 80% and 90%.

Yes! especially retirees. And near-retirees.

SPA3 Investor is designed to reduce:

  • Sequence of returns risk (Risk of a large decline in an investment portfolio in the latter part of one’s investing career)
  • Forced selling during downturns
  • Emotional panic during crashes

It helps retirees and near-retirees stay invested without riding markets all the way down…

…and then making an emotional decision, typically beyond their control and fed by fear, to sell at or near the bottom of a 50% – 80% market decline.

That said, every investor needs to manage portfolio losses / drawdown responsibly and properly.

Yes.

SPA3 Investor works with:

  • Individual stocks
  • ETFs
  • ASX and U.S. markets


You don’t need to restructure your entire life savings overnight. Most users transition gradually, starting with a small portion of their investible capital.

Very little.

Most users spend 15 – 30 minutes per week, mainly to:

  • Check signals
  • Place trades
  • Update the Portfolio Manager


No glued to screens. Minimal stress. No constant market watching.

This is where SPA3 Investor is designed to help most.

When markets fall sharply:

  • Exit signals are triggered
  • Capital is moved to safety
  • Drawdowns are reduced

 

The goal is not to be fearless, but to be prepared.

Yes, certainly. But it depends on how you define ‘wrong’. 

Most define ‘wrong’ wrt trading as being a loss trade. Or a period of equity curve drawdown. So let’s start there. Then we’ll answer the question in Mark Douglas terms…

Losing trades and drawdowns are a normal part of trading. No system wins on every trade, and SPA3 Income is no exception. 

What matters is not avoiding losses, but keeping the average size of loss trades controlled, relative to the average size of winning trades. This is called the Payoff Ratio. This is done by following a  process with a statistical edge, as measured over many trades. 

Mark Douglas defines ‘wrong’ by the trader not “flawlessly executing a [mechanical] trading system”. His words, not mine, in his book Trading in the Zone.

The system and our training, based on Mark Douglas’s teachings (he was a personal mentor of SWS’s founder of 11 years), is designed to:

  1. produce profits through probability, not prediction
  2. reduce emotional decision-making — not eliminate risk
  3. reframe ‘right’ from ‘wrong’ in trading
  4. reframe “flawlessly executing” trades
  5. create conflict-free, calm trading through consistency

No guarantees. Ever.

SPA3 Investor (and SPA3 Income & SPA3 Crypto) in combination with our LTTP Study Groups, provides the 5 bullet points in the answer to Question 11 above.

It does not remove uncertainty, it minimizes and manages it.

That said, grasp a sound understanding of Mark Douglas’s Uncertainty Principle and you’ll begin to comprehend how you can create certainty, only if you have an “edge”, over a large sample of events, in a completely uncertain environment.

It is mechanical, not automated.

You still place the trades on your chosen broker execution platform, but:

  • The signals are objective and precise
  • There is no discretion
  • There is no interpretation

 

If the rule triggers, you act. If not, you wait.

Optional. And only for experienced users.

Research supports modest leverage (between 1.2 to 1.6:1) with strict risk controls.

Most investors should start without leverage and focus on mastering the process first.

If you want to trade with leverage then rather allocate some capital to a SPA3 Income satellite portfolio.

That’s the real risk, not the market.

SPA3 Investor (and SPA3 Income & SPA3 Crypto) is designed to work best when:

  • Rules are followed
  • Emotions are ignored
  • Decisions are consistent

 

That’s why new users are encouraged to start small and build trust in the process.

Yes, but it shines most when capital protection matters.

Younger investors may tolerate larger drawdowns. SPA3 Investor is for those who prefer:

  • Smoother equity curves than market indices
  • Better returns than Balanced Funds and Target Date Funds
  • Less emotional stress
  • Better sleep during bear markets

This system is not for:

  • Day traders
  • Gamblers who want to win using their ego and gut-feel
  • People chasing over-excitement
  • Anyone who ignores process and rules
  • People who want constant action every single day

 

Boring, disciplined, repeatable behavior is incorporated into the “edge”.

What exactly is SPA3 Crypto, and who is it for?

SPA3 Crypto is a rules-based, mechanical swing trading system designed specifically for the cryptocurrency market. It is built for traders and investors who want high-growth exposure to crypto while maintaining structure, discipline, and risk control.

It is not designed to be a core, buy-and-hold portfolio strategy. Instead, it is a satellite strategy, intended for a smaller allocation of capital (typically 5–10%), where higher volatility and higher return potential are acceptable.

SPA3 Crypto is suitable for beginners who are willing to follow rules exactly and trade mechanically. The system removes discretion by providing clear entry and exit rules, which helps reduce emotional decision-making—one of the biggest challenges for new traders.

However, this is still an active trading system operating in a volatile market. Users should be comfortable with drawdowns, follow the system precisely, and understand that crypto is inherently speculative

SPA3 Crypto uses a swing trading approach, with typical holding periods ranging from one to five weeks. On average, the system generates around 10–12 trades per year, depending on market conditions.

Because it is fully rules-based and trend-following, it does not require constant screen time. Once trades are placed and managed mechanically, it allows you to “get on with your life” rather than monitor markets all day.

The system trades a carefully selected universe of crypto-related instruments, including:

  • Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), XRP
  • ETFs: GBTC, ETHE, BRTQ, CRYP
  • Stocks: MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN)

You can trade the full universe, or choose to trade only ETFs and stocks through a traditional brokerage—no crypto exchange required if you prefer that route.

No. You are not required to set up a hot or cold wallet.

If you trade coins directly, exchanges like Independent Reserve, Coinbase, or Kraken handle custody for you. If you trade ETFs and stocks, everything is done through standard brokerage platforms. The goal is to keep execution as simple and familiar as possible.

Crypto is a high-volatility, speculative market, and SPA3 Crypto is designed to operate within that reality—not eliminate it.

In historical simulations (with extreme outlier trades excluded), the system showed:

  • High annualized returns
  • Maximum drawdowns around 30%
  • A strong risk-to-reward profile

This is why SPA3 Crypto is positioned as a small allocation, high-growth strategy, not a capital-preservation or retirement solution.

Yes—but with important context.

The research uses data primarily from 2019 onward, reflecting the shorter history of crypto markets. To avoid misleading results, extreme trades over 200% were deliberately excluded, even though they did occur in real markets.

The goal is to present achievable, repeatable performance, not cherry-picked outcomes.

SPA3 Crypto is designed to be fully mechanical. Entries, exits, trailing stops, and pattern exits are all rules-based.

Your job is not to predict the market, but to:

  • Follow the signals
  • Execute consistently
  • Manage risk exactly as designed

This makes it especially powerful for traders who struggle with emotional decision-making.

The primary objective is growth, which is the defining purpose of a satellite strategy.

However, because the system trades more frequently than long-term investing, it can also be used for income, provided withdrawals are managed carefully and expectations remain realistic.

No. You do not need to understand blockchain, wallets, protocols, or tokenomics.

SPA3 Crypto is price-driven, not narrative-driven. You are trading trends and volatility, not “beliefs” about crypto. If you can follow rules and place trades, you can use the system.

No. You are buying the trading system, not crypto assets.

SPA3 Crypto provides:

  • The rules
  • The signals
  • The structure for trading crypto-related instruments

You still control your own capital and execute trades in your own brokerage or exchange account.

Nothing breaks.

Missing trades is part of real-world trading. The system does not rely on one “perfect” trade to work. Over time, expectancy comes from consistency across many trades, not precision on every single one.

The key is to:

  • Re-align with the next valid signal
  • Avoid revenge trading or improvisation

If crypto volatility and trending behavior disappear, the system simply stops producing opportunities.

SPA3 Crypto is designed to respond to market conditions, not force trades. If conditions deteriorate, fewer trades occur. That is a feature, not a flaw.

This is also why it is positioned as a satellite strategy, not a forever core holding.

No. It is mechanical, not fully automated.

You are responsible for:

  • Placing trades
  • Managing stops
  • Following signals

That said, it does not require constant monitoring and does not involve day trading or intraday decision-making.

No.

The system does not require leverage to function. Some instruments (like CFDs or leveraged products) may involve leverage by nature, but leverage is not a requirement nor a selling point of SPA3 Crypto.

Risk comes from volatility, not leverage.

No.

SPA3 Crypto does not predict bottoms, does not average down, and does not rely on hope. It enters after trends begin and exits when trends show signs of ending.

This is trend participation, not dip-buying or opinion-based investing.

Then this system may not be suitable for you.

Crypto drawdowns are normal and unavoidable. Even in simulations with conservative assumptions, drawdowns around 30% occurred.

SPA3 Crypto is for traders who:

  • Accept drawdowns as part of growth
  • Prefer rules over emotion
  • Size their capital appropriately

The biggest mistake is treating it like a core portfolio strategy or over-allocating capital.

The second biggest mistake is not following the rules exactly.

SPA3 Crypto works best when it is:

  • Properly sized
  • Traded mechanically
  • Left alone to do its job

Because good trading is about risk management, not conviction.

Satellite strategies are designed to:

  • Take advantage of specific conditions
  • Be turned on and off
  • Complement a broader portfolio

Going all in defeats the entire purpose of disciplined speculation.

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