OK! Some background on me first – so you know where I am coming from.
I am a forex trader with 18 months experience. I am happy to tell you that I am STILL struggling to become CONSISTENTLY profitable. I know an awful lot about technical analysis and price action. I have been in several live rooms, only to eventually find out that the presenter is a scam merchant and FAR from being a trader.
Dean Malone/Compass FX seem to have a VERY good reputation. My research lead me to have nothing but respect for the guy. The basic Synergy system seems good. So, I thought I would give them a go.
This is some feedback on my findings.
First off, here are the costs:
$497 to buy Advanced Synergy 2 plus $97 per month subscription.
$97 per month subscription to the live room.
Interestingly, if you go to this link: https://www.synergyforex.com/store/product/15/Advanced-Synergy-2.0-Special Advanced Synergy is available for $97!!! [watch that link disappear pretty quickly!!]
Advanced Synergy includes the standard Synergy indicators, plus a further SEVEN indicators. These are:
Dynamic Support & Resistance
Volatility
Range Factor
Continuation
Synergy Trade Signal
Synergy MTF Indicator
Synergy Trade Targets
You download and install the indicators to your MT4 platform. Interestingly, they are all set to “allow dll imports” which means they are obviously sending bits of code back to Dean Malone/Compass FX.
Then you watch a large number of videos which are in the Advanced Synergy Member area. The videos are comprehensive insofar as they give LOTS of details on the indicators, but there is nothing which explains how to bring them all together into one cohesive trading strategy with fixed entry and exit criteria. Stop loss placement is never discussed!
So far, not great, but certainly not particularly bad.
OK. Into the live room.
This is where it all falls apart pretty quickly I’m afraid!
Of all the custom Advanced Synergy indicators, Dean only uses the Synergy Trade Signal and Volatility!! The others are nowhere to be seen on his charts [admittedly, the Synergy Trade Signal IS looking at the other indicators before signalling an entry].
Right, so, into the live room proper.
Dean starts the session by drawing in horizontal support and resistance lines. If price breaks support, look for shorts, if it breaks resistance, look for longs, we are told.
No explanation is given for why these levels are selected.
Then he starts looking at fib levels, 1-2-3 patterns, [very dubious looking] head and shoulder patterns and saying things like “if price gets to such and such a level, expect it to reverse, or break through and go to such and such a level.”
In one particular session, he also talked about Cable having potential to the downside all day, and then right at the end [just as Cable was pushing up], he had the brass neck to say that “look folks! I told you GBPUSD would break this level and head up!”
Well, I’m not being funny, but even I could do that!! It’s almost as good as saying price could go up or price could go down!!
During my entire time in the live room, NEVER did Dean refer to an Advanced Synergy entry.
Neither did he call his trades in advance.
In one particular instance, he said “I just got 10 pips out of that.” I queried him on it because it was a news spike and he traded GBPJPY without a stop loss!! He said he saw it “pop” and he jumped on it for 10 pips!!
I said that was a very risky strategy long term, trading news spikes on THE most volatile pair, without a stop loss, and he actually agreed with me!!! But he reckoned his “experience” allowed him to do it!
But the point here is, in fact, SEVERAL points here are:
1. He doesn’t call trades before/as he takes them. Details are only given afterwards. The usual live room excuse of “we are not a signal service” is rolled out. Well, I’m sorry, but this is not acceptable!! People join a live room to SEE how a professional trader takes his trades, with details of WHY he is thinking of entering, where his stop will go, and what his exit strategy is. Without this information, how can they learn!?
2. The MT4 platform which Dean shares with us is NOT the one he trades on. We can’t see entry/stop/target levels on the charts. Why?
3. Whichever platform Dean DOES trade on, he only trades MINI lots!! WHY??? If you were being cynical, it would be because you would get your calculator out and think.......... hmmmmmmmm... 280 people in the live room. They have each paid $97 a month for the Advanced Synergy indicators and $97 a month for the live room. My maths says that equals over $54,000 a month. Maybe THAT explains why he doesn’t actually TRADE?
4. Dean DOESN’T call his trades in advance. If people don’t even know he’s entering, how can they learn?
5. Dean DOESN’T trade a large account. WHY? I’d love to see him opening up a position with 50 full lots – and I’m sure everyone else would too!
6. If Dean is such a great trader, why isn’t he with an ECN Broker, instead of messing about with Compass FX? I’ll tell you why! Because, Compass FX are a retail broker. They trade AGAINST you – the retail trader!! You think there is another trader on the other side of your trade? THINK AGAIN!! You are trading against your broker – who has the power to manipulate price data to your charts, and spreads, and slippage etc etc...........
7. Dean DOESN’T even trade Advanced Synergy or even BASIC Synergy for that matter? WHY? Because I have looked at it and seen how many false signals it generates!!! THAT’S why!!
8. Dean trades without stop losses or targets. How do I know? Well, most of his trades produce a profit of less than 10 pips. MANY of them are as low as 2 or 3 pips. Didn’t know Advanced Synergy 2.0 was a scalping strategy? Well, you do now!! [although, like I said, he doesn’t actually trade Advanced Synergy!!]
One of many things I found amazing was that Dean obviously has a Bloomberg feed and just seems to keep quoting it ad nauseum!! I got the impression that he is more of a fundamental trader than a technical one!!
I believe that because Dean comes across as a “nice guy” he uses a psychological “transference” whereby no-one in the live room wants to upset him. 95% [newbies] of people in the live room must be sitting there TOTALLY confused, but thinking they must stick it out in order to learn what is going on.
The other 5% can see it for what it really is! A SCAM!! Dean Malone is not a trader! Why would you bother RISKING money, when you can earn over $50,000 a MONTH by running a live room in which you DON’T call out your trades before the event?
The whole setup is designed to get new traders involved and confuse them, to the point where they believe that Dean is a good, knowlegeable guy who they don’t really understand what he’s saying, but that they want to learn from, so that they DO understand!!
And every month that goes by, he collects nearly $200 from them!!
My message is simply this: Forex trading is, without question, one of the most [if not THE most] difficult endeavours a human being could ever undertake. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MINUTE!!! IT IS SOOOOO true, otherwise, you would not be reading this now!!
So, what’s the best way of making money in forex? Open a live room and don’t actually TEACH anyone anything!!!
You HAVE been warned!!!
I could go on and on and on about why this is a SCAM, but I think the above speaks for itself!!!
HAPPY TRADING!!!
I am a forex trader with 18 months experience. I am happy to tell you that I am STILL struggling to become CONSISTENTLY profitable. I know an awful lot about technical analysis and price action. I have been in several live rooms, only to eventually find out that the presenter is a scam merchant and FAR from being a trader.
Dean Malone/Compass FX seem to have a VERY good reputation. My research lead me to have nothing but respect for the guy. The basic Synergy system seems good. So, I thought I would give them a go.
This is some feedback on my findings.
First off, here are the costs:
$497 to buy Advanced Synergy 2 plus $97 per month subscription.
$97 per month subscription to the live room.
Interestingly, if you go to this link: https://www.synergyforex.com/store/product/15/Advanced-Synergy-2.0-Special Advanced Synergy is available for $97!!! [watch that link disappear pretty quickly!!]
Advanced Synergy includes the standard Synergy indicators, plus a further SEVEN indicators. These are:
Dynamic Support & Resistance
Volatility
Range Factor
Continuation
Synergy Trade Signal
Synergy MTF Indicator
Synergy Trade Targets
You download and install the indicators to your MT4 platform. Interestingly, they are all set to “allow dll imports” which means they are obviously sending bits of code back to Dean Malone/Compass FX.
Then you watch a large number of videos which are in the Advanced Synergy Member area. The videos are comprehensive insofar as they give LOTS of details on the indicators, but there is nothing which explains how to bring them all together into one cohesive trading strategy with fixed entry and exit criteria. Stop loss placement is never discussed!
So far, not great, but certainly not particularly bad.
OK. Into the live room.
This is where it all falls apart pretty quickly I’m afraid!
Of all the custom Advanced Synergy indicators, Dean only uses the Synergy Trade Signal and Volatility!! The others are nowhere to be seen on his charts [admittedly, the Synergy Trade Signal IS looking at the other indicators before signalling an entry].
Right, so, into the live room proper.
Dean starts the session by drawing in horizontal support and resistance lines. If price breaks support, look for shorts, if it breaks resistance, look for longs, we are told.
No explanation is given for why these levels are selected.
Then he starts looking at fib levels, 1-2-3 patterns, [very dubious looking] head and shoulder patterns and saying things like “if price gets to such and such a level, expect it to reverse, or break through and go to such and such a level.”
In one particular session, he also talked about Cable having potential to the downside all day, and then right at the end [just as Cable was pushing up], he had the brass neck to say that “look folks! I told you GBPUSD would break this level and head up!”
Well, I’m not being funny, but even I could do that!! It’s almost as good as saying price could go up or price could go down!!
During my entire time in the live room, NEVER did Dean refer to an Advanced Synergy entry.
Neither did he call his trades in advance.
In one particular instance, he said “I just got 10 pips out of that.” I queried him on it because it was a news spike and he traded GBPJPY without a stop loss!! He said he saw it “pop” and he jumped on it for 10 pips!!
I said that was a very risky strategy long term, trading news spikes on THE most volatile pair, without a stop loss, and he actually agreed with me!!! But he reckoned his “experience” allowed him to do it!
But the point here is, in fact, SEVERAL points here are:
1. He doesn’t call trades before/as he takes them. Details are only given afterwards. The usual live room excuse of “we are not a signal service” is rolled out. Well, I’m sorry, but this is not acceptable!! People join a live room to SEE how a professional trader takes his trades, with details of WHY he is thinking of entering, where his stop will go, and what his exit strategy is. Without this information, how can they learn!?
2. The MT4 platform which Dean shares with us is NOT the one he trades on. We can’t see entry/stop/target levels on the charts. Why?
3. Whichever platform Dean DOES trade on, he only trades MINI lots!! WHY??? If you were being cynical, it would be because you would get your calculator out and think.......... hmmmmmmmm... 280 people in the live room. They have each paid $97 a month for the Advanced Synergy indicators and $97 a month for the live room. My maths says that equals over $54,000 a month. Maybe THAT explains why he doesn’t actually TRADE?
4. Dean DOESN’T call his trades in advance. If people don’t even know he’s entering, how can they learn?
5. Dean DOESN’T trade a large account. WHY? I’d love to see him opening up a position with 50 full lots – and I’m sure everyone else would too!
6. If Dean is such a great trader, why isn’t he with an ECN Broker, instead of messing about with Compass FX? I’ll tell you why! Because, Compass FX are a retail broker. They trade AGAINST you – the retail trader!! You think there is another trader on the other side of your trade? THINK AGAIN!! You are trading against your broker – who has the power to manipulate price data to your charts, and spreads, and slippage etc etc...........
7. Dean DOESN’T even trade Advanced Synergy or even BASIC Synergy for that matter? WHY? Because I have looked at it and seen how many false signals it generates!!! THAT’S why!!
8. Dean trades without stop losses or targets. How do I know? Well, most of his trades produce a profit of less than 10 pips. MANY of them are as low as 2 or 3 pips. Didn’t know Advanced Synergy 2.0 was a scalping strategy? Well, you do now!! [although, like I said, he doesn’t actually trade Advanced Synergy!!]
One of many things I found amazing was that Dean obviously has a Bloomberg feed and just seems to keep quoting it ad nauseum!! I got the impression that he is more of a fundamental trader than a technical one!!
I believe that because Dean comes across as a “nice guy” he uses a psychological “transference” whereby no-one in the live room wants to upset him. 95% [newbies] of people in the live room must be sitting there TOTALLY confused, but thinking they must stick it out in order to learn what is going on.
The other 5% can see it for what it really is! A SCAM!! Dean Malone is not a trader! Why would you bother RISKING money, when you can earn over $50,000 a MONTH by running a live room in which you DON’T call out your trades before the event?
The whole setup is designed to get new traders involved and confuse them, to the point where they believe that Dean is a good, knowlegeable guy who they don’t really understand what he’s saying, but that they want to learn from, so that they DO understand!!
And every month that goes by, he collects nearly $200 from them!!
My message is simply this: Forex trading is, without question, one of the most [if not THE most] difficult endeavours a human being could ever undertake. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MINUTE!!! IT IS SOOOOO true, otherwise, you would not be reading this now!!
So, what’s the best way of making money in forex? Open a live room and don’t actually TEACH anyone anything!!!
You HAVE been warned!!!
I could go on and on and on about why this is a SCAM, but I think the above speaks for itself!!!
HAPPY TRADING!!!
