Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Foreign Currency Trading

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Not recommended - not what you expect when you buy "Idiot Guides." I think other books are probably much better. It gave me very little understanding of trading currency, and definitely missed the mark in many areas. There are many grammatical errors, and the author constantly pushes his own website as being the best. He spends little time explaining what actually moves currency prices, which should have been a main topic. Instead, he spends much time discussing things like what kind of computer you need, what a bid/ask is, and how to pick a good broker (use his company)- which most people can figure out for themselves. His chapter on technical analysis is almost comical - it does nothing more than describe what a candlestick chart is, a bar chart, and what a trend is.

The single useful advice I could come up with is his recommendation to cover a loss at a 30 pip decline, and shoot for a 100 pip profit. Otherwise, in many paragraghs he says interest rates boost a currency value and in one paragrapgh they lower a currency value, so I am left wondering which it is...

At this point, I have to buy another book because I basically understand nothing. I still have no idea how brokers charge interest on your margin, or how long people hold currency trades. The author frequently mentions losing everything in a few minutes but does not explain how this happens -ie - why you cannot just wait for it to come back like with stocks and options.

Overall, you will definitely need to buy another book. I think this book was very poorly written and does not convey information well at all.

Being new to the foreign currency markets I found this book to be very good at answering the questions that I didn't know or was too embarassed to ask anyone. Clearly written, I think it is a must read for anyone that is thinking about trading currencies, or anyone who has traded currencies but may still have questions.

This is the most helpful book that I found about currency trading. I was a little hesitant to buy it since it only had 3/5 stars on Amazon, but I bought another "idiot's guide" book for something different and thought I'd try this one out. I love love love this book. It has explained currency trading, and definatley broke the trade down to the simplist level. I also bought currency trading for dummies, and that book is not as helpful. The jargon with "dummies" is to advanced for beginning traders. Idiot's guide breaks currrency trading down for the average "joe." I can't wait to buy "the complete idiot's guide to technical analysis" next!!

I'm just killing time with reviews here, otherwise I wouldn't bother to tell you that. But in general, the whole Idiot's guide franchise is just a cheezy ripoff of an already cheezy (but still superior) franchise.

To answer another reviewer's question though, interest rates are good and bad for currencies, depending on what shape to economy is in. If the interest goes up in response to economic growth, it's good. If it's to control inflation, it's bad.

It says that in the For Dummies book, by the way.

This is a book filled with old and obselete material which can be found almost anywhere. It is certainly NOT a newly written book.

I found many things which while once true, are no longer true. Obviously they were copied from old sources. I did not find anything which is new, or would be of help to a new trader. I teach Forex trading to beginners, and none of my students felt this book had any value to them.

You don't need to be an idiot to trade Forex. But you would have to be to think you could learn anything from this book.

To me, one star is much too high a rating.

I think this book is just ok for beginners. It explains Forex basics well enough. However it does spend alot of time recommending the use of their software, a sample of whihch is included in the CD that comes with the book.
Although its called a sample pratice software, you actually have to open an account before you can use it.

Excellent to undestand FOREX investments. The GFT plattform to open your account is also excellent. Highly recommended.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Foreign Currency gives you an overview of Forex and who trades it. You'll find a history of how Forex started, an overview of the key terms you need to know and how to find the most current information about currency on the internet and in other print publications as well.

You'll find an entire chapter on why currency changes value including discussions about economics and business cycles, political developments, changes in interest rates, international stock news, inflationary expectations, international investment patterns and policies adopted by Governments and Central Banks. We also discuss how you as a trader can take advantage of these changes.

Next we cover the eight key currencies you can consider trading as a new trader and then talk about the risker emerging country currencies to watch after you have more experience and decide you want to take on more risk.

After that there are four chapters on trading basics you need to know - trading platforms, hardware and software; basics of technical analysis (don't expect to learn how to do technical analysis with this book - it's just an intro - that is a book in itself), fundamental analysis, and the risks you face as a Forex trader.

Fianlly we look at the tools you can use for trading including how to deveop your money strategies and how to place orders. We do use co-author Gary Tilkin's software, which is available on the CD Rom included with the book, with sample trades but recommend others that can be accessed on the internet as well. Gary Tilkin is the founder and CEO of Global Forex Trading, which is an online foreign exchange dealing company. He is an internationally renowned expert in currency trading and the futures markets with over 30 years of trading experience.

Other chapters discuss using mini accounts, managed Forex and trading systems, and how to avoid money fraud.

I had to read this book because, well, my boss wrote it. :)
It was very informative, easy to understand, etc, etc, etc. And I'm not just saying this because I don't want to get fired either. haha
If you are interested in Forex, this book is a good place to start.