Customer Reviews

Currency Trading For Dummies

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Let me be honest here:

This book provides some really good advice about trading the forex market. Which currencies have what tendencies, which times and reports to look out for, how to manage trades and money, etc. It provides the basics for any beginner. But, if you are a beginner, you will NOT notice something EXTREMELY important that the authors of this book did not mention ON PURPOSE. The authors, in full disclosure, state they are associated with [...](i.e. Gain Capital). And while in the book they make it seem that since [...] is part of/is a(n) FCM/CFTC/NFA (basically throwing out terms to a beginner to make it seem safe and legit), the author's on purpose do not mention that [...]is NOT an ECN broker, and hence you'd think that with all those acronyms they'd be credible, but think otherwise. In real short, what this means is that if you are not an ECN broker, you are allowed to, and most disclose in very fine print hidden among pages of other details they know few will read, take on purpose trades opposite of yours (hedge), in order to make more profits and ensure that begineers get wiped out and even good traders don't last for the long term. There are many more terrible practices these bucketshops use like fishing for stops, spread manipulation, etc, and [...]has the "white gloves" implied in this book very much dirty. Just google it if you don't believe me.

Just thought I'd throw this out there for any beginners. Choose your books wisely, but don't trust everything they say, and make sure you know what they failed to say and why.

EDIT: I don't mean to pick on Gain Capital specifically. All I am saying is when you do go to choose ANY forex broker, keep my information in mind since it wasn't outlined in the book.

Edit#2: Just in case, another point that wasn't mentioned: rememmber that if your broker is not FDIC insured, and they go under, all your money with them will almost certainly never be seen again (don't fall for their sales/marketing ploys of "we're the biggest ones" or we have a safe and positive balance sheet; if you never heard of Enron, GM, WAMU, then you'd need to read a bit about them). The only FDIC insured FX broker I know of is CITIFxPro, which, if you read in fine print, is managed by Saxo Bank, not CitiBank.

Overall, I thought this book gives a great overview on how and when the Interbank FX market operates, a basic overview of technical analysis, and some useful tips on practical matters of trading like how to choose a broker/platform and what to consider when setting up a trade. Having traded the Forex market for over 2 years now and having read a number of books specific to Forex trading, I think this book is the best book geared toward novice traders currently available.

However, I felt this book could have done better in a few areas: it walks you through considerations to construct a trading plan but doesn't provide a detailed example of one (preferably the authors'). This book actually walks through a trade set up (shorting the USD/JPY) and details the things to consider, but it was picked seemingly at random (based on a double doji) and not from some back tested trading methodology. Also not covered in the book are tools to effectively back test strategies and what a sample trading journal should look like.

But like I said at the beginning, this book is a lot better than most of the other FX trading books you find on retail book stores/sites--books that are filled with marketing fluff and little practical guidelines to actual trading. Currency Trading for Dummies actually has a lot of substance and value for the novice trader.

I thought this book would be typical nuts and bolts book.I was soooo wrong.
This book is a book of strategy,fundamentals,mental game and a lot more. If you are just starting or a veteran purchase this book... It gives you those jewels that you hear and wonder," where that come from?". The indicator section is the best. So many traders are always trying out the new indicator. Truth be told they all are the same. Your overall package as a trader is what makes you profitable, not 50 moving averages crossing. I hope I helped someone to make a proper choice in a great overall book on Forex. Forex is the best market out here period, but the books and information available are lacking real substance. Do not let the title fool you. This book is written by owners of Forex brokerages. They hold nothing back. This book is for dummies and pros a like.

First, I must say I am miffed by all the positive reviews regarding "Currency Trading For Dummies". I first read this book about three years ago. I have also been successfully trading forex for over two years. And I assure you, this book deserves no credit for my trading success. So lets just say, I'm not some new guy reading this book thinking that I now know everything I need to know about trading. Anyone familiar with the Forex marketplace will know this book does not prepare the reader to enter the market. The book does a semi decent job defining the market, but that's about it.

You can see this simply by looking at the table of contents. The book 200 pages discussing the market and only 100 pages discussing how to trade the market (Developing and Executing a trading plan) and only 22 pages in that section devoted to "Identifying Trading Opportunities". It spends some time on basic technical analysis but not enough to be useful. Needless to say, this is 180 from how successful traders look at and trade the market on a daily basis. Just based on the content breakdown the book should be more aptly titled "The Forex Market For Dummies"

Lets look at each of those sections individually.

Successful traders trade primarily on a technical basis. We spend our time looking at charts, not watching CNBC, checking news reports. We study a lot of very not sexy stuff like moving averages and chart patterns etc. I imagine it's important to have a basic understanding of the market dynamics, who the big players are, what reports are important, but past that "what" moves the market is far less important than taking advantage of movements in the market. This book does not teach you how to do that in a meaningful manner that you would be able to monetize.

If you want to trade "Fundamentally" you truly need to be smarter than the market. You need to anticipate not only the news, and the outcome, but also what the market has already precieved the outcome to be. Past that, after the event, you must anticipate how the market will react to better than or worse than expected news. That's a lot of work. Successful traders may use this to flavor their trading style, but they will not use it to trade off of.

If you want to trade "Technically" you need to know that the market is moving. Then, you need to make entries and exits based on risk management and probability. Again, "why" it's moving is not as important as "that" it's moving. But where you enter and exit is critical.

Does the book go into market and trading psychology, identifying trading opportunities, identifying a successful trading strategy, risk management? only superficially. And before you say that's beyond the scope of a "for dummies" book, Let me say that you teach someone to successfully trade in an afternoon. Trading isn't about knowing what the estimated NFP will be and then reacting accordingly when the news invariable does not match up with expectations. Longevity in trading is about entries, exits, risk management, average return and average loss. It's about developing a successful strategy and sticking with it. Gain (forex.com - and Dolan's home company) no longer publishes results for their managed account program on their website. But as of last summer when they did, they were down pretty big for the year. Do you really want to learn to trade from that perspective. Gain makes their money on the spread, not on knowing how to trade.

One final note, as I mentioned above, the book does a semi decent job of discussing the market makers, market participants, market movers, and the market itself. (though, knowing what a hedge fund or bank is hardly prepares you to trade). But even in that it doesn't do very well. Do a quick test. See if you can find the times that the market is active. When does it open, when does it close? Yes, of course I know it's a 24 hr market and it opens with the Asian session Sunday afternoon New York time, and it closes with the New York Close Friday evening. So what? The book does not tell its readers what hour (or hours depending on your broker) the market opens. And it does not tell its readers what hour the market closes. When does London open? When does Europe open? When does Australia, New Zeland and Japan open? When does New York open (though for you American readers, hopefully you should know this.) And, when is the best time to trade these various markets? You would think basic information like this should be in a "for dummies" book.

In conclusion, if you would like a superficial taste of what trading is and what Forex is, this book is acceptable. It is not a book to learn "Forex Trading" however. If you would like one of those, try picking up Attacking Currency Trends, by Greg Michalowsk; Technical Analysis Explained by Martin J. Pring. "Emotion Free Trading" By Larry Levin. You may even try: Currency Trading and Intermarket Analysis: How to Profit from the Shifting Currents in Global Markets Analysis by Ashraf Laidi (again a bit of a misnomer because you will not learn how to trade (or profit from shirting currents) but you will gain a good overview of historical price movements and correlations in the market) Happy trading.

For the money, this book is worth every cent. Prior to reading this book, I had only read one other book on currency trading. The first book I read was unfortunately a sales pitch for the author's retail software. After reading this book, I regained confidence in the idea that one could gain objective information from a beginners guide to FOREX.

I have an undergraduate background in international business and economics and learned a tremendous deal about how the actual mechanics of the FOREX market work as opposed to the theory behind fundamental analysis, FED policy, interest rates, inflation, and the like.

I highly recommend this book as a beginners guide to currency trading. There were many things that I read which whetted my appetite to learn more about the field. As far as my opinion goes based on further reading of trading and analysis of markets, I don't believe that this book will teach you how to become a profitable trader but it will definitely give you a solid foundation to build upon.

The authors provide a great overview of trading in the Forex market, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone new to the field (like me). It provides enough education to get you motivated to get started, and helps you decide what specific topics you'd like to research further. Read this book first before making any other purchase on the topic.

Covers the field of currency trading for a beginner very extensively. Take it together with "Technical Analysis for Dummies", and exercise on a few demo currency trading accounts for about three months. Then you can start trading on a real account like a real pro.

MINUSES:
1."American" language.
If you live in Europe, you will have some problems with authors' expressions.
2.Sometimes- illogical and chaotic writing style.
One theme can begin in chapter3, then to continue in chapter6, and then end in chapter9.
3.Some terms are not explained.
4.Weak chapter about technical analysis.
5.Few and weak trading setups.
6.Mistakes.
I found 2-3. (I have no time, to explain those.)

PLUSES:
1.The most exhaustive book about forex in book market.
2.This book converts you from dummy to intermediate immediately after reading.
3.In this book there is important information you will not find in other books or sites.


It is valuable book, but it could be better and I hope-next editions will be better!

So- I highly recommend this book to all forex dummies!
If you are forex dummy- start with this book!

Any time an investment vehicle hits the front page of the WSJ where relatively unsophisticated individual investors are "making millions" - as currency trading did in the Fall of 2009 - I need to look into the next potential individual investor nightmare.

The book was written by the founders of [...]. As the title notes, this is a book on trading, not hedging - and the authors do a great job in giving an overview of the currency trading markets. In a relatively brief 325 pages or so, they discuss in some level of detail:

* What the FOREX market is
* How it works
* Macroeconomic factors impacting currency rates
* Fundamental analysis techniques
* Technical analysis - including charting, trend analysis, candlesticks
* Developing a logical trading plan
* Trade execution - includinga couple of examples
* Common mistakes and best practices
* Risk Management
* Other resources

The relatively high leverage levels in currency trading (100:1 is common) lend to the potential of high risk, high return trading strategies. The authors are not shy about pointing out the risks and the recurring theme of having a trading plan.

I also agree with a number of the other reviewers that the authors do tend to use a lot of terms (both FX and economic) without real adequate definition, and a few more trading examples would be helpful. Nevertheless, if individual traders follow the advice in the book - particularly around these two subjects (including post-trade analysis) - they shouldn't get burned completely by a very sophisticated and reasonably efficient market. If you are looking to get into FOREX trading, and are new to it, read this book and follow the authors' advice on planning and risk.

You only need to read the 'about the authors' section to know you are about to be well informed by two very successful individuals with deep experience in the forex market. It's a good and easy read. While reading it you feel like you're being handed the keys to the kingdom, and you are, to a certain extent. I personally felt a great sense of excitement while reading it. Here is a book that is truly giving you a great overview of all that you'll need to learn and investigate further in order to be successful in the forex market. For anyone looking for a 'Dummies' book, you're getting so much more here than you bargained for(in a good way) for your money.

At first I was annoyed a bit by some of the repetitiveness, but as the read went on I realized that it actually helped in the memorizing and driving home different points. I think I only fast forwarded maybe 10 pages throughout the entire book, which is really good for someone with a short attention span like me.

I only gave it 4 stars because I tend to read the negative reviews more so than the positive ones and make my decisions on those. For like only $16. bucks or whatever it was you can't go wrong with this one.

Remember, the only difference between the 70% losers and the 11.5% winners is knowledge, and putting in the work to make it happen. It'll become reality for you if you keep at it and don't give up. Stay in it for the long haul.