Currency Trading and Intermarket Analysis: How to Profit from the Shifting Currents in Global Markets (Wiley Trading) [Hardcover]

Ashraf Laïdi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0470226234 | ISBN-13: 978-0470226230 | Edition: 1

As head FX strategist at CMC Markets–one of the world's leading forex/commodity brokers–Ashraf Laidi understands the forces shaping today's currency market and their interplay with interest rates, equities, and commodities. And now, with Currency Trading and Intermarket Analysis, he shares his extensive experiences in this field with you. Throughout the book, Laidi outlines the tools needed to understand the macroeconomic and financial nuances of this dynamic field and provides you with insights that are essential to making the most of your time within it.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Currencies are becoming an integral part of many investors' portfolios and have grown to be a distinct asset class in banks' investment products. While the mechanics of the forex market and the theories underpinning it have been widely explored, there has been little discussion regarding the practical intermarket relationships shaping currencies via interest rates, equities, and commodities.

Nobody is more familiar with this situation than author Ashraf Laïdi. As head FX strategist at CMC Markets—one of the world's leading forex/commodity brokers—he understands the forces shaping today's currency market and their interplay with interest rates, equities, and commodities. And now, with Currency Trading and Intermarket Analysis, he shares his extensive experiences in this field with you.

Following an innovative approach based on what still works and what doesn't in currency market analysis; applying charts and case studies to intermarket analysis in unprecedented ways; and weighing both old theories and newly emerging phenomena in this arena, Currency Trading and Intermarket Analysis will put you in a better position to assess shifts in economic and market dynamics and make more profitable trading decisions in the process.

Some of the essential issues addressed include:

• The latest commodity boom with a breakdown by individual commodity group and its implication for currencies

• The relationship between short- and long-term interest rates and how it can be applied to anticipate vital shifts in central bank decisions and turning points in economic growth

• The drivers of risk appetite in the market and their effect on foreign exchange

• Central bank currency reserves in regions such as the oil-producing nations, and the evolution of power between the Dollar and the Euro

• A gold-based approach to valuing the major currencies and determining their secular strengths and weaknesses over the past decades

• And much more

Currency trading has increased in size and speed, and so has its impact on the global financial scene. Having a solid grasp of these markets is no longer limited to figuring out interest rate and growth differentials. Currency Trading and Intermarket Analysis outlines the tools needed to understand the macroeconomic and financial nuances of this dynamic field and provides you with insights that are essential to making the most of your time within it.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Currency Trading And Intermarket Analysis

"Ashraf La??di is virtually without peer in his grasp of currency movements and their significance for financial and commodity markets and the global economy. As his new book illustrates, he's blessed with an uncommon knack for describing the meaning of trends in those often erratic markets in clear and concise fashion."
???Alan Abelson, Columnist, Barron's

"Ashraf La??di's book is sure to become an instant classic from Wall Street to Main Street. For the first time, a real expert has masterfully connected the rhymes and reasons behind currency, gold, oil, and other commodity price and interest rate movements in a way that is both clear and indispensable for the practitioner. In these turbulent times, the investor who wants to stay ahead of the curve and reap above average returns, the business finance student who wants to get the feel of the marketplace and enrich his or her educational experience, the international business finance professor who wants to make the class relevant, and the policymaker who wants to engineer stable and sustained growth must read this book and a number of times, from cover to cover."
???Hossein Askari, Iran Professor of International Business and Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University

"A comprehensive guide to the factors that drive the FX market, with a particular emphasis on the major currency pairs."
???Brad Setser, Fellow, Geoeconomics, Council on Foreign Relations

"Ashraf La??di's insights on the dollar have enlightened the millions who have seen him on TV or read his analysis. His book explains in simple language the complex inter-relationships between the dollar, oil, gold, and interest rates. Valuable information for all investors???even the pros."
???Susie Gharib, Anchor, PBS's Nightly Business Report

"Ashraf La??di is well known to city journalists as the rising star of the currency markets. His book offers a majestic sweep of the global financial system, showing how credit, oil, gold, and equity markets all interact to shift currencies one way or another. It is a primer on thirty years of exchange rate drama. If you want to know when to play the carry trade and when to steer well clear, this well-crafted opus is probably the best guide you are going to find."
???Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor

"Ashraf La??di has been an invaluable source of insight as global currencies have endured their fiercest bout of turbulence for years. This book offers an accessible, yet comprehensive, guide to the world's largest and perhaps least understood financial market."
???Peter Garnham, Currencies Correspondent, Financial Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (December 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470226234
• ISBN-13: 978-0470226230
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #447,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #90 in Books > Business & Investing > International > Foreign Exchange

More About the Author

Ashraf Laidi is the head FX Strategist at CMC Markets, where he oversees the analysis and forecasting functions of G-10 currency pairs as well as decisions and trends of the major global central banks. His online FX analysis has received wide following for more than a decade, centering on G-10 currencies and economies. Prior to joining CMC, La??di monitored the performance of a multi-FX portfolio at the United Nations, assessed sovereign and project investment risk for Hagler Bailly and the World Bank, and analyzed emerging market bonds at Reuters. La??di also created the first 24-hour currency Web site for traders and researchers during the inception of the Euro.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally an original in FX, December 23, 2008

By 

Tom Wilson "Tommy" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Currency Trading and Intermarket Analysis: How to Profit from the Shifting Currents in Global Markets (Wiley Trading) (Hardcover)

This book will be helpful to those seeking an introduction to the interrelatedness of the currency, commodity, equity and fixed income markets. The book is well written and easy to read. However, I would not suggest the book to a person with no technical, economic or financial background.
I have followed Mr. Laidi's currency outlook for over a decade now both on TV and in print, and can honestly say that I have yet to come across another analyst with the foresight of Mr. Laidi (he called the bear market and USD collapse when the rest of Wall St. were still believing in an unending bull market).
Although many of his correlations referenced in this book are obviously backward looking, it does teach traders to take a global market perspective before narrowing down to specific currency pairs. I felt his explanation of the FED, under both Greenspan and Bernanke, really did a good job on a very difficult topic, as many traders, like myself, really don't understand the different weapons the Fed and other central banks posses.
Equally useful and informative was his chapter on the effect of interest rates, there isn't enough space for me to go into it, instead I will let you gather the pearls of wisdom for yourself.
Mr. Laidi finally concludes that some of the historical tendencies are currently being challenged and that only time will tell if a new relationship has emerged or if history will again be proven right. Pick up this book if you want to read the work of an original thinker at the top of his craft. Whether you trade FX or another market, I think you will benefit from Mr. Laidi's insight.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Forex Book with Value, February 15, 2010

By 

Kevin Jacobson "Kjac22" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Currency Trading and Intermarket Analysis: How to Profit from the Shifting Currents in Global Markets (Wiley Trading) (Hardcover)

I've read and flipped through a number of currency trading/forex books, both as I was learning the trade and in my continuing education. Most books on the subject seem to be put out to sell with little regard to original content and value-added information. They typically spend half the book going over the very basic of foreign exchange markets and lingo - basically repeating what every other intro-forex book says, and then spend the next half of the book either going over general trading areas - such as trading systems or technical areas of trading. There is little to no value-added information/analysis for the forex trader, unless you are a complete newbie.

This book is different - and more in-line for someone who has read up on forex basics and/or has begun to dabble in forex trading and wants to begin to understand the history of different forex markets (as in their past movements), drivers of said markets, and intermarket connections. Unlike other books on the subject, there is not 200 plus pages of forex definitions and filler - it dives straight into valuable content (chapter 1 is about gold and the dollar - history, linkage, trends). It then goes on to cover oil and its linkage, the dollar's historic performance (and the drivers/causes) vs. other major currencies and other macro and micro drivers of the currency markets. This is not a trading book per se (it does not tell you how to trade various markets) - but a great supplement to the trader's understanding of the markets he or she trades in. If you trade forex but don't understand the concepts in this book, my bet is that you are a losing trader, whether you trade long-term or short.

Overall - the best book out there I have seen about the currency markets, their drivers, correlations/linkage and past performances. After reading you'll have a better understanding of the major currencies' past performances and cyclical behaviors, what drives these cycles, their linkages to one another (as well as to gold and oil), as well as understanding the impact on currency markets of central bank decisions and the trends of other markets (e.g. equities, commodities). Highly recommended for anyone currently or looking to trade forex, or someone who just wants to understand the currency markets, especially in relation to global economics/events.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars So so, July 16, 2010

By 

Jackal (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Currency Trading and Intermarket Analysis: How to Profit from the Shifting Currents in Global Markets (Wiley Trading) (Hardcover)

Work on intermarket analysis is quite descriptive and not very analytical. The classic Intermarket Analysis: Profiting from Global Market Relationships (Wiley Trading) suffers from that weakness and so does the current book. The current book is not bad, as long as you know what you're getting.

The first part deals with historical events, with a focus on the 1997 to 2007 period. It is always good to know history, but there is absolutely no guarantee that the intermarket relationships present at that time are going to be valid in the future.

The second part deals with current relationships; yield curves, US trade and budget deficits, and commodities. This is quite interesting if you are not at all familiar with the ideas. So this section might serve as a primer. What is really odd is the very strong US focus here. Currency trading always consists of two currencies so it absolutely does not make any sense to focus on the US alone. For this reason I give the book only three stars.

I have written several short reviews on trading books. The best way is to compare the score on the books I've read. Many reviews on amazon.com are just glorious 5 star reviews. I use all five categories; sorry but everything isn't "great". Books rated 5 are very good. Books rated 4 are good solid books well worth reading. Books rated 3 can be bought by some people who read a lot or have very specific needs. Books rated 1 or 2 I would not recommend buying or reading. Naturally all in my humble opinion.