Customer Reviews

Forex Trading Using Intermarket Analysis

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

 

 

If I had read the author's previous book, I wouldn't have bothered with this one. If I had read the reviews of that book, I probably would have skipped this one.

Assuming you accept the author's premise that intermarket analysis is something forex traders cannot do without, you might still have trouble accepting the solution: Buy Mendelsohn's product, Vantage Point.

I went to the Vantage Point website. No price is given for the product, so I assume it costs a fortune. Maybe that's not so bad if it's really picking 70%+ winners on a regular basis. Still, even if I were won over by the sales pitches on the site and in this book, for all I know, the hundreds or thousands of dollars I spent on the Vantage Point software might eat up most of my profits.

I give the book three stars because it held my interest and didn't cost too much. Of course, if you find the book truly worthless, then any price is too much. I give the book a mild recommendation, but if you don't read it, you won't miss much.

Save your money, this pamphlet is a sales pitch for an expensive software. Gosh, don't you hate those "please-read-my-pamphlet-and-buy-my-software-please-please-please" books?

If you know nothing at all and I mean nothing about fx or trading in general, this book will give a very vague non useful description of some of the basics. Has no useful information about intermarket analysis and only 12 useless pages with useless diagrams half filling those pages about it. He does promote his own product for a full chapter though, spends more time on that than intermarket analysis. glad I bought that book NOT.

This book offers an excellent overview of the Forex markets and their interrelationships. I have read hundreds of explanations of the Forex markets, but Mendelsohn's explanations go beyond the typical, mundane description of the currency markets on usually finds. He then goes on to describe, in a general way, how markets are interrelated and the kinds of markets that might inpact the currency markets. As I expected, the book never gets specific enough to describe how to build a predictive model or system. This should be viewed as a more elaborate brochure for the VantagePoint software that is sold by Mendelsohn's company, Market Technologies, LLC. Still, there is enough new material that makes this a very worthwhile read. I also found that Mendelsohn's writing style was excellent and concise; much better than most financial writers.

Review written by Van K, Tharp, Founder of the Van Tharp Institute

If you'd like a good introduction to forex trading, then Lou Mendelsohn's book is a great way to get you started. Most people who enter into a new area have no clue what they are up against, and Mendelsohn's new book does a good job of illustrating the complexities of trading foreign currencies for the beginning trader.

Let's look at a few of the chapter titles to see what's under the covers of this compelling little book.

What is Forex? Mendelsohn discusses the history and development of this specific market as it has developed over the years from pure intrabank trading to futures contracts to the cash markets that are now available to the average investor.

In the chapter entitled, "The Forex Marketplace" Mendelsohn discusses the primary reasons to trade forex. He also covers basic points that are essential to know about how the forex market works, such as how prices are quoted and some of the key pitfalls that a forex trader might face.

For example, individuals trading the cash market should be very familiar with the bid/ask spreads being quoted. Although there are no commissions in cash forex trading, that spread can be very large because only the firm with whom you are dealing is quoting the prices. Furthermore, some of those firms may not come under any regulatory jurisdiction. Consequently, you must know what you are getting into when you jump into the forex arena.

In the chapter entitled, "Fundamentals and Forex," Mendelsohn lists a number of different reports that can affect the U.S dollar plus other reports that can influence other currencies. If you jump into the market without being aware of a report that could have a major impact on the market, you could face troubles.

If you feel intimidated by the forex market at this point, Mendelsohn suggests that you could simplify it all by just looking at price and the trends suggested by the price. However, even this is more complex than just looking at one market because a number of international markets all impact the various currencies. For example, if you want to trade the U.S. dollar versus the euro, Mendelsohn suggests that you need to be aware of what's happening not only with values of other currencies but also with prices of gold, oil and other markets related to the dollar.

Mendelsohn has found a solution to this problem by using neural networks to find the 10 markets that have the most influence on a target market and then analyzing the impact of these various markets on the current value of the target market. As the developer of VantagePoint Intermarket Analysis Software, he has been a pioneer in designing software to help traders get through the complex task of processing all of this information.

Although the book does not delve into all of the details necessary to build a trading system, such as how to trade forex using stops and exit points, or money management concepts, such as developing objectives and position sizing to meet them, this concise book fulfills its goal by just pointing out some of the complexities of the forex market.

Mendelsohn is an expert on intermarket analysis, and most books on forex usually don't even begin to point out the complexities and pitfalls that you must navigate to be successful in this massive marketplace. With that in mind, you should enjoy and find value from this primer on forex trading.

Van K. Tharp is the founder and president of the Van Tharp Institute and stands out as an international leader among professional trading coaches and consultants, based on his mission of helping others become better traders since 1982. He is also an educator for www.TraderPlanet.com, a free educational website.

I was interested in the concept of intermarket analysis after reading an article in Currency Trader Magazine by Barbara Rockefellar. Since I am always open to new ideas (new to me) this seems like a tool that could really add some valuable clues to my trading decision making process. I am VERY interested in the software that has been developed to help automate this process. I'm sure it's not for everyone since everyone does not yet have a success attitude. But while one person will complain that he sells a product in the book, another person will put it into use and become wealthy, happy and fulfilled. This is the case with most everything in business and especially in trading. I consider this book a significant discovery for my own trading business.