Customer Reviews

Technical Analysis Applications in the Global Currency Markets

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Unlike other technicians, Luca doesn't clobber the reader with certain pet indicators such as momentum or MACD. He doesn't push certain studies such as Elliott Wave, which might be difficult for a beginner.

What he does is present all the tools technicians might employ in their work and emphasize their pros and cons. In fact, in the last chapter Luca even advises NOT to attempt using all studies but select those that are best suited for each individual.

Technical analysis applies pretty equally across the board, but I found it really useful to see it so clearly applied to currencies. I can't really relate well with a chart of IBM for example when my interest lies really with the euro. I also found very useful to see the long-term charts of the major and thus get a clear perspective of the movement. Some politicians complain these days that the yen is weak at 130 to the dollar, but I can see on the charts in the book that there were more than 200 yen to the dollar in the 80s and 80 yen to the dollar in the mid 90s. Perspective helps.

I also like to see clear parts of the book dealing extensively with candlesticks or point-and-figure charts, for example. I had had trouble dealing with point-and-figure charts before but Luca made it clear how they work and how they can help you. I like the easy to follow structure of the book. Whether you are a beginner (like myself) or more advanced, you can find this book of interest. Just select your area of interest. I selected the entire book.

I traded FX for 15 years in major banks in New York and London and I now have a retail FX firm. I found "Technical Analysis Applications in the Global Currency Markets" to be an excellent review for myself and a vital training tool for my traders.
In a short period of time junior traders drastically improved their knowledge and, more importantly, performance. At the end of the day, all that counts is a decent profit.
I found the clear structure and complete coverage to be big assets, particularly in a market devoid of consolidated research. In fact, this is the only technical analysis book on foreign exchange that I know of.
Junior traders were very pleased with the excellent explanations, diagrams and real-life examples in this updated edition. In particular, they found trend analysis, candlesticks, and point-and-figure charts to be consistent profit boosters.
The clear explanation of the benefits of moving averages and of the entry/exit points is valuable as well. Most recetly, these ntry/exit applications worked wonderfully for both the euro and the yen.
I strongly recommend "Technical Analysis Applications in the Global Currency Markets" to anyone who toils in the volatile currency markets.

. . . underlying issue. This is a big expensive book about technical analysis as it applies to currencies, when in fact, it applies to all issues whether it's the British Pound or Bean Oil. In other words, if your interest is in currencies, this book doesn't have anything you won't get in better and less expensive books on technical analysis such as Edwards & Magee or Jiler or John Hill. The charts and explanations are all accurate but you keep on going deeper into the book expecting to see how the information applies specifically to currencies, it doesn't, it applies to all of them.

You want to make money in currencies with position trades, just remember currencies generally trend longer than other future/spot markets because governments move slowly. "The trend is your friend." It doesn't get much easier than that. Use a breakout/breakunder system with appropriate money management and you'll save the price of this book. Let's not hold our breath.

Not that it would ever happen, but where authors write books specifically targeting a distinct audience (but not really, just target audience exploitation), I wish the publisher provided a web site as a companion to the book. You'd have a one week password access to determine if you want to buy the book. The first day the site might say "The indicator on Page 179 is getting a set up in the Spanish Peseta." The next day, you'd get one or more messages about a diffferent indicator in a different currency, etc. After a week you'd see if you would have put on any good positions and if you liked the eventual results, you'd buy the book. Kind of a put up or shut up approach.

They did use nice paper though.

This is a very simplistic TA book that can be applied to any tradable instrument. You might as well buy John Murphy's book and formulate your own strategies relating to Forex. Very dissapointed..

The last 5-6 reviews were written by the same person with multiple ID's to boost the overall rating! The language is nearly the same. This book was written by someone with a basic understanding of FOREX; probably thumbed through a few books. The writing is terrible to follow and does not cover any material to allow you to grow as a trader. I doubt this guy ever made money trading FOREX!

I've been a currency trader at Deutsche Bank for over ten years now, and occasionally I'm asked to recommend books for people wanting to get into the business. A colleague brought in this book a few weeks ago, and on a quiet afternoon I started leafing through it. It's rare to find a good book on currency trading, but it's even more difficult to find a book as uniformly dreadful as this one. From the verging-on-illiterate first page (check out the Amazon image of it if you don't believe me) through the incomprehensible chapters on Gann retracement levels and the like, I couldn't find a single well-expressed idea I've ever used or would ever recommend. If you want to trade currencies as a job, get your prospective employer to train you. If you want to trade currencies on your own account, don't: you'll lose a fortune. But if you want to lose a fortune while following the teachings of some guy who obviously never managed to make any money in the business himself, then feel free to go ahead and drop [price] on this book. It won't be the last time you ask yourself where your money went.

I have had a measurable improvement in my profitability since reading "Technical Analysis Applications in the Global Currency Markets."
Although I have traded currencies for nearly seven years, I've never had the opportunity to systematically train in charting. Adding insult to injury, I listened many times to the "expert advice" of some ill-prepared reporters, who deliver opinions devoid of information. Needless to say, I lost money in several instances.
What "Technical Analysis Applications in the Global Currency Markets" brings to the table is a complete and systematic set of tools that will enrich every trader's arsenal. It's been working for me well consistently. It's hard to believe that I missed so many opportunities in the past.
There are many technical books out there. But I am a currency trader, and I'd rather see examples in FX, without the bias of "buy-and-hold" that you see in most other books that focus on equities. Besides, with the way they are going, who wants to trade equities, anyway?
I learned a lot from this book, and I feel confident that I can always go back to it to refresh my knowledge. Frankly, a lot of candlestick terms were at best fuzzy before reading is book. Now, I am fully confident in my understanding, and this translates in increased profitability.

I have read many many book on Forex trading and this is one of the worst written ones I have come across in 8 years or so. As other reviewers have pointed out you'll notice all the good reviews on this book (all 5 star not surprisingly) seem to be written by the same person or persons. Don't waste any money on this what so ever!!!

As a Foreign Currency Dealer, I was NOT helped from this book at all! Actually the title is misleading since he does NOT concentrate on FX, he only shows some graph examples using FX crosses instead of stocks... The author just refers to a lot of TA indicators only reviewing their typical Buy and Sell signals that are written in every TA book, and furthermore the sections are very bad structured. Really very very disappointed!!!

My team and I found Technical Analysis Applications in the Global Currency Markets to be of enormous help for developing a proprietary charting program for a major investment bank. The clear explanation of candlesticks, moving averages, slow and fast stochastics, MACD, RSI, along with the trend analysis were essential.
After testing these studies, we will start working on the point-and-figure charts because our traders use them quite a lot and they liked Luca's book to be an excellent guide.

It's interesting that, although none of my team comes from a trading environment, we are now able to discern not only trends and apply Fibonacci retracements well, but we can also identify clear entry/exit points.
I recommend this book whole heartedly.