Forex Essentials in 15 Trades: The Global-View.com Guide to Successful Currency Trading
Product Description
Traders are constantly learning their craft. Those who do not share information, discuss tactics and review prior trades are doomed for failure. Global-View.com knows this. It is the leading destination for Forex traders looking to learn and discuss trading. With over 33,000 registered users from 125 countries, Global-View.com exposes its users to an incredible base of knowledge. In this book, the authors dissect each of 15 chosen trades, using the material t… More >>
Forex Essentials in 15 Trades: The Global-View.com Guide to Successful Currency Trading
This book is a mishmash of :
1) A Beginner’s guide. A bad one and nothing you cannot find online or in other better organized books.
2) Some trading rules. The 15 trades are actually supposed to illustrate some general trading rules. The trades are not annotated except for the entries and exit, with no reason for entry or exit. There is no way you can learn from the trade as there is no explanation whatsoever and it seems they were slapped on to illustrate the point (or rules). If you are looking for a trading system, forget it. Even with his one page supposed KISS trend-following system, the author managed to obscure it beyond implementation.
3) A dump of some online content. Which is available online already. The whole Shanghai BC chapter is available at the [...] website verbatim. So save your money and go to the site. The site itself is rather disorganized and not for the beginners.
4) A hyped up “secret” trading method. The author (Archer) constantly refers to his secret trading method passed down by his mentor Goodman and devotes chapter 27 to an exposition of this method. This chapter is at least clearer than the other book where he started selling this method (Getting Started in Forex Trading Strategies). It is supposed to be a superior system that is better than Elliot wave. However I can tell you that it is not possible to implement it successfully based on the material in this book. Since it is a wave system, it is high subjectively and EVERY zig zag will look like a potential entry. It is possible that the author is able to make money using this method, but it would be due to his experience or other unrevealed rules or may be he just was to sell you more stuff at his site. Personally, I’ll pass on this secret method.
What I did take away from this book :
1) Chapter 6. Trader profile. The author (Archer) provided 4 trader profiles (Guerrilla, Scalper, Day Trader, Position Trader) and their respective chart time frame, targeted profit pip range etc. It is good to have this information for your own comparison and reference so you can find your own profile by trial and experimentation.
2) Chapter 8. Trading Heuristic. What the author (Archer) calls the Snow Flake Heuristic describes a Trading Plan that can be used as a reference. He describes what he does to get ready for trading, how he monitors the market and filter potential trades and finally enters into them. It’s a good description of how a trader should approach trading by determining his own trading personality and focus on making only the high probability trades.
Conclusion:
For this price, if you can get a copy at your library, read the parts I recommended (they are very short) and save your money for other books.
Rating: 1 / 5
As a veteran currency trader for institutional clients, interbank dealing and proprietary trading, I find that the Forex Essential in 15 trades is an honest attempt to show how one can approach currency trading. The title itself shows that there is no one `correct method’ in successfully trading currencies. Each person has to find what type of trading behavior best suits him or her. The message of the book is that there is no one-way to approach the market.
The book is filled with basic information about the currency market but the real insight is seeing the personality inside most of the 15 trades exemplified in the book. I found that Trade #2 regarding stop-loss orders shows the complexity and frustration of individual trades is just plain honest and to the point. Chapter 8’s title of the “King Kong Syndrome” can describe the atmosphere on any interbank desk or hedge fund when one feels like the can always beat the market only to be set up for a big loss. I wish the book explored in more details the personalities behind the trades.
What the book fails to do is really promote the authors website in its proper context. I have been a global-view.com contributor since the site was created in the mid-1990s. Chapter 23 with Forex lessons from Shanghai BC is the typical posting and insight that one can retrieve from the GVI community. The site has some of the sharpest trading minds in the business and again like the title suggests, there is no one `correct’ approach towards the market. If buying the book brings one into GVI, then I believe it is the first step towards understanding oneself in trading/managing money.
Rating: 5 / 5
I liked Chap 4 - Fundamentals and Chap 25 Shanghai BC and for these alone it may be worth a read. The rest is so so. Its by no means a must have book for forex trading and really is a promotion for Global View - which is ok too.
Rating: 2 / 5
Wow. This book was certainly helpful.I think anyone remotely interested in currency trading or even those with experience can profit greatly by reading this book. I really liked how the authors passed on their real world experiences not just class room type examples. It also functioned as a cautionary tale- trading is not just a bunch of numbers and I better be prepared before I get started. I would have liked to see some setup patterns in the trades section, but why quibble. This was a readable and most important a usable book that I will dip into often. It is definitely well worth owning. I also plan to spend some time on the global-view website. I have already found that extremely helpful and user friendly.
Rating: 4 / 5
I am a relatively new investor (began actively trading in 2004) who decided to enter the ForEx market amidst the recent economic downturn. I have found Bland’s treatment of ForEx trading to be extremely informative and valuable to my foray into this sector, and I look forward to applying this methodology to future trades.
Rating: 5 / 5