Guest post by Orbex
For traders who are intrigued by the currency markets and want to learn more about how currencies work and how to take advantage of the price moves in one of the biggest markets in the world, there is no shortage of resources when it comes to finding the resources to learn about forex trading. However, the Internet, besides the fact of offering free resources to learn is often sprinkled with a lot of misinformation and exaggeration. For the serious trader considering making a career or some profits from trading the forex markets, there is nothing better than going back to the basics and reading up on some books that offer golden nuggets of information.
So if you are here to learn about forex trading, the following five books are highly recommended.
The Inside the Currency Market: Mechanics, Valuation and Strategies
Published by Bloomberg Financial, this book is written by John R. Hill and is relatively new having published in 2011. Inside the currency markets book makes for an excellent starting point for the more curious traders who want to learn the intricate details as to what moves the currency markets and lays a good fundamental basis for the currencies. While this book might be skipped by many especially traders who prefer to go into trading strategies than having to spend time learning about fundamentals, there are enough chapters dedicated to various forex trading strategies as well from an investors perspective. For traders who are in for the long term, it pays to be alert to the fundamental developments in the markets and “The Inside the Currency Market” definitely doesn’t disappoint.
Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets, John J. Murphy
The Technical Analysis of the financial markets can be considered the handbook for technical analysis. Written by John J. Murphy, this book comes highly recommended from the likes of MTA which makes it an essential reading. This book is ideal for traders who are just getting warmed up to technical analysis and starts off on a light note and slowly builds up into the more complex technical analysis principles such as Elliott Waves. Although the book doesn’t go too much into the details, John J. Murphy makes a good case by introducing the reader to one of the many different methods of technical analysis that can be applied. By the end of this book, the reader would have a fair knowledge about the various technical analysis methods and it forms the basis of which the trader could end up moving into more specialized topics.
Trading in the Zone, Mark Douglas
Considered one of the best books on trading psychology, Trading in the Zone is a well known book in the trading fraternity. The book offers a strong foundation to the psychology needed to trade the markets (not just currency markets). Of course, the trader will have to implement the nuggets of wisdom sprinkled generously across this book. Trading in the zone makes for a light reading and although the book is primarily designed for traders and their psychology there is a lot more that can be applied to life in general as well. Almost any seasoned trader would have heard or has read Mark Douglas’ Trading in the Zone book. As a trader serious to learn about forex trading, Trading in the Zone offers a good basis for building the right attitude and trading psychology.
Market Wizards, Jack D. Schwager
The Market Wizards series of books by Jack D. Schwagger ranks fourth in our list in order. This book and the series is a compilation of interviews with various traders that include pit traders as well as hedge fund managers and needless to say there is a lot to learn from the Market Wizards books for traders who always want to improve. For traders who want to learn about forex trading, Market Wizards series of books can offer insights into how the markets work and give a glimpse into the thoughts and minds of some trading greats. Make no mistake; Market Wizards doesn’t give you the magic formula or an indicator that make you rich. What it does however is point you to potential roadblocks, the mental preparation that is required if you want to seriously consider learning to trade forex.
Reminiscences of a stock operator
One of the famous books, the Reminiscences of a stock operator flows like a biography, one that is fictionalized of the famous and well known speculator Jesse Livermore. There are many different versions of this book which is authored by Edwin Lefevre. The book offers great wealth of information for the reader and includes various strategies that were employed by Livermore and how these strategies can be applied to today’s markets as well. Reminiscences of a stock operator, has been in print for nearly 70 years since it was first published, and that says a lot. As a trader curious to learn about forex trading, this book puts it all together and makes for a good final read in our above five lists.
Learn about forex trading – Practice makes you perfect
While there are many more books to write about which is ideal for traders who are curious and willing to learn about forex, nothing can replace practice. Traders should constantly learn to hone the information they get out of the books into the markets and therefore nothing beats practice. The road to trading is a long and a hard road and requires a lot of patience and perseverance.