Beat the Forex Dealer

Over the years, I have tried to get my hands on every currency trading book that

I could find, bUl as you may well know the pickings are slim when it comes to

FX literature. Apart from a few notable exceptions. most of the avai lable material

seems 10 fa ll into onc of two categories: unabashedly theoretical or completely

misguided. The dry. outdated, and sometimes esoteric academic works tend to

leave the reader with the perception that currency trading is as gentlemanly and

ordered as the world of stamp collecting, when in reality nothing could be furt her

from the truth in a market referred to as a "slaughterhouse" where traders routinely

gel "chopped up". The FX market I know is one of egos and money, where millions

of do llars are won and lost every day, and phones are routi nely thrown across hectic

trading desks. This palpable excitement has led to the emergence of a second class

of literature, often misleading and downright fraudulent, where authors promise the

reader riches by offering to make forex trading "casy".

Well, I'll let you in on a little secret: there is nothing easy about trading currencies. If you don' t believe me. then stop by Warren Buffet's offi ce and ask hi m

how he could lose $850 million belting on the dollar or ask " King" George Soros

why hi s short bets lost him $600 million not once but twice in 1994. Don ' t these

guys read FX trading books? If these investment legends can lose bi llions in the

FX market, what makes anyone think there is anything easy about it?

The average retail trader must feel a terrible disconnect between what is described

by famous "experts" and their actual trading experiences. Theory very rarely translates into fact when it comes to trading. and real-life FX tradi ng is much more

complicated and tricky than any guru would have you believe. In this jungle it is

a kill-or-be-killed attitude that marks survival, and the minute you step on to the

playing field a target has been placed next to your account number.

Realizing that most FX books in print are either written by scam artists or academics with little real-world trading experience, I decided to put my own thoughts

to paper. While I cenain ly do not proclaim to be any son of market wizard, the

market insights J h<l vC gained while managing a successful currency fund should

prove valuable to readers, even if they are just starting their trading careers. Being

a firm believer in the "small is beautiful" mantra, I have therefore tried to keep

this book short, and to the point.