Synopses & Reviews
Foreign exchange is the most traded instrument in the world. It's not hard to understand why. Nobody
needs to buy stocks, but because of today's extensive global trade we must all deal directly or indirectly with the forex world. Yet, while trading foreign exchange is one of the most exciting and potentially lucrative activities in the world, about 90 percent of traders lose money. In
How to Make a Living Trading Foreign Exchange, Courtney D. Smith provides a concrete and comprehensive approach to becoming a profitable forex trader.
Smith first explains all the basic information you need to know to get started in trading forex. He then introduces the tested, profitable techniques that will help you make money in the forex market, offering a variety of different methods to use over different time horizons—from those that look at the market from the perspective of days and weeks to those that hold positions for less than one day. Smith describes, for instance, a system that monitors the market from three different time perspectives and doesn't enter the market until all three are calling for an entry into the market.
He also details a new way to filter trades that eliminates about half of all losing transactions. And he tells how to sidestep the usual traps that drain money from your account using his method to identify short-term turning points and, more important, to identify major turning points. Smith concludes by showing you how all the techniques in the book fit together into a coordinated program for creating profits.
Throughout the book, the author stresses the two most important aspects of trading: risk management and trader psychology. How to Make a Living Trading Foreign Exchange shows how to take risk management one step beyond and use it as an offensive weapon for enhancing profits. And perhaps, most important, it tells how to overcome the biggest block against making money in the markets: your own psychology. Whether you're a novice or a pro, says Smith, following the techniques in this book will turn forex trading into your ticket to financial freedom.
Synopsis
Solid Forex strategies for capturing profits in today's volatile markets
How to Make a Living Trading Foreign Exchange puts the world of Forex at your fingertips. Author Courtney Smith begins with an introduction to the Forex market-what it is and how it works. He then delves into six moneymaking techniques for trading Forex, including his unique Rejection Rule that doubles the profit of basic channel breakout systems. In addition to two specific methods for exiting positions at critical levels, Smith also discusses powerful risk management techniques and successful trading psychology strategies that will keep you one step ahead of the game.
- Reveals the secrets of the Forex market and how to create a lifetime of income trading it
- Offers advice on maximizing profits during the volatile swings that have increasingly become the norm
- Other titles by Smith: Option Strategies, Third Edition, Seasonal Charts For Futures Traders, Commodity Spreads, and Profits Through Seasonal Trading
Make more from today's Forex market with How to Make a Living Trading Foreign Exchange.
Synopsis
Praise for How To Make A Living Trading Foreign Exchange"Courtney Smith has hit it out of the park with this book. Not only does he provide great insight into both the inner workings of the marketplace and original trading methodologies, but he also devotes much discussion to the often overlooked, immensely important aspects of trading such as money management, discipline, and psychology. After all, as he aptly opines, these are demons traders must slay to be successful."
—Tom Demark, Founder, Market Studies, Inc.
"I learned a long time ago if Courtney Smith writes it, I readit. Glad I did. I picked up three great insights in my first read-through."
—Larry Williams, author of Trade Stocks and Commodities with the Insiders, The Right Stock at the Right Time, Day Trade Futures Online, and Long-Term Secrets to Short-Term Trading
About the Author
Courtney D. Smith is Chairman of the Investment Mentoring Institute, an organization devoted to building great investors. He is also President and CIO of Courtney Smith & Co., Inc., which manages money for institutions, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. Mr. Smith is the owner and Editor in Chief of Commodity Trading Consumer Research (CTCR)—the premier tracking service for the futures industry—and author of six books, including Option Strategies (Wiley). He has made more than 1,000 TV appearances on shows such as Wall Street Journal Report, Moneyline, and other programs on CNBC, Fox News, Bloomberg, and CNN.
Table of Contents
Preface.
Chapter 1 The Basics of Foreign Exchange Trading.
Sell a Yard of Cable.
Don't Want To Trade!
Transaction Costs.
It Never Stops.
My Biggest Losing Trade.
The Bottom Line.
Chapter 2 Trend Analysis.
What Is a Trend?
How to Profitably Trade Bull and Bear Markets.
How to Trade the Trend.
Megaphones and Pennants.
Average Directional Index.
The Bishop.
The Bottom Line.
Chapter 3 Channel Breakouts.
The Beginnings of Channel Breakouts.
What Is A Channel Breakout?
Better Channel Breakouts.
The Pros and Cons of Channel Breakouts.
The Bishop.
ADX Filter.
The Principle of Instant Gratification.
Rejection Rule.
The Last Bar Technique.
Tactics.
Taking Profits.
The Bottom Line.
Chapter 4 The Conqueror.
The Beginnings of the Conqueror.
What is True Range?
Enhancing the Conquistidor.
Adjusting the Stop.
The Bottom Line.
Chapter 5 Stochastics.
What Are Stochastics?
How to Use Stochastics as an Overbought and Oversold Indicator.
Trading Signals from Crossovers.
Profitability of Stochastics.
Warnings.
The Best Way to Make Money Using Stochastics.
Go with the Trend.
How I Use Stochastics.
Interview with George Lane.
The Bottom Line.
Chapter 6 Pattern Recognition.
Inside Days.
Double Whammy.
Multi-Unit Tactic.
Reversal Days.
Riding the Rejection Rule.
The Bottom Line.
Chapter 7 Risk Management.
Stopping Bad Risk Management.
How to Make Sure We Are Never Wiped Out.
Good Risk Management: Fixed Fractional.
How Many Contracts Should I Put On?
Highly Correlated Positions.
Kelly Formula.
Trade Your Equity Curve.
Take a Time Out.
Turning Poor Systems into Good Systems.
How Big of a Position Should I Take?
The Bottom Line: Diversify Through Time.
Chapter 8 Slingshot.
The Importance of Minimizing Losses.
Beware of Taking Profits Too Early.
Psychological Profits.
Confirmations.
Maximum Excursion Analysis.
Using the Slingshot for Profits.
The Mini-Slingshot.
The Bottom Line.
Chapter 9 The Psychology of Successful Trading.
Why Do You Trade?
The Pressures of Trading.
Why Do You Lose?
Addressing a Lack of Knowledge.
Addressing a Lack of Capital.
Addressing a Lack of Self-Discipline.
An Example of Overcoming the Bizarre Twists and Turns of the Mind.
Treat Trading as Education.
Stress-Free Trading.
Be the Casino.
Developing Your Trading Plan.
Filling Out the Plan.
The Importance of a Postmortem.
The Bottom Line.
Chapter 10 Putting It All Together.
Diversifying To Reduce Risk.
Use a Mental Checklist.
How to Trade Only One Method.
The Bottom Line.
Epilogue: Key Insights for Maximizing Your Trading Profits.
Appendix : Suggested Reading.
Acknowledgments.
About the Author.
Index.