Foreign-currency Books

A professor has gone around interviewing currency traders and decides to write a popular book about the subject from an ethnographic standpoint. The target audience is neither academics nor traders. I would describe the target audience as laypersons wanting to learn about the foreign exchange markets, but that are not interested in trading themselves. This must be a tiny, tiny target audience

This was a very enjoyable quick book to read about the internal workings of the foreign currency exchange markets. It is not intended for FX daytraders, but traders should find it interesting. It is not intended for academics, but a grad student in a related field will likely find it to be at just the right level of abstraction (not too deep in the weeds and not too superficial). It is mainly written in the form of polished-up interviews, and the author does a great job of breathing life into the representative players he portrays for these markets. Very well done.

Robert G. Williams is a broad thinker and a very fine writer. While his books are tightly focused on political economics, they move gracefully through other diverse realms. Religion, anthropology, the arts, literature, communications technology are only a few of the subjects he walks around in. Like Michael Pollan (The Carnivore's Dilemma), he sees large organizing principles at work in things that are familiar to us all. Like John McPhee, he has an eye for character, and a talent for describing encounters with interesting people who do interesting things.

Williams' earlier books dealt with Central American agriculture, so they aimed at a somewhat specialized reader. The Money Changers should be interesting to anyone who wants to know more about how money works. And who doesn't?

The Money Changers is Williams' best book yet. It is a mature, seamless blend of high scholarship and fascinating narrative.

The full review in March 2007, CHOICE, written by Ingo Walter, an eminent scholar in the field of international finance, was helpful to me. Here are some excerpts:
"This is a nontechnical exploration into the mechanics of the foreign exchange market, which Williams (Guilford College) nicely motivates by starting with an ordinary retail transaction--an ATM withdrawal of local currency in a foreign country--and tracing it through the wholesale foreign exchange markets to show what actually happens. In doing so, the author provides an intuitive way to explore the most important and arguably the most efficient market in the world, which makes international trade, investment, and financial transfers possible......The discussion is up-to-date, and the use of dialogue makes the book very accessible to the intelligent but uninformed reader. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; all levels of undergraduates." --- Ingo Walter, Seymour Milstein Professor of Finance, Corporate Governance and Ethics at the Stern School of Business, New York University.

Robert G. Williams has written an entertaining and informative book about how the world currency markets work. He starts with a story about a summer trip he and some students took to Europe and the impact the fluctuations in the local currency against the dollar impacted their budget for the trip and how he was able to manage that best through smarter currency exchange.

The rest of the book has him taking us through the different aspects of currency trade, the size of the market, who the players are, the role of computers and software versus people exchanging currency on the trading floor, the various philosophies of how these markets work, and how currency exchange affects you and me even without our knowing it.

I don't know if all the conversations he discusses in the book are devices to keep what could have been a dry subject more entertaining or if he is doing some very good reporting. In the larger sense, it doesn't matter because we read the book for the information the author shares with us. That he also makes it quite readable is quite an achievement. There are a helpful number of charts, tables, and graphs. They do not get in the way and are all pretty easy to understand.

This is a very good introduction to these important and quite huge markets (bigger than you would likely guess) for the student and the interested general reader. Since the news often talks about the movements of currency and how this or that is over or undervalued, you might want to bolster your own understanding of what is really going on rather than the vague arm waving of the journalists.

This interesting book is a great place to start.

At the outset, let me say that I am definitely at the beginner level with regard to the trading of currencies on forex, but I do feel that I learned a lot after reading this book.

The most important lesson that I took away is that the novice trader needs to spend a heck of a lot of time trying different strategies risking very small amounts of money before before diving in and putting significant amounts at risk. Although there is nothing wrong with learning to trade with a practice account, the authors says that you shouldn't begin with a practice account holding $50,000 or more and then trying to trade $100,000 lots using large amounts of leverage, even if you might be fortunate to have that much money with which to fund your initial real account.

Prior to reading this book I would have assumed that I would always be trying to earn at least 50 or more pips a trade, however this author teaches that there is nothing wrong with simply trying to get a string of wins of only 10 pips at a time until you have a solid record of consistency that would justify going for larger returns. As a novice, I will certainly take his advice to heart and would recommend this book to anyone else who is not already a veteran currency trader.

I have purchased and read most of the recent books related to Trading Forex. I would place Abe Cofnas' newly released "The Forex Trading Course: A Self-Study Guide to Becoming a Successful Currency Trader" at the top of the list of books to purchase. The author covers the basics of trading: Fundamentals and Technical Analysis in a very in-depth level. However, I feel what sets this book apart from others are discussions of Advanced Strategies (e.g., Renko scalp setup and Pattern Recognition).

This book is a Must Read!

John Echternacht

Nothing new or great here. If your just getting started this book will help with the basics. The part about system development is very sparse (essentially just says use ms excel for backtesting). Overall I felt fleeced paying retail for this at B&N.

For those of you, like me, who actually want to learn to trade forex and don't know where to start, this is the book to buy. I reviewed lots of others, was disappointed that they either spent most of the book shilling a particular book/system/company, or else they gave a high-level overview of everything in the forex universe, but not much in the way of how-to's. This book's different. The first part explains how/which economic factors affect currency markets; the next section tells you about technical analysis and which/why/how to use it, and also talks a little about strategies. The third part is called "Putting It Together" -- here's where this book really stands out: he explains how to get started, how to do test trades, how to gauge your results, putting on different kinds of trades so that you can compare which worked better, etc. etc. Included is a spreadsheet following one trader's journey from inept beginner to knowledgeable forex trader. He talks about how to trade different size accounts. He talks about determining your trading style and best strategies to use whichever style you select. Note that each subject area is explained with enough detail that you can get started, right now, as you read. But if you want more information (as do I), he tells you where to look. This book is just great. I highly recommend it.

This is a great book. It filled in a lot of the missing info that new forex traders are missing in their everyday trading. This book has a nice mix of technical and the fundimentals that are missing in a lot of other author's books. This book should be in every new trader's library.

Keynes's Tract on Monetary Reform allows the reader to conclude that,while Keynes did distinguish between uncertainty(Ellsberg's ambiguity,measured by his rho index and/or Keynes's weight of the evidence of the A Treatise on Probability,measured by his w index)and risk on p.105,he had not yet formally integrated the role that uncertainty plays in the demand for money(liquidity preference).Keynes talks about risk in international product markets, trading,currency exchange,backward-forward markets,etc.,but it is clear that he is talking about the various spreads that incorporate risk premiums.Considerations of risk alone lead to the transactions demand for money as being the only explanation for holding money balances in the quantity theory of money as understood by classical and neoclassical economists from Hume to M.Friedman and R.Lucas.The standard quantity theory of the demand for money is operationalized by assuming the applicability of a normal probability distribution.Interestingly,not a single neoclassical,moneterist,or rational expectationist economist has ever done a goodness of fit test first to see if the normal distribution is applicable.Keynes,in 1924,implicitly goes along with this approach.The most important portion of Keynes's book is contained on pages 61-69.He presents the standard approach,given by the following formula: n=p(k+rk'),where n equals cash in circulation,p equals the price level(cost of living index),k equals the public's holding of a cash equivalent,k' equals the public's holding of the cash equivalent in the form of bank deposits,r equals the bank deposit's reserve ratio,and rk' equals the amount of bank reserves.The standard classical and neoclassical short run and long run neutrality of money assertion is obtained if,and only if, n increases while(r+rk') remains invariant.The price level variable p will increase by the same amount as n.In the General Theory(1936),Keynes demonstates in chapter 21 that this result,which he accepted in 1923-24, is only a special case that holds under the existence of risk(the normal probability distribution used by Friedman,Lucas,Tobin,etc.)or certainty.Under conditions of Ellsbergian ambiguity or Keynesian uncertainty(or ignorance),the correct,generalized equation of exchange requires that either the rho index or the w index be integrated into the equation of exchange.The generalized Keynesian-Ellsbergian equation of exchange is then written as n=p[(k/w)+r(k'/w')],where w and w' represent the weight of the evidence available to the general public(w) and the weight of the evidence available to the banking industry(w'),respectively.Both w and w' are normalized on the unit interval between 0 and 1,i.e.,w,w'are elements of the set[0,1].Only if both w and w' are equal to 1 does one obtain the results claimed by Friedman and Lucas.This is why Lucas asserts that macroeconomics must be based on a concept of risk represented by the normal probability distribution,as does Friedman,who also asserts that there is no such thing as liquidity preference(only a transactions demand for money).Friedman thus asserts that there is no such thing as ambiguity.Friedman must make such an assertion because he is a lifelong advocate of the Ramsey-De Finetti-Savage subjective probability approach that asserts that it is not possible to incorporate uncertainty(Savage's vagueness)in a decision rule. Friedman's claim that the GT is based on excessive liquidity preference follows from his acceptance of the LJ Savage approach to probability.Unfortunately for Friedman,there is vast empirical evidence to support the existence of decision making under conditions of uncertainty or ambiguity.One can see the progress Keynes made by comparing the Tract with chapter 21 of the GT.Friedman works with the standard equation of exchange,MV=PO.This is misspecified.The correct generalized equation is M(Vw)=PO,where w is the weight of the evidence.Friedman has a special theory based on the assertion that w=1.Only risk considerations determine the demand for money.

The Preface of Monetary Reform by John Maynard Keynes is dated October 1923, in a time when there were few economists. As the Preface of this book states this dire aspect of the situation:

"Nowhere do conservative notions consider themselves more in place than in currency ; yet nowhere is the need of innovation more urgent. One is often warned that a scientific treatment of currency questions is impossible because the banking world is intellectually incapable of understanding its own problems. If this is true, the order of Society, which they stand for, will decay. But I do not believe it. What we have lacked is a clear analysis of the real facts, . . ." (p. vi).

There are charts in this book to provide the facts which Keynes was concerned about. Index Numbers of Wholesale Prices Expressed as a Percentage of 1913 on page 5 covers the years 1913 to 1923 (First half-year) for nine nations, looking most outstandingly bad for Germany, which has a final number of 765,000 for half of 1923, far larger than the maximum number of any other country. Italy was at 624 in 1920 and declined to 577 in 1921, still higher than the 510 monthly average that France had in 1920.

A chart at the top of page 18 with dates from 1815 to 1922 is supposed to illustrate "what a splendid investment gilt-edged stocks had been through the century from Waterloo to Mons, even if we omit altogether the abnormal values of 1896-97. Our table shows how the epoch of Diamond Jubilee was the culminating moment in the prosperity of the British middle class." (p. 18). But for people who were concerned about the tumble taken after 1914, things were not so great. "The whole of the improvement of the nineteenth century had been obliterated," (I'm looking at an old edition, so my page numbers might be way off from whatever book you might be able to buy today).

The basic information that is most important to Society as a whole is contained in Chapter I, The Consequences To Society of Changes in the Value of Money, considering separately the interests of the Investing Class, the Business Class, and the Earner. The power of any government which can produce money merely by printing it is considered in Chapter II, Public Finance and Changes in the Value of Money, particularly with respect to Inflation as a Method of Taxation. In order to show that a government might have some choice in such matters, Keynes also considers "Currency Depreciation versus Capital Levy." If this seems like an odd topic now, Keynes is reassuring that such a move might only be considered "when the State's contractual liabilities, fixed in terms of money, have reached an excessive proportion of the national income." This might happen (sooner or later) to any country which stops producing anything except educational opportunities, medical bills, entertainment and banking, in years when a high national debt must be refinanced at high interest rates.

Chapter III gives us The Theory of Money and of the Foreign Exchanges. Recently INFECTIOUS GREED by Frank Partnoy provided an example, early in his book, of how bankers still don't have any yardstick for figuring out how much they are making when Bankers Trust was trying to figure out how much profit it could declare on trading in the foreign-exchange markets by Andy Krieger in 1987. Being able to bet the assets of a large bank on the direction that a currency would go in 1987 allowed Andy Krieger to get a job with George Soros in April, 1988, where turnabout became his main play. "Krieger reversed the position, and bet against the pound. A single trade with Chemical Bank was for more than $1.8 billion." (Portnoy, p. 33). Really and truly, I think Partnoy blames Krieger for taking stable currencies and earning large bonuses by making them worth much less than they had been worth before he had the option to sell it at a given price. Part IV. The Forward Market in Exchanges in Chapter III of Keynes's MONETARY REFORM attempts to state three practical conclusions. First, hedging a risk won't work when the situation is so bad that there is "a fear of a sudden implosion of exchange regulations or of a moratorium." Partnoy seemed to think that the private trading in derivative contracts was where the big money was made, and public positions in an exchange could be fake positions hedging a bet in the opposite direction, but that there was no law against this kind of manipulation of the market for money. Keynes was more interested in stability. "With free forward markets thus established no merchant need run an exchange risk unless he wishes to, and business might find a stable footing even in a fluctuating world."

Second, there must be money from speculators in such a market for the market to function. "The wide fluctuations . . . have been due, not to the presence of speculation, but to the absence of a sufficient volume of it relatively to the volume of trade."

Third, high interest rates don't matter as much "unless the change in relative money-rates is comparable in magnitude (as it used to be but no longer is) with the possible range of exchange fluctuations.)" Possibly things have changed so much in the last 80 years that Keynes would phrase that differently today.

Chapter IV turns to "the United States, which has enjoyed a gold standard throughout, has suffered as severely as many other countries," but not as badly as Germany and Austria back then.

This classic is a must-read for anyone interested in economics, for two reasons:

First, for its age, it is strikingly modern. Although economists have picked apart various points Keynes makes, the core ideas of this text remain both solid and influential. In my opinion, the single most important idea contained in this text is the importance of disciplining the currency supply, keeping the currency supply in rough proportion to the extent of the economy. In this regard, the intellectual ideas contained in this book are the underpinning of virtually all modern economies, and this text is the first in which these ideas appear in their modern form.

On the point of smaller details, while some of Keynes' reasoning and analysis has been picked apart, or shown not to hold in a more modern context, there are other aspects of this book that go ignored by many economists and are still valid. Keynes has a healthy dose of skepticism, more so than is typical for modern economists: he talks not only about his idealized world of ideas, but also about the political realities of implementing what would be the "best practice", and how to reach reasonable compromises. In particular, Keynes seems to be acutely aware of the potential for unhealthy accumulation of wealth in the hands of a powerful but not-necessarily-productive minority, a point that seems to be ignored by all but the most radical economists nowadays.

The second reason I think economics students would benefit from studying this book is its radical perspective and philosophy. Rather than accepting things the way they are, Keynes questions fundamental assumptions and looks for new solutions. I think he must be hailed as a genius for coming up with the ideas in this text when we consider that they were both novel, and that they conflicted very strongly with the dominant ideas of his time. This book is a prime example of "outside the box" thinking. Keynes' genius is even more apparent when we realize that he was able to communicate these ideas in such a way that they became actively embraced by others--in a time frame that is quite impressive for ideas so radical. I think current students could be encouraged and inspired by Keynes' persistent drive to question deep assumptions and come up with what he believed to be the best possible system based on what he knew.

I would recommend any student of economics to study this book. It is not particularly long and it can be a quick read if you have an analytical mind, and I can guarantee that you will find it worthwhile! My advice to the more critical readers: keep an open mind...although many of the ideas in this text are out-of-date, you may find that you can learn form the philosophy and approach that Keynes takes. This book's radical spirit can be inspiration for people in all fields to search for creative new solutions, especially for people facing problems that cannot be solved within the framework of established orthodoxy.

I work in the securities industry, and this book accurately described the markets and products without the detailed mathematics. I would recommend this book as a first reading before the Hull and White book which is much more mathematical.

Too bad it's out of print. I'd like everyone in my group to have a copy.

I consider the book a perfect guide written by a professional for professionals. If you are looking for scientific completeness and complication, go somewhere else. If you are looking for a competent down-to-earth reference, this is your book. I wonder when the third edition of this valuable tool will be published.

This is a great book! Rosenberg has succeeded in making a dry and complicated topic, foreign exchange, both interesting and understandable. The chapter on intervention is especially timely and enlightening. Rosenberg is rated tops in his field by professional fx traders and portfolio managers, yet he has succeeded in writing a book that is both useful and interesting to both professionals and nonprofessionals. This is a must read for anyone involved in international markets.

I got this book and a copy of another book by Michael Rosenberg "Exchange Rate Determination". The contents of these two books is exactly the same. Same topics covered in both books. I made the mistake of purchsing both when I should have only bought Exchange Rate Determination which is priced more decently than the out-of-print version. These used book resellers are selling the Currency forecasting book at a non-sense exorbitant price.

I went for the WalkMan friendly tape set.
It didn't take long and I needed forget about walking and concentrate.
I found the question and answer format worked very well, much better than having a droning narration.
FXMentor did lead me to a fresh perspective on dealing with my FX flows.
I had been floundering about in the traditional paradigm of when and if to execute hedge contracts.
I now have a view of the whole process that I am much more comfortable about.
Additionally as a result of these tapes I can now put in place a an ability to measure hedging performance (my management).

This tape set has been an absolute turning point in my understanding of foreign exchange for business.
The author has used numerous examples and explanations to ensure that you get a clear insight into how to use foreign exchange to the advantage of your business.
The section on dynamic hedging was particularly relevant since it displayed how to use foreign exchange as a means of getting ahead of your competitors. And the most amazing thing - it doesn't involve unreasonable risk!
These tapes were great and very easy to listen to - I listened to them in the car.

There seems to be a lot of forex books out there. When some people want to get rich on forex others exploit the opportunity by selling books the traders. This is such a book.

The book deals with both technical and fundamental analysis. Both parts are covered on a very superficial level. That is what happens if everything is included in one fairly slim book.

The book contains some bits of information, because the author seems to be knowledgable. But the overall impression is not very strong. This might be a decent book if you knew absolutely nothing about forex. But then again, with the Internet around you don't need a book like this one.

I found that this book was great for somebody getting into Forex Trading from day trading with equities. However, I would not suggest this book for beginners. I loved the history of Forex, and the book was great in terms of advice although she does often use terminology with no explanation of what it is e.g. nonfarm payrolls. If you want a book that moves slowly, this is also not a good choice. Do read this book with a good forex dictionary or access to the internet as you will need to look stuff up. Overall I liked this book alot as it was my first Forex book but I have read tons of books on stock and options trading. Best part is, that with the bear market now Forex trading is a much better option.

This book was the first one I purchased about currency trading.
In short, this is the most useless book I've ever read. It does not teach the reader anything on this subject. 5% of useful info that's in the book one can grab from the web. Really, it's just a waste of money. And the price for this book is just outrageous. I'm planning to donate mine to the local library.

In my search for good FX trading books, I found no good book yet, and this book is no exception. This book is poorly written, has no consistent flow, and it does not lead the reader anywhere. Just few areas I found somewhat interesting like correlation between pairs, and volatility as a function of time of the day, and that is why I gave it a rating of 2. Otherwise, 1 will be enough. Someday someone may write a good FX trading book that really respects the intelligence of the reader. Not all FX retail traders are losers!

I just finished reading this book and after reading more than a dozen of books on forex and day trading I must say the book is a waste of money. Most of the topics in the book are covered superficially and the few trading strategies presented are poorly documented and contain errors.

I found many errors in this book, especially in chapter 8, "The Calculating Trader", as well as some in other chapters. Unfortunately, if you don't catch these errors, this book will only confuse you more. If you do catch them, it will just annoy you. Granted, I have the first edition of this book (2005); hopefully these errors have been corrected in the new June 2008 second edition. I gave the book 2 stars because it does have some decent overview information in it.

I originally bought this book in February 2007 after watching an infomercial on currency trading. This book is good for anybody who wants to start currency trading but dont know where to begin. After reading it, I was hooked.Now one year leter I am trading the currency market and now I am successful at it.

This book will give you the basic knowledge and foundation of the currency market.If you are someone who is already trading and have experience then this book is not for you.

Also once you read this book read it at least two more times.

I have been trading currencies for about a year and a half now, and this was a great start to get a broad picture of the FX market.

This isn't a "dummies" step by step but it is a clear overview of trading in the currency market.

It could be written with a little more... excitement or novelty. It is a fairly clinical read. It isn't a good comparison but triple w dot babypips dot com is a fun version of the material in this book. They are not associated but the web site is a good primer for this read (or vise versa).

The basics are all covered and that makes it worth the price.

This book is very true to its name, definitely for those of us who aren't experts at trading yet. The book is filled with a general overview of the forex world and I would say that this book should be the first one any novice picks up (even before babypips).

After reading a ton of books, finally one that is really helpful in making a good foundation for you trading habits.
This book gives a lot of basic information about Forex (useful to those like me who wants to know everything about), good hints about risk and money management.
But if you want to study seriously, a must is the second title of the author Getting Started in Forex Trading Strategies (Getting Started In.....)

I consider this a good Forex book, well rounded mentions strategies and important indicators. Warnings against too much margin. And it is not day trading like "Currency Trading for Dummies", this one is longer term. For some strange reason other Forex books won't mention any online brokerage houses, but this one will mention ten. You might want to get another currency book to comppliment this one, but not "Currency Trading for Dummies" (this one assumes you will be day trading and does not mention any brokerage houses except the ones the authors belong to.)

If you're a relative newbie to Forex, this book will introduce you to the fast paced foreign exchange market. It glosses over many different subjects, not really going into great detail but providing just enough information for the novice to learn some new things. It covers basics like how some currencies are tied to commodities like gold and oil, and the basics of technical analysis. If you know what "Bid" and "Ask" are and what a "pip" is and are looking to learn from there, this book will be a good building block in your trading library.

If you want to really understand the forces behind the market, this book is a must for you, especially, if your knowledge is limited regarding the fundamental analysis.
The authors beautifully described how different economic indicators- such as oil, inflation...etc affect the market.
Technical analysis in this book is limited, however, it still very effective!
I recommend this book for every beginner and every good technical-based forex trader, who wants to finally understands the fundamental analysis

These guys are a waste of time if you want direct and straight info on what the forex market is about. It is a bad book for a newbie... Instead I advice you go online (babypips dot com) and learn.

It's an OK book if you want to know:
1. History of Forex
2. Some fundamental Analysis (e.g. what happens to US dollars when oil goes up)

If you get it, don't waste your time reading it cover to cover, get the info (history of forex, and fundamental analysis in my opinion) you want and skip over pages trying to get you affiliated with organizations they are involved with (e.g. invest tools and some other charting reference they put in the book)

Two summers ago, I attended a 4-day hands-on workshop on currency trading at the Investools headquarters. Profiting With Forex was just about to be published. John Jagerson dropped in on our class one day and I had the pleasure of speaking with him, briefly. What struck me was how he is truly interested in helping others learn the forex world.

The book itself reflects this. It is an easy read and, yet, contains all the information you need to begin trading. From terminology, money management, fundamental and technical analysis, and everything in between - it's all there.

I especially enjoy their discussion of how world economic events effect the forex markets.

While I am always studying other materials, I refer to Profiting with Forex the most.

John and Wade continue to educate through their website, [...] . I am constantly learning from these guys.

Having always been intrigued by the FX market but also having never traded a day in my life I bought this book and his other with the intent of learning the basics. I wanted to get an overall view of wha the FX was and how I could trade in it. I believe it has done what I wanted and helped me to greatly understand the MANY different aspects of trading. I would say that it covers the basic aspects while only slightly delving deeper into some of the more complex issues. I believe one of the greatest things about this book is that it has helped me to figure out which directions I need to pursue as well as which I don't. I have read some other comments on this book and am rather appalled that people actually take the time to make negative and unsubstantiated claims about the author, his knowledge and experience. If you are disattisfied with the book, state your reasons why and perhaps make a constructive recommendation. Otherwise, all you're doing is wasting my time. This book is probably not for someone who is experienced and has a fair command of their trading. For someone who is looking for a clear, concise discourse on the basics this is definitely the book for you.

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!!!

If this book is very bad, I am glad to learn it from people who consider themselves knowledgeable and who have read it. But should it be possible for such critics to propose another reference which they appreciated the content. It would be much more instructive for readers who are shopping for quality books.

I haven't completed the book but if I never read another page it's well worth what I payed compared to some prices of other simular books on the market. I don't know what the initial cost was, but those who wrote the unfavorable reviews should have waited to purchase. Maybe they would have been more positive.

This is a very good book. If you want to start trading currency online (like me) you must read this book first.