Mastering the Currency Market is a comprehensive guide to currency and futures trading strategies and techniques for both highly volatile and nonvolatile markets. You will learn that to be a successful trader is to be a man or woman for all seasons. It means independence, but more than that it means having a quiet confidence in what the future holds. Well-rounded traders know they can make money regardless of the underlying fundamentals or overriding realities. The more volatile markets become—that is, the faster a market moves—the faster a trader can make money. Equally, when a market slows down, a trader downshifts to countertrending methods. Regardless of the certainty or uncertainty of economic conditions, markets will move and astute traders will benefit. With so many experienced financial leaders and commentators pointing to a sustained recession for years to come, it is not a question of whether traders will be successful; it is a matter of how successful in light of the levels of economic uncertainty in the current financial marketplace.
Introduction:
There is definitely a dark side to trading. People lose, and losing is stressful. Trading certainly can be stressful, but when it is taught in a supportive environment, studied thoroughly, and practiced on a regular basis, the decision-making process involved in trading can be a healthy development. The way to avoid the stress and ease the learning curve for as long as it takes, is to demo trade: open a practice or simulation account. We highly recommend that you open a demonstration account and promise yourself that you will not risk live money until you’ve proved to yourself that you consistently can show a profit in the demo account. When you get to that point of consistency, you will have shown a level of patience and discipline that can pay handsome dividends not just in trading but in life.
Before you venture too far into this book, we need to cover the physiological impact trading will have. Your nervous system is going to work against you as a trader. As part of our physical makeup, we all have what is called the autonomic nervous system, which regulates subconscious biological functions such as heartbeat, digestive processes, perspiration, and vision. Within the autonomic nervous system are the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches. The sympathetic branch is what we rely on when we are angry or afraid. It is what increases our heartbeat and adrenaline flow during times of stress, making us literally jumpy. This physical change is also what we call the fight or flight response, which was useful 10,000 years ago when people lived in caves but today can make for a very tough learning environment.
The excitement of making seemingly easy money, followed, sometimes just seconds later, by fear of loss and failure will break most people down quickly. The emotional ups and downs we create in our minds, followed by the physical changes in our blood pressure and adrenal glands, make for a tough environment in which to learn and then retain knowledge. The automatic fight or flight response hardwired into your head will work against you as a trader. There will be times when you click the mouse to enter or exit a trade and instantly ask yourself, “Why did I do that?” because you realize you are not following your trading plan. Before you get angry at yourself, realize that you are not the only trader who ever let emotion override logic. In fact, you are programmed to react that way.
Luckily for us, along with the fight or flight function regulated by the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, there is the parasympathetic branch, which can have a calming effect on us and our bodies. It is this sympathetic branch that we want to stimulate as we are learning and studying trading lessons. You will get the most out of this book by studying it in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. If you currently are trading, you should consider taking a break from it while you study this material. Learn what stimulates the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system and engage in that activity before studying this material and again afterward. Get in the habit of taking care of your mind and body in this way until it is habitual. You will find that by taking the time to put yourself in a relaxed, meditative state before starting your day and again before quitting in the evening, you will remain much calmer and more focused than the millions of other people online who are risking their hard-earned money every day in the marketplace.
Contents:
- TYPES OF FINANCIAL MARKETS
- THE WHY OF PRICE VALUATION
- CHARTS FOR TRADING
- CANDLESTICK CHARTS
- SUPPORT AND RESISTANCE
- CHART PATTERNS
- TECHNICAL INDICATORS
- TRADING TECHNIQUES
- TYING THE TECHNICAL INDICATORS TOGETHER: TRADE SIGNALS AND QUANTIFYING TRENDS
- TRADING PSYCHOLOGY
- TRADING THE APPROPRIATE TIME FR AME
- RISK AND MONEY MANAGEMENT
- CREATING A TRADING PLAN AND KEEPING A TRADING JOURNAL
Mastering the Currency Market: Forex Strategies for High and Low Volatility Markets By Jay Norris, Al Gaskill, Teresa Bell pdf
Remi Andersen (verified owner) –
Mastering the Currency Market: Forex Strategies for High and Low Volatility Markets is a well written and thought provoking book. It is organized logically into sections that build your appetite up for some decent and meaningful reading.
Reading the preface just got me going and I knew I was in for a good read ahead.
This book asks you some interesting soul searching questions about yourself and your reasons/motives for trading. This is really invaluable. Question here WILL open your heart and mind to trading and this will only be of REAL benefit for anyone.
This is a very honest book with good trading examples which are explained using charts. Each section flows well into the other and is very complete.
I can recommend it without hesitation for anyone who wants to pursue Trading markets (especially Forex trading) as a means to make a living.
Jamison Harmon (verified owner) –
I thought this book was well worth the money. I’m just learning to trade and it seems to cover the basics very well, without being too confusing. It seems to focus more on technical analysis than fundamental analysis, but they also explain why that is their focus. I think this is a good guide for someone learning to trade.
Gabriela Farmer (verified owner) –
It was a good book and reminds me to stick to the basics of trend lines and candlestick behavior. The “Preface” was very good. Chapter 9 “Quantifying Trend” was good. The part on “buying strength and selling weakness” was something I should already know and do now 🙂 Best of all was chapter 13 giving me a trading plan. I am going to back test for myself.
Maximus Gregory (verified owner) –
It should be titled “Mastering the Technical analysis for Currency Market”
Landry Bryant (verified owner) –
I’m glad I took my friends advice and bought this book. I started out trading commodities over the phone in the 1980’s and like a lot of other traders I moved to the screen, and then diversified into currencies because they trend better than most commodities and the corrections aren’t as severe. If my experience were judged on how much commission I’ve paid over the years it could only be described as very extensive. Mastering the Currency Markets gets it right. It took me a long time to understand that fact based technical triggers are everything in trading and these guys do a great job of conveying that approach. Most books spend too little time on method and too much time on common sense subjects such as money management or psychology that only leads you down the path of being a long-term simulated trader. These guys packed a lot of info on specific tactics and methods into their book so I just have to say it again – These guys got it right. In my opinion this trading book is one of the best I’ve seen come out in awhile.
Jonas West (verified owner) –
This may be the best forex book I’ve ever read. The reason is it has practical, clear and straightforward techniques and examples. They also explain in detail not only strategies, but how to really use and understand the indicators.
I’ve been studying and trading forex for over 4 years and I have read tons of books and taken about every training course our there, and I think this is the most practical forex book on the market.
The reason I said not for beginners is that beginners won’t understand forex is highly technically driven, and basically all strategies work on all pairs, so you don’t need to disect each pair, or even present each pair in charts, but a newbie will assume that you do have to do that and is expecting that, so newbies won’t understand how really good this book is. Also, someone used to trading stocks won’t understand how important the technical aspect of trading forex is, and also will probably gloss over the detail and not understand just how subtle the difference between technicals on stocks and forex can be and think this book is too simple – it’s not. I traded stocks before forex so I know just how important one teany weany subtle detail in the technical verbage can be when it comes to forex, where a newbie stock trader will miss it because stocks are company specific info first and technical second, and the technical side for stocks just has to be general and basic, but not so with forex, so newbies to forex won’t get it, but to experienced traders in forex this book is pure gold.
Alvaro Pugh (verified owner) –
I trade futures, stocks and options, with futures now making up the bulk of my trading. I am very interested in learning currencies and gaining additional flexibility in my trading. I came across this book and saw it was a new publication so I pre-ordered. I assumed it would have the latest inside information on currencies and how best to trade them. After the all, the title is “Mastering the Currency Market, Forex Strategies for High and Low Volatility Markets”. I have to say that I was sorely disappointed.
Jonah Hopkins (verified owner) –
I am reading both of these books by Jay Norris. I give only 3 stars for both, because you can’t really say to a trader which is the best method, and if your a beginner you will be on a long journey, possibly years before you achieve success as a trader. As a beginner for currency trading, this book is a good start. Seasoned or not. Jay Norris in my opinion is a very good instructor for trading. He explains trading very well, and to a beginner you need good instruction, not just half and bits of how to trade or be a good trader. Many books I have read, and I have read quite a few, believe me, do not explain there methods well, even though they are experts in Technical analysis. Probably because they want to keep selling as many books as they can while keeping you, the beginner in the dark. This book is good as a compliment to other trading methods, and especially price action. Some key components are candlesticks, momentum, MACD, Fibs, support and resistance, pivot points, which are nothing new, but Jay Norris is an excellent instructor. Well worth the price for his instruction.
Alistair Kerr (verified owner) –
Best book on trading Ive read by far. Was so impressed by the book that I also purchased the authors 101 training course, which has firmly put me on the path to consistent profitability.
Baylee Reilly (verified owner) –
after trading for a while, i’m sure intermediate to experienced traders would have settled down on a style or method that suits their personality, or have found success with. they would have customized certain chart indicators (or just price actions) and laid out their screen/s in a way that is consistent, and not likely to change from one new indicator to the next. for this group of traders, this book may not be useful in that it discusses the “traditional” method of trading using MACD(12,26,9), Stochastic(14,3,3), and RSI(14) using default settings as proposed by the inventors of these indicators. Chapter 9 is the main part that teaches actual trade setups using these indicators, and unless you also used the same combination of MACD/Stochastic/RSI in your own trading, this book would not be relevant if you already settled on other indicator systems.
Chapters 1-8 are basic introductions to the world of forex (including the influence of fundamentals) and technical analysis. Chapter 9 ties all together in trade signals. Chapters 10-13 discusses trading philosophy and risk management. i gave the book 4 stars in that it is a complete manual for trading ……. if you use MACD/Stochastic/RSI combination. there are no new revelations about forex or trading in general, no special techniques or secrets, and nothing you would not have read elsewhere on the internet. However this does not imply the methods don’t work, as the authors had successfully traded and taught the same methods for years to their clients and students.
for beginners and novice traders, this book is all-in-one manual and you don’t have to read hundreds of internet articles only to find the same materials are covered comprehensively in this book. it will give you a good start in using MACD/Stochastic/RSI combination. i personally don’t use MACD and quickly discovered in Chapter 9 that i would not be using the trade signals they taught (no 5 stars). however, i found the book very well written and had in fact gone back to finish reading the other chapters for the basics, no matter how experienced i may be.
Maren Morrison (verified owner) –
I recently started studying with Jay Norris and his currency trading method. Previously I had 5 years of currency trading education but was not as successful with the methods I had learned and was using. What I found to be the most helpful with Jay’s approach was teaching me what information I should DISGARD in identifying a set up. He really helped me refine my shorter time frame trading, which is very helpful in this market with these market conditions. I also found it extremely refreshing to not have to box myself into whether I traded fundamentally or technically. This method really focuses in on the price action on the right side of the chart and how to best identify a trade set up so you don’t miss a great trade on ANY time frame. Jay has also helped teach me to look at “fact based trades” versus trading emotionally. I finally can discipline myself so much easier with this method. Best of all, Jay is very personable and loves what he does for a living.
Alaya Clements (verified owner) –
Great Book !!
This is a great Book for Forex Traders and anyone who wants to learn about Forex. The Book is straight forward and simple to understand. I’ve been trading for a while and I still found this book more than just a review. I like how the author pulls everything together in Chapter 9. Here, the book goes beyond just the technical’s and shows you how to pull it all together. For me, the trade signals/triggers were helpful. The strategy was different from what I use and this book laid out a better way. I’m now using the new information in my trading and it really helps.
This book is not just about tech analysis. If you are looking for a book on “only” technical analysis there are others you might find more helpful. Personally, I think technical analysis is really simple. The hard part is applying the technical’s to a moving market so you can make money. That is what I like about the last chapters in the book. The principals are sound and overall I would recommend this book to anyone looking to better their Forex trading.