Forex For Beginners Paperback – December 20, 2013

I've just read both of Anna's first two books, Forex For Beginners and A Complete Guide To Volume Price Analysis, back to back, and I'm going to be lazy and just post the same review for both, but I'll distinguish where I make comments specifically about one or the other.I'll start with a little background to put this review in context. I started getting interested in forex trading with an email touting some guy that had a "system." I signed up for his live webcam "learn how by watching me trade" membership, figuring I'd take advantage of the 3-month money back guarantee if I learned nothing. At 2 months I couldn't explain his system clearly to myself, and he was changing methods almost every day and frequently seeming to contradict things he'd said before. I kept at it for another couple weeks and then used the money back guarantee. I then started downloading and backtesting all kinds of indicators and EAs and browsing Amazon reviews looking for a better guide. Next I scanned a couple forex books and a couple on trading in general, and I used Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets as an encyclopedia. I continued playing with my practice account for a couple months, but could find nothing that worked consistently enough to be comfortable committing real money, and I lost interest.A year or so later I ran across an article about Richard Dennis and the 'Turtle Traders'. I realized: a) people do make money doing these things, b) anyone can learn the methods, c) and there are experts out there who are willing to share their knowledge. I started looking for a good book again and almost immediately found Anna's books. Forex for Beginners was so cheap and the free sample indicated it would be an easy read. Halfway through, and also after reading comments about it on several forums, I was sold on VPA. I decided to re-open my FXCM practice account and try some of her recommendations, then read the next book (A Complete Guide to Volume Price Analysis) while waiting for my account to fund. She recommends not using a practice account for anything more than learning the interface, for several reasons: real money is more meaningful and lessons stick better, the practice account feed is usually not a real live feed even if they say it is, and the practice feed won't show you the sudden spikes in the spread caused by your broker sometimes taking advantage of a fast moving market. Forex for Beginners was very helpful in explaining how the different types of forex brokers' operations can work against your interests if you have the wrong type of broker, and how to find the right type so you're not betting against the house.Volume price analysis makes sense to me, and her (and others') assertions that the market is controlled by insiders whose moves can be seen by analyzing volume is the best explanation I've seen yet for why price action forms certain consistent patterns. My previous concept of technical analysis was that specific price patterns form when there are enough people who believe it will, simply a self-fulfilling prophecy, and I could never quite accept that as a reliable way to make money. Now I understand how volume affects candle formation, and how insider action is reflected in volume, and it's all logical. I can trade on that with confidence, which is the biggest thing I've gotten from these two books.My only complaint about both books is that she could use a more attentive editor, but there's nothing so bad it's really distracting. I read a review here recently where the reader said the grammar was so bad he/she couldn't finish the book (I can't remember if it was one of these two or another trading book). That's short-sighted arrogance in my opinion. The most eloquent speaker or the most concise and grammatically correct writer is not usually the best teacher. Also, if Anna had a talented editor go over this with a fine-toothed comb, yes it would be slightly easier to read, a little less repetitious, and probably a little shorter, but it would be more expensive too. If you want to learn how to work on your own Harley, the Haynes manual was written by a professional technical writer with a professional photographer looking over his shoulder at the work of a professional mechanic. Yet they (or their editors) still usually leave out all sorts of important details and perspectives that the grizzled old greasemonkey down at the shop is willing to give you if respect his experience and can dodge his tobacco juice and parse his colorful language. The Haynes manual is certainly cleaner and easier to read, but I'd prefer a conversation with the veteran any time.Another reviewer for one of these books said they couldn't make out the charts in the Kindle version so they bought a print copy and it was no better. I agree some of them are pretty hard to read on my Kindle (6" E-Ink display), but I had no problem with any of them on my iPhone screen or on Kindle Reader for PC.Tip: I found it very helpful to read on my Kindle with my iphone in my lap above it so I could glance at the chart and back to the text without scrolling back and forth constantly - something Amazon could definitely improve in the Kindle experience.I gave A Complete Guide to Volume Price Analysis 4 stars when I started writing this review, but I've decided to make it 5 stars. Part of the reason for this upgrade is that I'm not aware of another book on VPA (or VSA), and I'm grateful to Anna for writing one. Also, I haven't put her recommendations to use yet. My next step is to go through the VPA book again and condense the principles onto a set of flash cards. Then I'll start with the smallest possible lot size (like she recommends), keep a journal, and mark up my flash cards as I go along. I'll update this review when I feel like I've got some meaningful experience.

I am not a trader or a person with tremendous knowledge on currency markets or any kind of financial markets. In fact I only have a passing knowledge of markets in general. So when I picked up this book I was trying to determine if forex trading could be a potential side hustle and backup to fall back on in case my full-time job abruptly ends. I had browsed a few online forums here and there and found an overwhelmingly negative perception of forex as a viable income stream. Too many people just keep saying it doesn't work. But all these people sounded like those people who look at muscular fitness freaks and sum it up to steroids ignoring all the work that goes into building that kind of body. So I decided to get this book to determine for myself if this is in fact a pipe dream or a real possibility of making money consistently. I have to admit after reading this book I come away with a wealth of knowledge of financial markets (not just forex, but any speculative market), but the hope that this might actually work as a means to make some real money. I must say that this book is definitely for beginners, but a total noob with no knowledge whatsoever of finance will find some concepts a bit difficult. Since I am a management accountant by training and quite interested in finance I found it quite easy to pick up. But for someone without even basic idea of money or finance might find it a bit more difficult to pick up. Not impossible by any means, I'm sure if you're a reasonably intelligent person you will find this book really useful.I find the book is very realistic in terms of expectations, money management and techniques. No 1 method that guarantees success 100 percent of the time in this book. Just a series of methods to help reduce the risk you take on any position. I personally found this quite wonderful as I do not believe in miracle solutions and neither does the author.All in all I highly recommend reading this book if you're serious about learning about forex and are willing to spend the next few years (not days or weeks) figuring out how to trade successfully.

Great book for beginners and a good book for traders that may not have had a thorough introduction to the market. I have had classes, read books, and done research on the Web, but Ms. Coulling's coverage is more comprehensive than all my previous sources put together. I also like her approach. I am looking forward to trying her "Relational" technique. It is a type of positional trading, a combination of technical and fundamental analyses, but she uses price and volume with the currency pairs, and relationship evaluations between economically linked currencies and their pairings. This seems to me as a useful extension of general fundamental analysis. My goal is to start with swing trading and move to positional trading.4.5 instead of 5 stars for a few reasons. She favors a price and volume approach to trading with minimal use of technical analysis to target entry and exit points. She relies mostly on candles for this. Nothing wrong with that, but day traders and swing traders favoring technical analysis may not get the most from her book. On the other hand, I think swing traders and position traders will benefit more. I still don't know enough to say her techniques would be good for day traders. Also, there are some minor editing issues, and recurring mentions of Futures, which don't mean much to persons who don't trade Futures.Overall, I was very pleased with her book and I have purchased the next two that follow this one.