Getting Started in FOREX

Getting Started in FOREX Trading Strategies is intended as a sequel to Getting Started in Currency Trading (GSICT), although it may certainly be used indepen­dently. One comment readers often make after reading the latter is, "Great, now I know the mechanics of FOREX. But what do I do next?" This book addresses that question. However, it does assume some basic knowledge of FOREX.

If you are new to currency trading, I suggest you pick up a copy of Get­ting Started in Currency Trading and read and study the material before starting this volume.

Readers' expectations vary enormously. Most thought "getting started" truly meant getting started, but some assumed the book would carry them through more advanced training. A few were disappointed not to find a $19.95 black-box system leading to great wealth without effort. There is no get-rich-quick method in FOREX or any other market. Getting Started in FOREX Trad­ing Strategies (GSIFTS) is meant to give you an initial perspective on various methods and a simple method on which to build.

Traditional Strategies

To most traders, strategy is synonymous with trading techniques—one or more of the many flavors of price charts or indicators such as oscillators and moving aver­ages. In GSIFTS, strategy refers to the three primary elements that define a trader: trading techniques, money management, and the soft elements of market selec­tion, trader profile, tactics, and psychology. Together they compose a trader's style.

A traditional trading strategy includes a charting technique such as point and figure or candlestick charts, a number of technical indicators, and perhaps a few other tools the trader has found useful in previous trading. Money man­agement is typically an ad hoc set of rules for limiting losses, maximizing gains, and entering and exiting a trade. Most traditional strategies rarely consider style, or soft elements, in any depth.

Traditional strategies represent a linear approach to trading. Each strate­gic element is separate from the other. The elements don't communicate very well, if at all, with each other. The codex approach, introduced herein, applies a process paradigm to the elements and to trading.