Forex Patterns and Probabilities: Trading Strategies for Trending and Range-Bound Markets

CHAPTER 1

Getting Started in Forex

Call me Ishmael ...

Just kidding. I’m sure that when anyone is blessed with the task of writing a book, that person secretly (or not so secretly) wishes that it might attain the status of a classic, like Melville’s whaling tale.

You may be an experienced trader, or perhaps you’re just starting out. Either way, remember: Everyone begins at the same starting point. Every trader who ever made money in any market began as a novice. Nobody is born with a deep, innate understanding of trading.

Maybe you believe that superior intelligence is required to succeed at trading. While being bright is not a disadvantage, it is no guarantee of success. Often, very intelligent traders overanalyze trading situations.

Maybe you believe that a good formal education is required to succeed, but this is not the case. What you are about to learn is not taught in any school. Traders learn through study, through trial and error, and through intense analysis of markets, strategies, and techniques. Most of all, traders learn through experience.

Maybe you believe that you must read every trading book you can find. I’ve read dozens of books on trading, most of which are not worth your time. Most of the books that I’ve read contained a kernel of useful information, buried beneath an avalanche of filler. I decided that if I were ever asked to write a book about trading, it would be the antithesis of those books. Instead of performing a sort of “Dance of the Seven Veils,” I’d ...