FX Trading

Alex Douglas drew his fi rst currency chart by hand in 1983. Th is opened the door to a career in the fi nancial markets that has included being an FX voice broker, a trader on the fl oor of the Sydney Futures Exchange and a director of global FX and derivative trading fi rms. He has been a director and president of several technical analyst associations around the world and has established a solid media reputation for his lucid comments on markets. Alex is currently the managing director of IBFX Australia. Views and opinions expressed in this book are not necessarily those of IBFX. Visit Alex’s website and follow him on Twitter: @AlexDouglasFX Larry Lovrencic GDipAppFin (FINSIA), Dip TA (ATAA), CFTe, SF Fin has extensive experience trading fi nancial markets and teaching technical analysis. He is Vice President of Australian Professional Technical Analysts (APTA), a member of the Market Technicians Association (MTA), a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA) and was a Director of the International Federation of Technical Analysts (IFTA) and the Australian Technical Analysts Association (ATAA). Larry is Executive Director of First Pacific Securities and IchimokuCharts.com, which provide research and educational services. He is co-author of Charting for Dummies and FX Trading: An Australian Guide to Trading Foreign Exchange. Peter Pontikis is a capital markets and private wealth management specialist for high net and ultra net worth families. He has more than 30 years of institutional and corporate experience in Australia and South-East Asia. Peter is past director and treasurer of the International Federation of Technical Analysts (IFTA) and Australian Technical Analysts Association (ATAA). He is an accredited dealer with AFMA, and is a Fellow of CPA Australia as well as a Senior Fellow of FINSIA, and sits on their financial markets and national advisory councils. Peter has several degrees in finance and economics as well as a master of arts.

Preface vii About the authors xi

1 Money management — an overview 1

2 What is foreign exchange? 3

3 Show me the money! 23

4 Talking the talk 31

5 Who’s who at the FX marketplace 51

6 Trading platforms for retail traders 69

7 Factors in uencing FX markets 89

8 Technical analysis for traders 115

9 FX fundamental analysis for traders 159

10 FX trading at the big end of town 181

11 Introduction to FX trading strategy 201

12 Money management — the fundamentals 231

13 (Your) Wealth on the global stage 241

14 New technology 253

Conclusion and next steps 261

Appendix: World currency codes 263

Index 267