15 forex trading books that everyone should read
Whether you’re a beginner or a top trader, there’s always more to learn. Here are 15 books that can help you improve your trading.
Foreign exchange (forex) trading is a process of trading currencies of different countries around the world.
And with its growing popularity among retail investors, we thought we'd come up with a handy list of books to help you forex trade.
Whether you're a newbie or a top trader, our list can help you learn a thing or two about forex markets.
How we chose the books
We chose the books in a couple of different ways.
First, we relied on reader reviews. Every one of these books has at least a 4 out of 5 on Amazon and Goodreads or rates at least above 90 from Google users.
We cross-referenced these rankings with subject matter to ensure the usefulness for readers at different stages of their journey.
Finally, we added additional weighting for who actually wrote the book. Some of the more popular authors made our list.
5 books for beginners
Let's start with helping out those new to trading
- Currency Trading for Dummies by Brian Dolan
- The Simple Strategy by Markus Heitkoetter
- Forex Trading: The Basics Explained in Simple Terms by Jim Brown
- 50 Pips a Day Forex Strategy by Laurentiu Damir
- Forex For Ambitious Beginners by Jelle Peters
Currency Trading for Dummies by Brian Dolan
We couldn't start a list of forex trading without the hugely popular "For Dummies" series.
But going beyond the title, this book actually does a pretty good job of breaking down the forex markets into clear, easy-to-read instructions on trading.
In fact, the entire point of the book is to make sure new investors understand the basics.
The key takeaway from this is you'll learn how the markets work, ways to think about trading, tools to use and a basic game plan for forex trading.
The Simple Strategy by Markus Heitkeotter
If you're looking to learn how to day trade, this book can certainly help you.
It will break down the basics of day trading strategies across a range of markets, including stocks, ETFs and forex.
The simple strategy is relatively easy to understand and removes psychological barriers.
Instead, you simply trade based on the relative strength index (RSI) and whether it is above 70. Given the trend is easy to identify and execute, the book will give you a basic framework to work with.
Forex Trading: The Basics Explained in Simple Terms by Jim Brown
This is probably a book that you can get through in a night, but it will inform your basic trading strategies.
At just 91 pages, it's a good first book to learn the very basics of forex trading, helping you to learn how forex trading works, how to use MetaTrader 4 and 5, and some basic high-probability forex trading methods.
One of the key tips you'll learn is trading psychology, which is one of the more important aspects of forex trading.
The best part is you can download the author's custom indicators for the MetaTrader 4 and 5 trading platforms directly from the book.
50 Pips a Day Forex Strategy by Laurentiu Damir
The book 50 Pips a Day Forex Strategy will give new investors a detailed strategy to create at least 50 pips of profit a day.
The book is aimed at absolute beginners entering the market.
It is based on one strategy with the aim of avoiding trading and money management mistakes.
If you already have a trading strategy, the book can still provide a useful guide to forex trading.
Forex for Ambitious Beginners by Jelle Peters
Forex for Ambitious Beginners covers most of what investors would want to learn about trading.
Ranging from specific forex strategies right through to risk management, the book has you covered.
Forex for Ambitious Beginners will help you learn a practical approach to trading as well as how to deal with different drawbacks when trading.
Finder survey: Do Australians understand how forex markets work?
| Response | |
|---|---|
| No | 71.51% |
| Somewhat | 17.63% |
| Yes | 10.86% |
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1004 Australians, December 2023
5 books to improve your technical analysis skills
Once you've learned the basics of trading, you might want to hone your technical analysis skills.
- Bollinger on Bollinger Bands by John Bollinger
- The Alchemy of Finance by George Soros
- Japanese Candlesticks Charting Techniques by Steve Nison
- Intermarket Analysis by John Murphy
- Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John J Murphy
Bollinger on Bollinger Bands by John Bollinger
The guy that came up with Bollinger Bands might just know a thing or two about how they work.
If you're a trader, you've probably heard of Bollinger Bands.
This book explains how to use the technique to compare prices and indicate actions.
While John Bollinger is a technical trader, he does a pretty good job of breaking down the trading technique in a concise and straightforward manner.
If you're a technical trader, this probably should be on your list.
The Alchemy of Finance by George Soros
George Soros is one of the more successful traders going around.
And his book The Alchemy of Finance explains his approach to trading, which is based on "reflexivity" or the theory that fundamentals can be influenced by the price.
While this goes against modern economic thought, it has allowed Soros to be one of the better traders.
Although this book was published back in the 1980s, many of the lessons can still help traders today.
Japanese Candlesticks Charting Techniques by Steve Nison
This is one of the more fundamental techniques traders will need to know.
Japanese candlestick charts are a versatile tool that is often used with other tools to help analyse the market.
The book has something for everyone. For those who have been trading for a while, you'll learn how Japanese candlesticks along with other techniques can create a powerful trading plan. Those newer to trading will learn how candlestick charts work as a trading tool by themselves.
Intermarket Analysis by John Murphy
Intermarket Analysis will help you see how asset prices move together.
The point of the analysis is to predict where prices may head next based on how they interact with other assets. Take, for example, bonds and stocks in Australia that are rising. These might have an impact on our currency, which might be bad for Australia's exports.
The book goes through practical real-world examples from the past to help explain how the principle works.
Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John J Murphy
It would be wrong of us to have a list of technical analysis books and not have a book that can teach you the basics.
The book will teach you how to read charts to understand indicators and the role technical analysis plays in investing.
With real-world examples, not only will you learn trading theory but also how you can apply it.
5 books that'll improve your knowledge
This list will help you become a better trader by helping you to learn lessons from past investors as well as improve your understanding of how markets as a whole work.
- The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Naked Forex by Alex Nekritin and Walter Peters
- Millionaire Traders by Kathy Lien and Boris Schlossberg
- The New Market Wizards by Jack Schwager
- Pit Bull: Lessons from Wall Street's Champion Day Trader by Martin Schwartz
The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Let's start with the former New York Times bestseller The Black Swan.
The book is by former options trader Nassim Nicholas Taleb and teaches you about the extreme impact of rates and unpredictable events on the market.
Coming up with the black swan theory, Taleb points out that humans will retrospectively come up with simple solutions as to why these black swan events occur.
If you feel like adding a few more books, it is part of a 5-part series including Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, Antifragile and Skin in the Game.
Naked Forex by Alex Nekritin and Walter Peters
Now, this could be sacrilegious, but Naked Forex is about trading without indicators.
Known as naked traders, this is one of the oldest trading methods, created well before computers came about.
According to Nekritin and Peters, traders using naked trading techniques focus on the price chart. Naked trading is a simple and superior way to trade and is suited to those traders looking to quickly achieve expertise with a trading method.
Millionaire Traders by Kathy Lien and Boris Schlossberg
If you're looking to improve as a trader, it's never a bad idea to read the stories of those who are successful at it.
Millionaire traders bring together a collection of not-so-well-known traders who have had great success.
The best part about it – all of the traders started with very little.
Through the interviews, you can see how they traded and how they managed to grow their wealth exponentially.
The New Market Wizards by Jack Schwager
Similar to the above, The New Market Wizards is all about inspiring traders through others' successes.
The author interviews multiple successful traders to find out how they became profitable.
The good thing about The New Market Wizards is that it'll teach you about the importance of strategy. As you'll find out, there is no single "right way" to trade, with successful traders having different strategies.
Pit Bull: Lessons from Wall Street's Champion Day Trader by Martin Schwartz
Martin S Schwartz, or Buzzy, is a Wall Street trader who made his money trading stocks, futures and options.
The book covers the true story of Schwartz, which details his journey, including the people he met, the places he went and the tricks and techniques he used to become successful.
Schwartz's claim to fame is that he accumulated $100,000 at an investing firm, which he used to buy a seat on the American Stock Exchange to start trading on his own.
Compare forex brokers
While Forex trading can be risky, for those looking to test some of what they learnt, here's a list of our brokers.
Disclaimer: General information only. All forms of investments (and in particular, trading CFDs, commodities and forex) carry significant risk, including the risk of losing more than the invested amounts, market volatility and liquidity risks. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Such activities are not suitable for most investors.
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Important information: Powered by Finder.com.au. This information is general in nature and is no substitute for professional advice. It does not take into account your personal situation. This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of futures, stocks, ETFs, CFDs, options or any specific provider, service or offering. It should not be relied upon as investment advice or construed as providing recommendations of any kind. Futures, stocks, ETFs and options trading involves substantial risk of loss and therefore are not appropriate for most investors. You do not own or have any interest in the underlying asset. Capital is at risk, including the risk of losing more than the amount originally put in, market volatility and liquidity risks. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Tax on profits may apply. Consider the Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination for the product on the provider's website. Consider your own circumstances, including whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money and possess the relevant experience and knowledge. We recommend that you obtain independent advice from a suitably licensed financial advisor before making any trades.
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