Review by SBJ400 for The FX Bootcamp Guide to Strategic and Tactical Forex Trading (Wiley Trading)
Rating:
Let me say right away –

I judge harshly any material that promotes another product. This book promotes the author’s website constantly throughout. You must pay to be a member after a trial period LOL

$100 for a measely 7 days!!! That is what the author calls TRIAL. LOL I thought you were trading because you needed money…not because you have tons of money to flush down the toilet?!

Here are the exact current details posted from the author’s website –

Trial Membership ($99 for the first 7 days. Then $299.95 for each month)

First 7 days $99. Then $299.95 each 30 days as a full Monthly Member.

Monthly Membership ($299.95 for each month)

Semi-Annual Membership ($1499.95 for 6 months)

Annual Membership ($2400.00 for 12 months)

BEWARE NOVICES !!!!!!!! Tons of people write books and create websites just to get the eager novice to depart with money!

One simple question to ask yourself -

If the author is such a great, successful trader…why would he be busy chasing down subscribers? Would you? Wouldn’t you be busy scooping up pips and not bothering with some silly website and trying to drum up business for it?

For the money he is charging per month, you could buy DVD workshops and seminars from some of the top traders out there and you get to keep those DVDs and watch them over and over at no charge.

I do agree that the general VAGUE substance of this book is generally accurate. You could learn a few things…BUT what this book will teach you is freely available online at some great Forex websites for FREEEEEEEEEEEEE !!!! Just Google search “free forex training” or try “baby pips”. You will learn FAR MORE than any beginner book will ever teach you there for free.

Also, the candlestick advice in this book is so generic and vague you could lose plenty of money. Let me quote the book -

“Dojis become a most significant reversal signal when seen after an extended rally of long-bodied candles” (by the way, the plural of doji is doji…not dojis)

This holds a tiny kernel of truth to it in that doji signals are more powerful signals after a large move in the market. THE TRUTH ENDS THERE. According to THE guru of candlesticks…Steve Nison (the man that brought candlesticks to the West and the one you should learn them from and the man this book gives no credit to as a source for further education)…according to Nison’s teachings doji are not reversal signals by themselves. Doji represent transition or confusion in the market. You cannot just assume the market will reverse. You need more confirmation. Candlestick signals by themselves are not reason enough to trade!

For a novice, simplistic, generic advice like this could wipe your account out in days.

I am not saying the author is a bad person or has bad intentions. I am merely judging the book. I do feel there are many good little tips in it…BUT the same info is available for free. Since this book does not delve into meaty, strict detail about anything…you will only scrape the surface, get excited and will be more likely to subscribe to the website. I think that is the plan behind this book. For some people…that may be a good thing. As a novice, you should research, investigate and learn as much as possible before paying one single penny to anyone! How do you know what to pay for or subscribe to when you do not understand Forex, trading or any other relative issue????

Use the internet, GOOGLE as much as possible…chat in forums, take your time and LEARN then make purchase based on intelligence not knee jerk excitement. Forex is rife with scams, hustles, fast buck programs and systems.

Review by Bryan E. Heath for The FX Bootcamp Guide to Strategic and Tactical Forex Trading (Wiley Trading)
Rating:
As Wayne McDonell points out – trading is similar to war. You take the high ground and wait for the enemy to approach. In this case it’s the trader on the other side of the trade who is the enemy. If you are interested in forex, or already trading, you will find this book a valuable resource. It helped me become a better trader.

Writing in a clear and personally engaging style, McDonell makes sense of the fundamental and technical aspects of what moves currency pairs. He also comes equipped with an arsenal of useful charting tools that help a trader get the “feel” for the direction and speed of the market. The focus is on developing a plan for every trade: wait for price to come to you, determine when to enter, and when to take profit.

A trading style aimed at making “conservative repeatable trades” is what is really at the heart of this book. There are a half dozen or so books available on trading that are worthwhile, and I have read all of them. Some focus on strategy and others on the psychology of trading. McDonell pulls it all together and covers every aspect of trading you need to become a successful trader.

This book works well for traders at all levels of experience who are not consistently making successful trades. Some of the criticisms of the book are valid. But the faults are miniscule when compared to the tremendously useful and insightful content found in every chapter. If I could have only one book on forex trading, it would be this.

Review by Jeff Marsick for The FX Bootcamp Guide to Strategic and Tactical Forex Trading (Wiley Trading)
Rating:
There is an inherent problem with anything put out by John Wiley and Sons Publishing: their books are littered with errors. I would be shocked to find that an actual editor is on their payroll. Every book they put out needs to be scrutinized, and thoroughly, or else the reader will be led astray. It’s infuriating, given that they put out so much product on so diverse a subject as finance, and using so many great names as authors. That is the main reason why this book garners three stars, when it clearly deserves more.

Wayne McDonell has written a great playbook for currency trading. He doesn’t waste time with the basics of what a pip is or what the majors are or any other detritus that seems obligatory litter in every currency trading book of any level of experience. He jumps in with a description of lagging and leading technical indicators, then proceeds with a narrative on how to use economic information as a sort of fundamental analysis, then lays out a process of combining the two schools into a savvy and reproducible strategy for successful currency trading. He does a fantastic job of it, too. While he points out strengths and weaknesses in indicators, he never claims one to be a silver bullet or that there is a secret sauce to being a successful currency trader. Instead, he lays the groundwork for the reader to practice on their own and fine tune this approach. If you are looking for a magic formula, go somewhere else. If you, like me, tend to make trades without much of a plan (and subsequently get torched by such poor executions), then this is the book for you. Novices can definitely learn from this book, and perhaps even seasoned veterans can pick up a thing or two.

Where the book fails, however, is where an editor (Heaven forfend, even a PROOFREADER) could have intervened. The graphs aren’t well labeled and are dark and terribly hard to follow. Spelling errors abound. But worst of all, the numbers can’t be trusted. For instance, Mr. McDonell describes the MACD as using 21, 55 and a signal of 8. Most MACD’s use 12, 26, and a signal of 9. Is this a typo? Or is Mr. McDonell using a better range for Forex than the usual defaults? Unknown. It’s never discussed. It’s one instance of several and I recommend one have Perry Kaufman’s “Trading Systems and Methods” handy.

My disgust with Wiley and Sons Publishing continues. Perhaps the prospective reader would be better off (and less annoyed) by viewing his videos on his website, http://www.FXBootcamp.com.