Author

John Forman, author of The Essentials of Trading, is a 20+ year veteran of the financials markets. He is a senior foreign exchange analysts for Thomson Reuters IFR Markets, having also held similar positions covering the stock and fixed income (interest rate) markets. John has traded just about every market and instrument individual traders are likely to trade. He has authored literally dozens of articles for trading magazines, is a former Content Editor for the Trade2Win active trader online community, actively participates in trading forums, and has taken part in numerous trading related seminars and webinar presentations.

The Best from the Blog

Here are some of the blog posts readers have found most valuable and/or I thought were of greatest interest to new and developing traders.

currencies

The Most Traded Currency Pairs

Using central bank and monetary authority data, this article outlines the most active forex pairs, both globally and by region/center.

pennychart

Thinking Like a Professional Trader

If you want to get the most out of your trading, treat it like a business. Think about the value proposition behind the time, information, and tools you use.

secretlock

The Secret to Trading Success

Do you want to know what the secret to profitable trading is? Then give this blog post a read. You just might be surprised at what you read.

tradingplan

Creating Your Own Trading Plan

Every trader needs to have a solid, well-developed trading plan of their own. This post will get you started putting one together that will help you get the most of your trading.

books

My Top 5 Trading Books

There are lots of trading books out there, and many of them are quite good and useful. These five, though, are the ones that have most influenced me.

armsraised

The Trader’s Wish List

Here’s some really good trading and market-related stuff. You don’t even need to wait for a special occassion to reward yourself or pick up a gift for that trader on your shopping list. Books, movies, and more!

questionmark

Misunderstanding the Bid/Ask Spread in Stock Trading

It’s been my experience that many people don’t really understand how the bid/offer spread plays a part in all markets, including the one for stocks. This post looks to remedy that.

news

Ways to approach news events in your trading

News and data events can be very disruptive forces for traders and their performance.

prices

Where do prices come from?

Want to understand where the prices you see coming across your trading platform come from? The blog post should help clarify things for you.

moneystack

Trading for a Living vs Trading for Wealth Building

This posts looks at how trading for a living and trading for the purpose of increasing your wealth can differ.

brainquestion

How much leverage to use? Wrong question!

I see the question about what the best level of leverage is for someone to use in their trading, but it’s not the right question at all. This post is about what the right question really is.

interestrates

An Introduction to the Fixed Income Market

The fixed income or rates market is an extremely important one, but it’s one that too many individual traders don’t really know much about. The article will help.