A Collection of The Essentials of Trading Reviews


The Essentials of Trading book by John Forman

I found out about a set of reviews of The Essentials of Trading on a site I’d seen advertised, but never previously visited.  It’s ReviewPips.com. Now, I don’t know anything at all about who runs the site or anything like that, so I can’t speak to the overall nature of it, but I was impressed by the reviews folks post for my book. They were quite well thought out and written. 

No, I don”t know the posters, though one of them indicates that (s)he knows me from my posting on BabyPips. :-)

Here are some of the comments:

I purchased this book because I wanted to learn more about trading and this book did not disappoint me at all. It covers essential topics you need to know when you want to start trading.

I also found John’s writing to be clear and concise. He covered important areas such as 1) having a plan, 2) having a reliable system, 3) the importance of testing and of course 4) final application.

This book has really changed my views about trading which is why I would recommend this book to all aspiring traders who also value learning and development.

I think that one hits quite well on the major focus points I had for the book. 

I admire the author of this book because he’s able to discuss forex trading like it’s the most interesting topic on earth. He explained the basics thoroughly and made the fundamentals sound easy. He’s got style, he’s organized, and he’s very persuasive. He made it clear (and I agree as well) that hands-on learning and experience are the best ways to acquire forex trading skills. I now apply all the things I’ve learned from his discussions about the different trading systems and strategies on my practice account.

The whole idea of gaining understanding through experience is a big part of what I tried to encourage through the book with lots of hands-on exercies.

Of course not everyone is going to like the book for whatever reason. There is one negative review:

This book sucks out all enthusiasm I have for trading. The author peppered the pages with lots of illustrations, examples of market trades, and testimonials from traders. The subtitle is slightly offbeat because there are only a couple of ways a beginner trader can ‘build a winning strategy’ using this book. The route towards a successful trading is not clearly defined. Trading aspirants would expect definite steps to follow.

Scammers are abundant in this industry and clear-cut recommendations on how to avoid getting scammed might have helped. The author also didn’t include the proper ways to seek credible and reputable brokers. Rate is low.

I can’t speak to a person’s enthusiasm specifically, of course, but my attempt wasn’t to provide a rah-rah cheerleading text. It was to produce something realistic and useful. If that takes the edge off someone’s enthusiasm, then maybe it needed dulling.

As for detailed steps to follow, there are loads of them but they can only go so far. It’s a foundation book pointing out where the reader is going to have to do her/his own work to identify the path they will follow. That’s an individual decision-making process in regards to markets, timeframes, methodologies, risk tolerance and things like that which created a wide array of potential paths. I couldn’t possibly have addressed them all, but the book does point out very specifically (and repeatedly) the decisions the reader is going to have to make to take their trading forward.

That said, the criticism about lack of recommendations for chosing brokers and avoiding wasting money on uncessary or scam products is fair. It’s something I do wish I’d included and will do should Wiley decide to do a revised edition.

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About the Author
John Forman, author of this blog, has traded for more than 20 years, is a professional market analyst, and authored The Essentials of Trading. He is an active participant in trading forums, consults for trading related businesses, as published literally dozens of trading articles, and has been quoted in a number of books and in the media.
** See John’s full bio.

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  • Rod

    John,

    Not having the time to do a full review, I’ll just drop a few words here: I would like to echo the positive comments on your book. I find it really good at the introductory level, and a necessary first step for anyone approaching the markets without an idea of what trading is all about. I found the advice about concentrating on mechanical systems first very useful: I was up against emotional involvement with the trades when trying anything discretionary. I recommended the book to relatives who decided to buy it.

    Here’s the thing though: The book quotes a site (http://www.andurilonline.com) where the books resources are supposed to be. I cannot find the spreadsheets that go along with the system development chapters (7 and 8), even though the book makes it clear that the spreadsheets can be accesed on this website. On top of that, when discussing ways to determine position size while checking the impact on Risk of Ruin, the book suggests we use a risk management calculator available at http://www.andurilonline.com/book/calculator.aspx, which unfortunately is not functioning properly.

    It would be great if you could let me know where these resources can be located, so that we can make full use of an excellent book.

  • http://www.fxroadmap.com Phil

    It sounds like the book is intended to allow people to become independent traders so the comment “Trading aspirants would expect definite steps to follow” would validate the book in achieving it’s aims to create consistent, profitable Forex traders not the system-chasers that are so frequent. Think I might need to give this one a read.

    • http://www.theessentialsoftrading.com John

      Phil – You are exactly correct. This book is intended for someone who wants to develop their trading skills, not someone looking for a quick fix instant solution.

  • daveM

    The book contains some excellent ideas for system building and evaluation. Measurement of a system is most important, sometimes an area that gets put on the back burner until losses appear.

    I wish I had seen this book when it was first published, it would have saved me some pips.!!!!

    • http://www.theessentialsoftrading.com John

      daveM – Sorry you didn’t get to it sooner, but I’m glad to hear you find the book useful. :-)