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The Art of Currency Trading: A Professional's Guide to the Foreign Exchange Market

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Now you can master the art of foreign exchange trading

While most currency trading and foreign exchange books focus on international finance theory or simplistic chart-based strategies, The Art of Currency Trading is a comprehensive guide that will teach you how to profitably trade currencies in the real world. Author Brent Donnelly has been a successful interbank FX trader for more than 20 years and in this book, he shares the specific strategies and tactics he has used to profit in the forex marketplace.

The book helps investors understand and master foreign exchange trading in order to achieve sustainable long-term financial success. The book builds in intensity and depth one topic at a time, starting with the basics and moving on to intermediate then advanced setups and strategies. Whether you are new to currency trading or have years of experience, The Art of Currency Trading provides the information you need to learn to trade like an expert. This much-needed guide

● an insider’s view of what drives currency price movements;
● a clear explanation of how to combine macro fundamentals, technical analysis, behavioral finance and diligent risk management to trade successfully;
● specific techniques and setups you can use to make money trading foreign exchange; and
● steps you can take to better understand yourself and improve your trading psychology and discipline.

Written for currency traders of all skill levels, international stock and bond investors, corporate treasurers, commodity traders, and asset managers, The Art of Currency Trading offers a comprehensive guide to foreign exchange trading written by a noted expert in the field.

400 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 5, 2019

158 people are currently reading
704 people want to read

About the author

Brent Donnelly

8 books49 followers
Brent Donnelly has been trading currencies since 1995 and is currently a senior FX trader at HSBC New York. He writes a widely read and highly respected macro and FX daily called AM/FX. Over the course of his career, he has been a market maker, trader, and senior manager at some of the top banks in foreign exchange. He has extensive experience trading spot FX, interest rate products, FX options, stock index futures, single name equities, and commodities.

Brent is a respected macroeconomic and currency analyst with the unique perspective of a senior risk taker. His work has been quoted by the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, and CNBC.

Before joining HSBC, Brent was head of G10 Spot Trading at Citi New York and global head of G10 FX Trading at Nomura New York. He was also a portfolio manager at a major hedge fund in Connecticut for three years. He created and wrote a cartoon called “Daft Planet,” which aired on TV in Canada.

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5 stars
176 (64%)
4 stars
55 (20%)
3 stars
33 (12%)
2 stars
4 (1%)
1 star
6 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
Profile Image for Serhii Kushchenko.
116 reviews19 followers
July 20, 2022
This book has long been recognized as a classic among FX traders. You can easily find dozens of reviews confirming that. I want to write about another aspect and give you valuable advice for free.

Read this book if you trade stocks or commodities or whatever, even if you are not interested in FX. Believe me you will make great use of your time.

"The Art of Currency Trading" is the best book on general trading principles I know. It contains non-BS guidance on technical analysis, behavioral finance, risk management, and more.

The book's value is not only in disclosing specific techniques and trading setups. It teaches its readers how to place bets that have a positive expected value on average.

After having read the book, you may want to follow Brent Donnelly on Twitter.
16 reviews
March 14, 2025
Excellent book written by a trader itself. Lots of information that wasn't found in any other trading books.
1 review
December 16, 2021
I consider myself a retail trader despite working as a trader for a FX fund in asset management.
The book plugged a lot of holes in terms of my knowledge of the overall market structure, its participants and their ways of conducting business.

The book also helped me in two concrete ways recently: sizing and news trading. As I write this the FOMC meeting of December 2021 ended a few hours ago. I did well, because the chapter on news trading directly helped me prepare for it, interpret the news in real time and the market reaction to it. The position sizing chapter helped me remove a mental block and allowed me to size the opportunity properly.

Needless to say the book paid for itself many times over.

I owe Brent a drink, and can’t wait to read his second book Alpha trader.

I’m not sure how much value a true seasoned veteran trader would find but any beginner, developing trader or somewhat young professional like me is certain to learn a thing or two. I wouldn’t say the book taught me how to trade. Indeed I’ve been consistently profitable for half a decade at this point but it certainly helped me refine and improve my own method.

A great investment.

M. Donnelly, thank you for writing this book!
Profile Image for Frank Nemecek.
Author 2 books7 followers
May 13, 2023
There's a lot of great information here. However, I'd recommend largely skipping the chapters that deal with technical analysis.

The author uses a lot of terms about technical analysis that he never defines and only gives a cursory explanation of how they're used or are relevant.

Luckily, there's enough good stuff in this book to make up for it. His thoughts on behavioral finance, for example, make this book more than worthwhile reading on its own.

Bottom line: read (most) of this book. Cherish and use for the things that it covers well. For the other things, there are other books that explain that better so this one is still more than worth reading.
Profile Image for Manuel.
205 reviews5 followers
November 21, 2021
I’m not or won’t be a FX trader, but due my current job position I needed a source which could give me a good insight of the FX trader like: terminology, FX market behavior, FX market structure, passible outcomes and the importance of positions. So, I found this book.

For what I necessitated, part I & II were the most important. The book provided me a good introduction about the most important terms and allowed to further look into other resources to keep learning. However, I think, basic stock or FX market knowledge is needed if you are looking to fully grasp all concepts.
Profile Image for Herrholz Paul.
229 reviews6 followers
May 4, 2025
When I looked at the market, the liquidity was relatively low and so I paid the best offer price of GBP 30 for this book. More than I usually pay for a book but then this book is different to my normal diet of fictional novels.
I have been interested in FX for a long time, the markets and particularly the way they move is interesting. My first job was in the back office of a London Dealing room in the 1980s and I remember the squawk boxes, the exciting atmosphere and also the London slang such as `naughty numbers` (the `t` in naughty replaced with the glottal stop), and `this market is going up an` dan` like `oars draws`. No explanation provided! One USDJPY broker used to play Zorba The Greek over the squawk box when Friday afternoon trading really slowed down.

This book is written by a professional trader who worked in dealing rooms with desks, screens and lots of phones, and I am still asking myself if a person trading from home can ever really have the same advantages and a finger on the pulse as such a trader employed at a hedge fund or a bank for example. But there are sophisticated trading platforms like Bloomberg, which come at a price, where cutting edge information is provided and this access to information/news as it is released is of major importance to the serious trader and may at least give her a fighting chance.
I found this book interesting and informative.
Profile Image for Mahdi Khalil Nejad.
98 reviews
September 12, 2024
می‌خواستم پنج ستاره بدم ولی فصلهای آخر خیلی مطالب تکراری شده بود. تقریبا اون مباحث رفتاری رو تو کل کتاب به نوعی گفته بود. جدا از این مغز حرف کتاب اینه که باید استایل خودت رو پیدا کنی که به مطالب روانشناسی طور بخش پایانی کتاب هم میشه بسطش داد. در حالی که بخش های فنی کتاب بسیار بهتر بود، خوندن کل کتاب رو پیشنهاد میکنم. یکم زیاد دیده میشه ۴۰۰ - ۵۰۰ تایی بود ولی خب متن راحتی داره. قوت کتاب تو اینه که از تجربه میاد.
3 reviews
July 20, 2020
A thorough and honest look at trading FX. I came away with a lot more knowledge than when I entered and that's all I ask for at this stage of my studies; seems I certainly have a lot more work to do, too! Anyways, it's excellently written and truly does offer a ton of practical tips, analysis, et al. Well worth a read if you're considering becoming a trader.
Profile Image for Luciano.
332 reviews285 followers
June 10, 2022
More like a 3.5 book -- the best of it is Donnelly transmiting his vaste practical knowledge about the market dynamics (I've found the chapters about risk management and sizing particularly useful). The macro insights are banal and I'd skip most of the (rather long) technical analysis section.
5 reviews
August 16, 2022
Pretty much anything you need to know about the market and in and out! I read so many books and watch so many videos. I wish I read this at the beginning. Already ordered the new one the alpha trader. Also amazing book.
Profile Image for Allen.
48 reviews2 followers
November 26, 2023
If you are really serious about trading Forex, this is the best book to read. From basics Forex concepts to Technical and Fundamental Analysis, you have all you need to have a good grasp of FX market.
Profile Image for Nathan Rourke.
Author 1 book3 followers
July 8, 2020
This books is absolutely phenomenal. 10/10. There is no other finance book as comprehensive, as down to earth, and as useful.
2 reviews
August 30, 2020
Excellent forex book

Excellent forex book at all
25 fx rules
Easily written style
Condensed knowledge
Many books recommendations
I hope theartofcurrency.com be valid
Thanks
Profile Image for Jabeen Hussain.
20 reviews2 followers
June 20, 2021
Very informative

This book is a must read for those serious about currency trading. Lots of real life experience and many takeaways
Profile Image for Dayton Outar.
112 reviews6 followers
April 1, 2022
This is a very comprehensive coverage of trading. Not just trading currencies. I find that a lot of the principles mentioned in this book, can be used in any other form of trading.

The illustrations of the charts are great. Of course, some of the content I had to supplement with YouTube videos. A book's value is giving you the lay of the land and this book really did it for me.
Profile Image for Jordan Vic.
8 reviews1 follower
March 31, 2022
i liked this book. it helped me see things a little broader in the FX space.
Profile Image for Farhiyo.
14 reviews
July 10, 2024
I changed my rating from 5/5 to 3/5 because this book isn't as good as I initially thought. It only covers common knowledge, and there are much cheaper books out there that offer the same information. Trust me, this book isn't worth 500kr.

It's basically a summary of forex trading. You can find a book for 200kr that says the same things!

The author mentions a few technical analysis concepts like pennants and flags and advises reading central bank statements and reports.

Since I've already read four other books about forex trading, this one just repeated what I've already learned. I feel like I wasted 500kr.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews

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