Attacking Currency Trends: How to Anticipate and Trade Big Moves in the Forex Market
By Greg Michalowski
Quick Summary
A practical forex trading methodology by Greg Michalowski focused on using simple technical tools -- particularly moving averages, trend lines, and support/resistance levels -- to identify, attack, and ride major currency trends. Emphasizes the importance of defining risk clearly on every trade and using the market's own technical levels to determine entries, exits, and stop placements.
Executive Summary
Greg Michalowski presents a retail forex trading methodology built on the premise that successful currency trading does not require complex indicators or proprietary systems. Instead, it requires the disciplined application of simple, universally recognized technical tools -- 100-bar and 200-bar moving averages, trend lines, and horizontal support/resistance -- combined with rigorous risk definition. The book walks through how to identify emerging trends, position entries at low-risk points within those trends, and manage trades as they develop.
Core Thesis
Major currency trends are driven by fundamental forces (interest rate differentials, economic data, central bank policy) but are best traded using technical analysis to define risk and timing. The key to profitability is not prediction but risk management: defining exactly where a trade is wrong before entering, and letting winners run by trailing stops along technical levels.
Key Content
Detailed methodology for trend identification using moving average alignment, trend line drawing rules for consistency, entry techniques at pullbacks to key support/resistance within established trends, and a systematic approach to position management using multiple time frames for confirmation.
Critical Assessment
Strengths
- Practical, rule-based methodology accessible to intermediate traders
- Strong emphasis on risk definition and management
- Numerous real-world chart examples from major currency pairs
- Honest about what forex trading requires psychologically
Limitations
- The technical tools used are entirely standard; no proprietary edge is claimed
- Limited discussion of fundamental analysis integration despite acknowledging its importance
- Forex market conditions may have evolved since 2011 publication
Conclusion
A solid, practical guide for forex traders seeking a systematic approach built on widely understood technical tools. Its value lies in its disciplined framework for risk definition rather than any proprietary analytical methodology.
