Book excerpt: Many individuals enter financial markets with the objective of earning a profit from capitalizing on price fluctuations. However, many of these new traders lose their money in attempting to do so. The reason for this is often because these new traders lack any fundamental understanding of financial markets, they cannot interpret any data, and they have no strategy for trading. Trading in markets is really about deploying strategies and managing risks. Indeed, successful traders are those who have strategies which they have proved to be consistent in granting them more financial gains than financial losses. The purpose of this book is to help a potentially uninformed retail trader or inquisitive reader understand more about financial markets, and assist them in gaining the technical skills required to profit from trading. It represents a beginner’s guide to trading, with a core focus on stocks and currencies.