What Is Forex?The foreign exchange
market is the "place" where currencies are traded. Currencies are
important to most people around the world, whether they realize it or
not, because currencies need to be exchanged in order to conduct foreign
trade and business. If you are living in the U.S. and want to buy cheese from France, either you or the company that you buy the cheese from has to pay the French for the cheese in euros (EUR). This means that the U.S.
importer would have to exchange the equivalent value of U.S. dollars
(USD) into euros. The same goes for traveling. A French tourist in Egypt
can't pay in euros to see the pyramids because it's not the locally
accepted currency. As such, the tourist has to exchange the euros for
the local currency, in this case the Egyptian pound, at the current
exchange rate.
The need to exchange currencies is the primary reason why the forex market is the largest, most liquid financial market in the world. It dwarfs other markets in size, even the stock market, with an average traded value of around U.S. $2,000 billion per day. (The total volume changes all the time, but as of August 2012, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) reported that the forex market traded in excess of U.S. $4.9 trillion per day.)
One unique aspect of this international market is that there is no central marketplace for foreign exchange. Rather, currency trading is conducted electronically over-the-counter (OTC), which means that all transactions occur via computer networks between traders around the world, rather than on one centralized exchange. The market is open 24 hours a day, five and a half days a week, and currencies are traded worldwide in the major financial centers of London, New York, Tokyo, Zurich, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris and Sydney - across almost every time zone. This means that when the trading day in the U.S. ends, the forex market begins anew in Tokyo and Hong Kong. As such, the forex market can be extremely active any time of the day, with price quotes changing constantly.
Spot Market and the Forwards and Futures Markets There are actually three ways that institutions, corporations and individuals trade forex: the spot market, the forwards market and the futures market. The forex trading in the spot market always has been the largest market because it is the "underlying" real asset that the forwards and futures markets are based on. In the past, the futures market was the most popular venue for traders because it was available to individual investors for a longer period of time. However, with the advent of electronic trading, the spot market has witnessed a huge surge in activity and now surpasses the futures market as the preferred trading market for individual investors and speculators. When people refer to the forex market, they usually are referring to the spot market. The forwards and futures markets tend to be more popular with companies that need to hedge their foreign exchange risks out to a specific date in the future.
- See more at: http://www.cityindex.co.uk/forex-trading/what-is-forex-trading.aspx#sthash.8B16NZ7F.dpuf
- See more at: http://www.cityindex.co.uk/forex-trading/what-is-forex-trading.aspx#sthash.8B16NZ7F.dpuf
The need to exchange currencies is the primary reason why the forex market is the largest, most liquid financial market in the world. It dwarfs other markets in size, even the stock market, with an average traded value of around U.S. $2,000 billion per day. (The total volume changes all the time, but as of August 2012, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) reported that the forex market traded in excess of U.S. $4.9 trillion per day.)
One unique aspect of this international market is that there is no central marketplace for foreign exchange. Rather, currency trading is conducted electronically over-the-counter (OTC), which means that all transactions occur via computer networks between traders around the world, rather than on one centralized exchange. The market is open 24 hours a day, five and a half days a week, and currencies are traded worldwide in the major financial centers of London, New York, Tokyo, Zurich, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris and Sydney - across almost every time zone. This means that when the trading day in the U.S. ends, the forex market begins anew in Tokyo and Hong Kong. As such, the forex market can be extremely active any time of the day, with price quotes changing constantly.
Spot Market and the Forwards and Futures Markets There are actually three ways that institutions, corporations and individuals trade forex: the spot market, the forwards market and the futures market. The forex trading in the spot market always has been the largest market because it is the "underlying" real asset that the forwards and futures markets are based on. In the past, the futures market was the most popular venue for traders because it was available to individual investors for a longer period of time. However, with the advent of electronic trading, the spot market has witnessed a huge surge in activity and now surpasses the futures market as the preferred trading market for individual investors and speculators. When people refer to the forex market, they usually are referring to the spot market. The forwards and futures markets tend to be more popular with companies that need to hedge their foreign exchange risks out to a specific date in the future.
What is Forex Trading?
-
Foreign exchange, commonly known as ‘Forex’ or ‘FX’, is the exchange of one currency for another at an agreed exchange price on the over-the-counter (OTC) market. Forex is the world’s most traded market, with an average turnover in excess of US$4 trillion per day.
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Compare this to the New York Stock Exchange, which has a daily turnover of around US$50 billion and it’s easy to see how the foreign exchange market is the biggest financial market in the world.
Essentially, forex trading is the act of simultaneously buying one currency while selling another, primarily for the purpose of speculation. Currency values rise (appreciate) and fall (depreciate) against each other due to a number of factors including economics and geopolitics. The common goal of forex traders is to profit from these changes in the value of one currency against another by actively speculating on which way forex prices are likely to turn in the future.
Unlike most financial markets, the OTC (over-the-counter) forex market has no physical location or central exchange and trades 24-hours a day through a global network of businesses, banks and individuals. This means that currency prices are constantly fluctuating in value against each other, offering multiple trading opportunities.
24-Hour Forex Trading
One of the key elements behind forex’s popularity is the fact that forex markets are open 24-hours a day from Sunday evening through to Friday night. Trading follows the clock, opening on Monday morning in Wellington, New Zealand, progressing to Asian trade spearheaded out of Tokyo and Singapore, before moving to London and closing on Friday evening in New York.
The fact that prices are available to trade 24 hours a day helps to ensure that price gapping (when a price jumps from one level to the next without trading in between) is less and ensures that traders can take a position whenever they want, regardless of time, though in truth there are certain ‘lull’ times when volumes are below their daily average which can widen market spreads.
Leverage
Foreign exchange is a leveraged (or margined) product, which means that you are only required to deposit a small percentage of the full value of your position to place a forex trade. This means that the potential for profit, or loss, from an initial capital outlay is significantly higher than in traditional trading. Find out more about risk management.
Pricing
All forex is quoted in terms of one currency versus another. Each currency pair has a ‘base’ currency and a ‘counter’ currency. The base currency is the currency on the left of the currency pair and the counter currency is on the right.
For example, in EUR/USD, EUR is the ‘base’ currency and USD the ‘counter’ currency. Forex price movements are triggered by currencies either appreciating in value (strengthening) or depreciating in value (weakening). If the price of EUR/USD for example was to fall, this would indicate that the counter currency (US dollars) was appreciating, whilst the base currency (Euros) was depreciating.
When trading forex prices, you would buy a currency pair if you believed that the base currency will strengthen against the counter currency. Alternatively, you would sell a currency pair if you believed that the base currency will weaken in value against the counter currency. Some examples of major currency pairs are:
- EUR/USD (The value of 1 EUR expressed in US dollars)
- USD/CHF (The value of 1 USD expressed in Swiss francs)
Pips (Percentage in Points)
Pip stands for Percentage in Points. Most of our currency pairs are quoted to 5 decimal places with the change from the 4th decimal place (0.0001) in price commonly referred to as a ‘pip'. For example, if the price of the EUR/USD forex pair moved from 1.33800 to 1.33920, it is said to have climbed by 12 ‘pips’ (92-80=12).
Spread
The difference in the BID/ASK of the currency pairs is referred to as the 'spread'. An example would be EUR/USD dealing at 1.33800/1.33808 (in this case the spread is 0.8 pips or 0.00008). The exceptions to this are the JPY pairs which are quoted to just 2 decimal places. A USD/JPY price of 97.41/97.44 displays a 3 pip 'spread'.
What affects forex prices?
Forex prices are influenced by a multitude of different factors, from international trade or investment flows to economic or political conditions. This is what makes trading forex so interesting and exciting. High market liquidity means that prices can change rapidly in response to news and short-term events, creating multiple trading opportunities for retail forex traders.
Some of the key factors that influence forex prices are:
- Political and economic stability
- Monetary Policy
- Currency intervention
- Natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis etc)
What is Forex Trading?
-
Foreign exchange, commonly known as ‘Forex’ or ‘FX’, is the exchange of one currency for another at an agreed exchange price on the over-the-counter (OTC) market. Forex is the world’s most traded market, with an average turnover in excess of US$4 trillion per day.
43 13 12
Compare this to the New York Stock Exchange, which has a daily turnover of around US$50 billion and it’s easy to see how the foreign exchange market is the biggest financial market in the world.
Essentially, forex trading is the act of simultaneously buying one currency while selling another, primarily for the purpose of speculation. Currency values rise (appreciate) and fall (depreciate) against each other due to a number of factors including economics and geopolitics. The common goal of forex traders is to profit from these changes in the value of one currency against another by actively speculating on which way forex prices are likely to turn in the future.
Unlike most financial markets, the OTC (over-the-counter) forex market has no physical location or central exchange and trades 24-hours a day through a global network of businesses, banks and individuals. This means that currency prices are constantly fluctuating in value against each other, offering multiple trading opportunities.
24-Hour Forex Trading
One of the key elements behind forex’s popularity is the fact that forex markets are open 24-hours a day from Sunday evening through to Friday night. Trading follows the clock, opening on Monday morning in Wellington, New Zealand, progressing to Asian trade spearheaded out of Tokyo and Singapore, before moving to London and closing on Friday evening in New York.
The fact that prices are available to trade 24 hours a day helps to ensure that price gapping (when a price jumps from one level to the next without trading in between) is less and ensures that traders can take a position whenever they want, regardless of time, though in truth there are certain ‘lull’ times when volumes are below their daily average which can widen market spreads.
Leverage
Foreign exchange is a leveraged (or margined) product, which means that you are only required to deposit a small percentage of the full value of your position to place a forex trade. This means that the potential for profit, or loss, from an initial capital outlay is significantly higher than in traditional trading. Find out more about risk management.
Pricing
All forex is quoted in terms of one currency versus another. Each currency pair has a ‘base’ currency and a ‘counter’ currency. The base currency is the currency on the left of the currency pair and the counter currency is on the right.
For example, in EUR/USD, EUR is the ‘base’ currency and USD the ‘counter’ currency. Forex price movements are triggered by currencies either appreciating in value (strengthening) or depreciating in value (weakening). If the price of EUR/USD for example was to fall, this would indicate that the counter currency (US dollars) was appreciating, whilst the base currency (Euros) was depreciating.
When trading forex prices, you would buy a currency pair if you believed that the base currency will strengthen against the counter currency. Alternatively, you would sell a currency pair if you believed that the base currency will weaken in value against the counter currency. Some examples of major currency pairs are:
- EUR/USD (The value of 1 EUR expressed in US dollars)
- USD/CHF (The value of 1 USD expressed in Swiss francs)
Pips (Percentage in Points)
Pip stands for Percentage in Points. Most of our currency pairs are quoted to 5 decimal places with the change from the 4th decimal place (0.0001) in price commonly referred to as a ‘pip'. For example, if the price of the EUR/USD forex pair moved from 1.33800 to 1.33920, it is said to have climbed by 12 ‘pips’ (92-80=12).
Spread
The difference in the BID/ASK of the currency pairs is referred to as the 'spread'. An example would be EUR/USD dealing at 1.33800/1.33808 (in this case the spread is 0.8 pips or 0.00008). The exceptions to this are the JPY pairs which are quoted to just 2 decimal places. A USD/JPY price of 97.41/97.44 displays a 3 pip 'spread'.
What affects forex prices?
Forex prices are influenced by a multitude of different factors, from international trade or investment flows to economic or political conditions. This is what makes trading forex so interesting and exciting. High market liquidity means that prices can change rapidly in response to news and short-term events, creating multiple trading opportunities for retail forex traders.
Some of the key factors that influence forex prices are:
- Political and economic stability
- Monetary Policy
- Currency intervention
- Natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis etc)
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