Forex trading is the act of converting one country's currency into the currency of another country 01/04/ · Forex is the foreign exchange market, traded 24 hours a day, 5 days a week by banks, institutions, and individual traders. Learn more about the world’s most traded market with a turnover of $* trillion per day 17/03/ · The foreign exchange (forex) market is the largest financial market in the world and is made up of banks, commercial companies, central banks, investment management firms, hedge funds, and
Forex Market Definition
Forex is a portmanteau of foreign currency and exchange. Foreign exchange is the process of changing one currency into another currency for a variety of reasons, about forex market for commerce, trading, or tourism. The foreign exchange market is 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.
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. importer would have to exchange the equivalent value of U. 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, about forex market, in this case the Egyptian pound, at the current exchange rate. 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 OTCwhich means that all transactions occur via computer networks between traders around the world, about forex market, 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, about forex market. This means that when the trading day in the U. ends, about forex market, 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.
Unlike stock markets, which can trace their roots back centuries, the forex market as we understand it today is a truly new market. Of course, in its most basic sense—that of people converting one currency to another for financial advantage—forex has been around since nations began minting currencies.
But the modern forex markets are a modern invention. After the accord at Bretton Woods inmore major currencies were allowed to float freely against one another. The values of individual currencies vary, which has given rise to the need for foreign exchange services and trading. Commercial and investment banks conduct most of the trading in the forex markets on behalf of their clients, but there about forex market also speculative opportunities for trading one currency against another for professional and individual investors.
There are actually three ways that institutions, corporations and individuals trade forex: the spot marketthe forwards market, and the futures market.
Forex trading in the spot market has always 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, about forex market, with the advent of electronic trading and numerous forex brokersthe 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, about forex market.
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. More specifically, about forex market, the spot market is where currencies are bought and sold according to the current price. That price, determined by supply and demand, is a reflection of many things, including current interest rates, economic performance, sentiment towards ongoing political situations both locally and internationallyas well as the perception of the future performance of one currency against another.
When a deal is finalized, this is known as a "spot deal. After a position is closed, the settlement is in cash. Although the spot market is commonly known about forex market one that deals with transactions in the present rather than the futurethese trades actually take two days for settlement. Unlike about forex market spot market, the forwards and futures markets do not trade actual currencies. Instead they about forex market in contracts that represent claims to a certain currency type, a specific price per unit and a future date for settlement.
In the forwards market, contracts are bought and sold OTC between two parties, who determine the terms of the agreement between themselves.
In the futures market, futures contracts are bought and sold based upon a standard size and settlement date on public commodities markets, such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In the U. Futures contracts have specific details, including the number of units being traded, about forex market, delivery and settlement dates, and minimum price increments that cannot be customized. The exchange acts as a counterpart to the trader, providing clearance and settlement.
Both types of contracts are binding and are typically settled for cash at the exchange in question upon expiry, although contracts can also be bought and sold before they expire.
The forwards and futures markets can offer protection against risk when trading currencies. Usually, big international corporations use these markets in order to hedge against future exchange rate fluctuations, but speculators take part in these markets as well. Note that you'll often see the terms: FX, about forex market, forex, foreign-exchange market, and currency market.
These terms are about forex market and all refer to the forex market. Companies doing business in foreign countries are at risk due to fluctuations in currency values when they buy or sell goods and services outside of their domestic market. Foreign exchange markets provide a way to hedge currency risk by fixing a rate at which the transaction will be completed, about forex market.
To accomplish this, a trader can buy or sell currencies in the forward or swap markets in advance, about forex market, which locks in an exchange rate. For example, imagine that a company plans to sell U. A stronger dollar resulted in a much smaller profit than expected. The blender company could have reduced this risk by shorting the euro and buying the USD when they were at parity. That way, if the dollar rose in value, the profits from the trade would offset the reduced profit from the sale of blenders.
If the USD fell in value, the more favorable exchange rate will increase the profit from the about forex market of blenders, which offsets the losses in the trade.
Hedging of this kind can be done in the currency futures market. The advantage for the trader is that futures contracts are about forex market and cleared by a central authority. However, currency futures may be less liquid than the forward markets, which are decentralized and exist within the interbank system throughout the world.
Factors like interest ratestrade flows, tourism, economic strength, and geopolitical risk affect supply and demand for about forex market, which creates daily volatility in the forex markets.
An opportunity exists to profit from changes that may increase or reduce one currency's value compared to another. A forecast that one currency will weaken is essentially the same as assuming that about forex market other currency in the pair will strengthen because currencies are traded as pairs.
Imagine a trader who expects interest rates to rise in the U. The trader believes higher interest rates about forex market the U. If the investor had shorted the AUD and went long the USD, about forex market, he or she would have profited from the change in value. There are two distinct features to currencies as an asset class :.
An investor can profit from the difference between two interest rates in two different economies by buying the currency with the higher interest rate and shorting the currency with the lower interest rate. Prior to the financial crisis, it was very common to short the Japanese yen JPY and buy British pounds GBP because the interest rate differential was very large. This strategy is sometimes referred to as a " carry trade. Currency trading was very difficult for individual investors prior to the internet.
Most currency traders were large multinational corporationshedge funds or high-net-worth individuals because forex trading required a lot of capital. With help from the internet, a retail market aimed at individual traders has emerged, providing easy access to the foreign exchange markets, either through the banks themselves or brokers making a secondary market.
Most online brokers or dealers offer very high leverage to individual traders who can control a large trade with a small account balance. Trading currencies can be risky and complex. The interbank market has varying degrees of regulation, and forex instruments are not standardized. In some parts of the world, forex trading is almost completely unregulated. The interbank market is made up of banks trading with each other around the world.
The banks themselves have to determine and accept sovereign risk and credit riskand they have established internal processes to keep themselves as safe as possible. Regulations like this are industry-imposed for the protection of each participating bank. Since the market is made by each of the participating banks providing offers and bids for a particular currency, the market pricing mechanism is based on supply and demand. Because there are such large trade flows within the system, it is difficult for rogue traders to influence the price of a currency.
This system helps create transparency in the market for investors with access to interbank dealing. Depending on where the dealer exists, about forex market, there may be some government and industry regulation, but those safeguards are inconsistent around the globe. Most retail investors should spend time investigating a forex dealer to find out whether it is regulated in the U.
or the U. dealers in the U. and U. have more oversight or in a country with lax rules and oversight. It is also a good idea to find out what kind of account protections are available in case of a market crisis, or if a dealer becomes insolvent.
Pro : The forex markets are the largest in terms of daily trading volume in the world and therefore offer the most liquidity. Challenge about forex market Banks, brokers, and dealers in the forex markets allow a high amount of leveragewhich means that traders can control large positions with relatively little money of their own.
Leverage in the range of is a high ratio but not uncommon in forex. A trader must understand the use of leverage and the risks that leverage introduces in an account. Extreme amounts of leverage have led to many dealers becoming insolvent unexpectedly. Pro : The forex market is traded 24 hours a day, five days a week—starting each day in Australia and ending in New York. The major centers are Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Paris, London, and New York. Challenge : Trading currencies productively requires an understanding of economic fundamentals and indicators.
A currency trader needs to have a big-picture understanding of the economies of the various countries and their inter-connectedness to grasp the fundamentals that drive currency values. For traders —especially those with limited funds— day trading or swing trading in small amounts is easier in the forex market than other markets.
For those with longer-term horizons and larger funds, long-term fundamentals-based trading or a carry trade can be profitable, about forex market.
Lesson 1 - What is Forex and how does It work?
, time: 5:57What is Forex? | blogger.com
01/04/ · Forex is the foreign exchange market, traded 24 hours a day, 5 days a week by banks, institutions, and individual traders. Learn more about the world’s most traded market with a turnover of $* trillion per day Forex trading is the act of converting one country's currency into the currency of another country Forex Market Definition - Investopedia
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