Currency Trading Information

FOREX - Where Fortunes Are Made Everyday


The Foreign Exchange Market - better known as FOREX - is a world wide market for buying and selling currencies. It handles a huge volume of transactions 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Daily exchanges are worth approximately $1.5 trillion (US dollars). In comparison, the United States Treasury Bond market averages $300 billion a day and American stock markets exchange about $100 billion a day.

The Foreign Exchange Market was established in 1971 with the abolishment of fixed currency exchanges. Currencies became valued at 'floating' rates determined by supply and demand. The FOREX grew steadily throughout the 1970's, but with the technological advances of the 80's FOREX grew from trading levels of $70 billion a day to the current level of $1.5 trillion.

The FOREX is made up of about 5000 trading institutions such as international banks, central government banks (such as the US Federal Reserve), and commercial companies and brokers for all types of foreign currency exchange. There is no centralized location of FOREX - major trading centers are located in New York, Tokyo, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris, and Frankfurt, and all trading is by telephone or over the Internet. Businesses use the market to buy and sell products in other countries, but most of the activity on the FOREX is from currency traders who use it to generate profits from small movements in the market.

Even though there are many huge players in FOREX, it is accessible to the small investor thanks to recent changes in the regulations. Previously, there was a minimum transaction size and traders were required to meet strict financial requirements. With the advent of Internet trading, regulations have been changed to allow large interbank units to be broken down into smaller lots. Each lot is worth about $100,000 and is accessible to the individual investor through 'leverage' - loans extended for trading. Typically, lots can be controlled with a leverage of 100:1 meaning that US$1,000 will allow you to control a $100,000 currency exchange.

There are many advantages to trading in FOREX.

· Liquidity - Because of the size of the Foreign Exchange Market, investments are extremely liquid. International banks are continuously providing bid and ask offers and the high number of transactions each day means there is always a buyer or a seller for any currency.

· Accessibility - The market is open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. The market opens Monday morning Australian time and closes Friday afternoon New York time. Trades can be done on the Internet from your home or office.

· Open Market - Currency fluctuations are usually caused by changes in national economies. News about these changes is accessible to everyone at the same time - there can be no 'insider trading' in FOREX.

· No commission - Brokers earn money by setting a 'spread' - the difference between what a currency can be bought at and what it can be sold at.

How does it work?

Currencies are always traded in pairs - the US dollar against the Japanese yen, or the English pound against the euro. Every transaction involves selling one currency and buying another, so if an investor believes the euro will gain against the dollar, he will sell dollars and buy euros.

The potential for profit exists because there is always movement between currencies. Even small changes can result in substantial profits because of the large amount of money involved in each transaction. At the same time, it can be a relatively safe market for the individual investor. There are safeguards built in to protect both the broker and the investor and a number of software tools exist to minimize loss.

Copyright 2005. William McNutt. All rights reserved

This article may be freely distributed and reprinted as long as the author's information and web link are included at the bottom of the article.

Authored by:
William McNutt
Investment Made Easy

Bill McNutt is a retired Areospace Engineer. Retirement got boring so he took up web page building. He spends most of his time working on websites and writing articles.

Home Loans Made Easy
Which is Better Sauna or Steam Bath

  


MORE RESOURCES:

Consider the Currency Markets in 2009
TheStreet.com - 49 minutes ago
In an interview with MainStreet.com, Dolan, who is also co-author of "Currency Trading for Dummies," explains what active traders should look for in order ...


Currencies Trading All Over the Map
Washington Post, United States - Jan 7, 2009
"Honestly, we just don't know how to analyze these currency markets properly right now," confessed David Bloom, head of currency markets for HSBC in London. ...
Dollar Gains as US Loses Fewer Jobs Than Some Forecast Bloomberg
Another Big Week Ahead Global Forex Trading
Dollar Heads for Weekly Loss Against Yen Before US Payrolls Bloomberg
Bloomberg - Bloomberg
all 336 news articles


Best Syndication

Technical Analysis: Looking for Trends in Currency Trading
Forex Hound, NY - Jan 7, 2009
Currency trading is risky. Because of its volatility, it is important to remember that currency trading is very risky. Indeed, forex trading is considered ...
Forex Trading Strategies PWO
A Basic Understanding of the Forex Markets The Options Insider
A Few Things You Need To Know About Forex Trading Best Syndication
all 5 news articles


The Money Times

Feds arrest 2 Winnetka futures dealers on fraud charges
Chicago Tribune, United States - Jan 7, 2009
The government calls Martin a "de facto" official of the currency-trading concern, although he was prohibited from holding a position with the company. ...
Calif man arrested in alleged fraud scheme BusinessWeek
Suburban men arrested for business fraud Crain's Chicago Business
2 charged in alleged $15M fraud scheme United Press International
CBS 2 - Chicago Tribune
all 156 news articles


Forex Trading Signals Well-Positioned for Gains in the New Year
Daily FX, NY - Jan 5, 2009
Currency trading markets have started the New Year with a bang, as the US Dollar has already carved out major moves against the Euro and other key ...
Forex world, full of new investment opportunities BigNews.biz (press release)
Getting The Best Results With Your Forex Course PWO
Dollar Up Against Currency Basket TradeTNT.com
Meadow Free Press
all 6 news articles


This is Money

Pound Posts Record Weekly Gain Against Euro as BOE Cuts Rates
Bloomberg - 5 hours ago
The euro may fall to 88 British pence should the currency close below so-called support at 89.97 pence, based on trading patterns, said George Davis, ...
Gloomy Europe Shrugs Off UK Rate Cut Forbes
Pound advances on euro The Herald
Interest rate cut good news for holidaymakers Moneywise Magazine
UK Express - Bloomberg
all 94 news articles


Washington Post

Alcoa Cost Cuts Weigh Futures
Wall Street Journal - Jan 7, 2009
In currency trading, the euro recovered some of Tuesday's losses, with the shared currency hovering around $1.36. Oil futures, meanwhile, cooled a bit after ...
DJ US Stocks Fall; ADP Report, Alcoa, Intel Weigh Onet.pl
US futures drop on Alcoa production cut, jobs data MarketWatch
all 646 news articles


Canadian Dollar Falls on Job Cuts, Bets Oil Demand Will Drop
Bloomberg - 1 hour ago
Canada’s currency, known as the loonie, fell as much as 1.4 percent to C$1.1969 per US dollar before trading at C$1.1867 at 4:27 pm in Toronto, ...
Canada’s Dollar Gains as Greenback Stung By Recession Concern Bloomberg
all 7 news articles


Teen prefers currency trading over Myspace and is making money ...
WHAS 11.com (subscription), KY - Jan 6, 2009
But her favorite website isn't facebook or MySpace, its online currency trading. She discovered the Forex website after her father suggested she look into ...


Mexico Peso Bonds Head for Second Weekly Rally on Rate Cut Bets
Bloomberg - 6 hours ago
... dollar this month, said Omer Esiner, a senior market foreign-exchange analyst in Washington at Ruesch International Inc., a currency trading company. ...

currency trading - Google News

Article List | Index | Site Map
All logos, trademarks and articles on this site are property and copyright of their respective owner(s).
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest is Copyright © 2006 CanadaSEEK.com - All Rights Reserved.