Currency Trading Information

A Short Introduction To FOREX


FOREX is the world's largest and most liquid trading market. Many consider FOREX as the best home business you can ever venture in. Even though regular people have had the opportunity to take part in trading foreign currencies for profit (in the same way banks and large corporations do) since 1998, it is just now becoming the cool, hip, new "thing" to talk about at parties, business events, and other social gatherings.

Even though it has been somewhat of a loosely guarded secret, every day more and more investors are turning to the all-electronic world of FOREX trading for income and profit because of its numerous benefits & advantages over traditional trading vehicles, like stocks, bonds and commodities.

But, still, whenever something seems new or is just becoming a part of social conversation, news articles, and water cooler gossip, misconceptions have to be overcome, the mind has to be open and the slate has to be clear for starting out fresh with the CORRECT information.

So, in this article, it is my attempt to give you some solid, but not over-detailed, information on just what the heck "FX" (FOREX) means, what it is, and why it exists.

As a successful trader said, Trading FOREX is like picking money up off the floor. Not trading FOREX is like leaving it there for someone else to pick up." Others in the industry have also said, Trading FOREX is like having an ATM machine on your own computer.

Here's an explanation (one I feel you'll appreciate) of what FOREX is and how a bunch of traders, profit from it:

The Foreign Exchange Market, also referred to the "FOREX" or "FX" market, is the spot (cash) market for currency.

But, don't mistake FX as trading the futures market, where you buy a contract to purchase a particular currency at a future price in time.

What FX traders do is much less risky than trading currencies on the futures market, much more profitable, and a lot easier, than trading stocks.

So, you're probably wondering where it's at ... or ... how to access the FX market?

The answer is: FX Trading is not bound to any one trading floor and is not centralized on an exchange, as with the stock and futures markets. The FX market is considered an Over-the-Counter (OTC) or 'Interbank' market, due to the fact that the entire market is run electronically, within a network of banks, continuously over a 24-hour period.

Yes, if that's the first time you've heard about an all-electronic market, I know this may sound somewhat intriguing to you.

Here's what you are actually trading when you participate in the Foreign Exchange (FOREX) market:

Essentially, like the large banks who use the FX market to protect themselves from the fluctuating exchange rate of different currencies, as an investor, what a FX trader is doing is simultaneously exchanging one countries currency for another. So, in actuality, they're electronically trading a currency-pair and the price that is quoted to us is the exchange rate between the two currencies.

In other words, simply the quoted price is how many of the one currency is worth 1 of the other currency.

Example:

EUR/USD last trade 1.2850 - One Euro is worth $1.2850 US dollars.The first currency (in this example, the EURO) is referred to as the base currency and the second (/USD) as the counter or quote currency.

The FOREX has a DAILY trading volume of around $1.5 trillion dollars - 30 times larger than the combined volume of all U.S. equity markets. This means that 1,498,574 skilled traders could each take 1 million dollars out of the FOREX market every day and the FOREX would still have more money left than the New York Stock exchange every day!

The FOREX plays a vital role in the world economy and there will always be a tremendous need for the FOREX. International trade increases as technology and communication increases. As long as there is international trade, there will be a FOREX market. The FX market has to exist so a country like Japan can sell products in the United States and be able to receive Japanese Yen in exchange for US Dollar.

There's plenty of money to be made using FOREX for plenty of traders that use the right trading techniques / tactics that will allow them to profit immensely. And, with only 5% of the daily turnover of volume coming from banks, government and large corporations who need to hedge, the other 95% is for speculation and profit.

http://www.1-forex.com

Omar Vargas; Forex trader and freelance writer. http://www.1-forex.com/


MORE RESOURCES:

Sify

India Working on Relaxing Currency Trading Rules, Bhave Says
Bloomberg - Sep 30, 2008
... Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman CB Bhave said the regulator and central bank are working on relaxing currency trading restrictions. ...
RBI, SEBI mull easing currency-trading norms India Infoline.com
Currency trading norms to be relaxed The Statesman
Norms for currency futures likely to be relaxed Thaindian.com
Hindu - Reuters India
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GAIN Capital Group Selects KCSA as Agency of Record
MarketWatch - Oct 6, 2008
"We look forward to working with GAIN Capital to help educate the marketplace about how foreign currency trading can be a key component in a balanced ...


Boston Globe

Currency Trading Signals Catch a Powerful Japanese Yen Rally ...
Daily FX, NY - Oct 2, 2008
Our Forex Trading signals accurately forecasted that the Japanese Yen would gain aggressively against the Euro, US Dollar, Australian Dollar, ...
Dollar higher against euro, sharply lower against yen Xinhua
Australian, NZ Dollars Fall as Credit-Market Woes Increase Bloomberg
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China Banks Cut Currency Trading With Foreign Lenders (Update1)
Bloomberg - Sep 26, 2008
By Judy Chen and Belinda Cao Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- China's banks are limiting foreign- exchange transactions with US and European financial companies on ...


Japanese Yen Likely to Gain as Currency Trading Crowds Buy USDJPY
Daily FX, NY - Oct 2, 2008
USDJPY – Our forex positioning indicator continues to forecast US dollar losses against the Japanese Yen, as we see that currency trading crowds continue to ...


Slow take-off for Zimbabwe’s foreign currency trading scheme
The Zimbabwean, Africa - Oct 2, 2008
After a slow take-off for the new foreign currency-trading scheme, a handful of shops started selling in US dollars or South African rands. ...


ASIA MARKETS: Sydney Rebounds On Rate Cut, Tokyo Moves Off Early Lows
CNNMoney.com - 22 hours ago
In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 103.22 yen , compared with 101.29 yen earlier in the session. The Australian dollar, meanwhile, jumped to $0.7293 ...


Forex Market Volatility Remains Elevated, Breakout Currency ...
Daily FX, NY - Sep 29, 2008
Forex market conditions continue primed for breakouts, as pronounced market indecision surrounding the US Treasury’s bailout for credit markets leads to ...


BarCap integrates Lehman foreign exchange operations
Hedge Funds Review Magazine, UK - 10 hours ago
In foreign exchange, sales and trading have resumed in spot, forward and options products, now integrated with Barclays Capital's existing currency trading. ...
UPDATE 1-Barclays Capital absorbs Lehman forex, commods ops Forbes
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Markets Crashing… Currency Trading the Way to Go?
PoliticalLore.com, Hampton Falls - Sep 17, 2008
I have very recently tried currency trading. Currency trading does need tender loving care but, it does seem like it’s an easy way to pull in a gain. ...

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