What is Forex?

FOREX - the foreign exchange market or currency market or Forex is the market where one currency is traded for another. It is one of the largest markets in the world.

Some of the participants in this market are simply seeking to exchange a foreign currency for their own, like multinational corporations which must pay wages and other expenses in different nations than they sell products in. However, a large part of the market is made up of currency traders, who speculate on movements in exchange rates, much like others would speculate on movements of stock prices. Currency traders try to take advantage of even small fluctuations in exchange rates.

In the foreign exchange market there is little or no 'inside information'. Exchange rate fluctuations are usually caused by actual monetary flows as well as anticipations on global macroeconomic conditions. Significant news is released publicly so, at least in theory, everyone in the world receives the same news at the same time.

Currencies are traded against one another. Each pair of currencies thus constitutes an individual product and is traditionally noted XXX/YYY, where YYY is the ISO 4217 international three-letter code of the currency into which the price of one unit of XXX currency is expressed. For instance, EUR/USD is the price of the euro expressed in US dollars, as in 1 euro = 1.2045 dollar.

Unlike stocks and futures exchange, foreign exchange is indeed an interbank, over-the-counter (OTC) market which means there is no single universal exchange for specific currency pair. The foreign exchange market operates 24 hours per day throughout the week between individuals with forex brokers, brokers with banks, and banks with banks. If the European session is ended the Asian session or US session will start, so all world currencies can be continually in trade. Traders can react to news when it breaks, rather than waiting for the market to open, as is the case with most other markets.

Average daily international foreign exchange trading volume was $1.9 trillion in April 2004 according to the BIS study.

Like any market there is a bid/offer spread (difference between buying price and selling price). On major currency crosses, the difference between the price at which a market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") to a wholesale customer and the price at which the same market-maker will buy ("bid") from the same wholesale customer is minimal, usually only 1 or 2 pips. In the EUR/USD price of 1.4238 a pip would be the '8' at the end. So the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.4238/1.4239.

This, of course, does not apply to retail customers. Most individual currency speculators will trade using a broker which will typically have a spread marked up to say 3-20 pips (so in our example 1.4237/1.4239 or 1.423/1.425). The broker will give their clients often huge amounts of margin, thereby facilitating clients spending more money on the bid/ask spread. The brokers are not regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (since they do not sell securities), so they are not bound by the same margin limits as stock brokerages. They do not typically charge margin interest, however since currency trades must be settled in 2 days, they will "resettle" open positions (again collecting the bid/ask spread).

Individual currency speculators can work during the day and trade in the evenings, taking advantage of the market's 24 hours long trading day.

forex trading with an automated trading application

Enhance your forex trading with an automated trading application

One of the differences between the stock market and the forex market is the vast trading that occurs on the forex market. The foreign exchange market
(currency, forex, or FX) is where currency trading takes place. It is where banks and other official institutions facilitate the buying and selling of foreign currencies. The forex trading market is a volatile industry. It is also a very lucrative market. However, to be a successful FX trader you need to educate yourself and have a long term plan. The lack of a forex trading strategy will guarantee failure. When starting out as a forex trader it is easy to abandon your plan or lack of a plan. A good forex trading education is a must.

Being well verse in the stock market will assist you with your forex trading. However, to enter into the foreign exchange market it is not necessary to have any prior trading experience. Some basic forex strategy systems are the fundamental analysis and the technical analysis.

Fundamental analysis
The fundamental analysis is performed on historical and present data, but with the goal of making financial forecast. The data used in this analysis is; money policy, government policy and economic indicators. Some examples are GDP, exports and imports. The analysis of this data is for a specific business cycle.

Technical analysis
Forex technical analysis is a security analysis technique that claims the ability to forecast the future direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price and volume. In its purest form, technical analysis considers only the actual price and volume behavior of the market or instrument. Technical analysts, sometimes called "chartists", may employ models and trading rules based on price and volume transformations.

Before you dive head first into the forex market open up a demo account. A forex demo account is a simulated account where you get virtual money of $25,000 to $1, 00,000. You get live quotes and bids that are part of real forex trade. Once you have master that are ready to take the plunge into the real thing open up a mini account.

A mini account is a great stepping-stone to the big leagues of FX. It allows you to open up an account where the leverage is higher in comparison to standard accounts. With a mini account you are dealing with mini contracts. You can open up a mini account with $250. When you are ready you can move onto a standard account

The forex market welcomes traders 24 hours a day. Forex market opens on Sunday 5 pm EST (10:00 pm GMT), closes on Friday 5 pm EST (10:00 pm GMT). No matter what region of the world you live in you can trade on the forex. As one market is opening, another countries market is closing. This is the continual method of how the forex market trading occurs. An example of forex trades in the western region of the world is USD/EUR and USD/GBP. An example of a forex trade in the Asian Economic regions or the world is JPY/USD and JPY/GBP.

Technology is a beautiful thing. To be involved in these markets you don't have to be awake for every different time zone. Automated analytical forex software applications allow you trade during the middle of the night while you sleep. There are many, different type of automated forex software applications on the market. Some of the most commonly used applications are forex killer, auto- pilot and forex-funnel to mention a few. These applications are used by; professionals and beginners alike with no experience whatsoever. These applications can assist you with a forex trading strategies