Foreign Exchange Market
The foreign exchange market, sometimes known as forex or FX for short, is the largest market in the world, with the average daily turnover estimated to be more than 3 trillion dollars. Its purpose is to facilitate the buying and selling of different currencies.
Unlike stocks, there’s no central base of operations and the market is a network of financial institutions and traders trading 24 hours a day, with trading activity moving from New Zealand and Sydney across to Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, and New York, just to name a few major dealing centres.
With the ability to trade around the clock, currency traders have the advantage of customizing their own trading schedule; they can usually get in or out of the market at any time without waiting for an opening bell or encountering a market gap. While trading stocks after usual market hours is possible, very often that possibility is negated by a lack of volume or a drastic widening of the bid-ask spread.
Today, the major currencies include the US Dollar, the Euro, the Japanese Yen, the British Pound and the Swiss Franc and some of the more popular minor currencies include the New Mexican peso, Czech koruna, Thai baht and Singapore dollar.
Until recently, the main participants in the foreign exchange market were central banks, financial institutions and investment firms. All that changed with the introduction of the internet and online trading and today, many independent investors are trading forex online from the comfort of their homes. In fact, many forex traders have become so successful that they trade exclusively for a living and are making far more money than in their previous jobs.
Traders participating in the foreign exchange market normally do not pay commissions per trade, with costs confined to the bid-ask spread. Another advantage of forex trading is the ability to leverage, which is the ability to control a large sum of money with a small capital. Using the power to leverage wisely can often bring huge profits with limited risk.
Unlike the equity market, there is also no restriction on short selling in the foreign currency market, no matter which way the market is moving. Since currency trading involves buying one currency and selling another, a trader has the same ability to trade in a rising market as in a falling one.
Because of the nature of currency prices, there’s no possibility of insider trading in the foreign exchange market and that makes it even more attractive to the average joe who may not have access to insider information.
Unlike stocks, there’s no central base of operations and the market is a network of financial institutions and traders trading 24 hours a day, with trading activity moving from New Zealand and Sydney across to Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, and New York, just to name a few major dealing centres.
With the ability to trade around the clock, currency traders have the advantage of customizing their own trading schedule; they can usually get in or out of the market at any time without waiting for an opening bell or encountering a market gap. While trading stocks after usual market hours is possible, very often that possibility is negated by a lack of volume or a drastic widening of the bid-ask spread.
Today, the major currencies include the US Dollar, the Euro, the Japanese Yen, the British Pound and the Swiss Franc and some of the more popular minor currencies include the New Mexican peso, Czech koruna, Thai baht and Singapore dollar.
Until recently, the main participants in the foreign exchange market were central banks, financial institutions and investment firms. All that changed with the introduction of the internet and online trading and today, many independent investors are trading forex online from the comfort of their homes. In fact, many forex traders have become so successful that they trade exclusively for a living and are making far more money than in their previous jobs.
Traders participating in the foreign exchange market normally do not pay commissions per trade, with costs confined to the bid-ask spread. Another advantage of forex trading is the ability to leverage, which is the ability to control a large sum of money with a small capital. Using the power to leverage wisely can often bring huge profits with limited risk.
Unlike the equity market, there is also no restriction on short selling in the foreign currency market, no matter which way the market is moving. Since currency trading involves buying one currency and selling another, a trader has the same ability to trade in a rising market as in a falling one.
Because of the nature of currency prices, there’s no possibility of insider trading in the foreign exchange market and that makes it even more attractive to the average joe who may not have access to insider information.
