All about FOREX

"Forex" stands for foreign exchange; it's also known as FX. In a forex trade, you buy one currency while simultaneously selling another - that is, you're exchanging the sold currency for the one you're buying. The foreign exchange market is an over-the-counter market.

With average daily turnover of US$3.2 trillion, forex is the most traded market in the world. A true 24-hour market from Sunday 5 PM ET to Friday 5 PM ET, forex trading begins in Sydney, and moves around the globe as the business day begins, first to Tokyo, London, and New York. That means investors can respond immediately to currency fluctuations, whenever they occur - day or night.

Unlike other financial markets, where for the most part you can only profit in rising markets, in the FX market whenever one enters into a position he is long (bought) one currency and short (sold) another currency simultaneously which means as opposed to other cyclical financial markets in the FX markets there are endless opportunities.

Currencies trade in pairs, like the Euro-US Dollar (EUR/USD) or US Dollar / Japanese Yen (USD/JPY). Unlike stocks or futures, there's no centralized exchange for forex. All transactions happen via phone or electronic network.
 

Who trades currencies?

Daily turnover in the world's currencies comes from two sources:

Foreign trade (5%).

Companies buy and sell products in foreign countries, plus convert profits from foreign sales into domestic currency.

Speculation for profit (95%).

Most traders focus on the biggest, most liquid currency pairs. "The Majors" include US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar. In fact, more than 85% of daily forex trading happens in the major currency pairs.
 

Bid and Ask – Understanding Forex quotes

When trading forex you will see a two-sided quote, consisting of a 'bid' and 'ask':
 

EURUSD 1.2660 / 1.2663
 

The smaller number or the Bid (Sell) (1.2660) represents that price where one can sell the major currency and buy the secondary currency; sell the EUR and buy the USD. The second price the Ask (BUY) (1.2663) represents the price where one can buy the major currency and sell the secondary; buy the EUR and sell the USD.

In the Forex market, prices are quoted in pips. Pip stands for "percentage in point" and is the fourth decimal point, which is 1/100th of 1%.

In EUR/USD, a 3 pip spread is quoted as 1.2500/1.2503

Among the major currencies, the only exception to that rule is the Japanese yen. In USD/JPY, the quotation is only taken out to two decimal points (i.e. to 1/100 th of yen, as opposed to 1/1000th with other major currencies).

In USD/JPY, a 3 pip spread is quoted as 114.05/114.08

Understanding Leverage and Margin

Leverage trading, or trading on margin, means you aren't required to put up the full value of the position.

Forex trading offers more leverage than stocks or futures - up to 200 times the value of your account. Of course keep in mind that increased leverage also increases your risk.

More leverage means more opportunity - and more risk

It's crucial to remember: increasing leverage increases risk. To limit downside risk, monitor your account regularly and use stop-loss orders on every open position.