Introduction To FOREX
The Foreign Exchange Market, better known as FOREX, is a worldwide 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 when fixed currency exchanges were abolished. 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 expanded from trading levels of $70 billion a day to the current level of $1.5 trillion. Who Trades in FOREX? The FOREX is made up of about 5,000 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. There is no centralized location of FOREX; major trading centers are located in New York, Tokyo, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris, and Frankfurt. All trading is done by telephone or Internet. Businesses use the market to buy and sell their 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. 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 ensures 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. Ron King is a full-time researcher, writer, and web developer. Visit FOREX4U to learn more about this fascinating investment medium. Copyright 2005 Ron King. This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left intact.
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Tyranosaurus Rex
Everyone knows T Rex was the most fearsome of all dinosaurs. He could and did kill everything in his path for food or maybe stupid meanness. His brain was very small and he did not survive.
Expand Your Pool of Investors for Your Company
If you own a company that sells complicated products and you want more investors, consider having topics on your web site that discuss the background needed to understand your products and your company. For example, if your company specializes in producing and researching monoclonal antibodies, post articles discussing exactly what monoclonal antibodies are, how they are produced and what research your company is engaged in. In some cases, it may be a good idea to work with an outside writer, one who can explain the information in layman's terms.
Critical Options Investing Tip When Trading Naked Calls and Puts
An option is a derivative trading product that is best used by investors as a hedging tool providing investing profit protection and profit enhancement. Although it is a powerful risk management tool, it can also be used effectively as a stand-alone trading vehicle.
Mutual Fund Selection Made Simple By Indexing!
Non-indexed mutual funds try to keep it secret that actively managed mutual very funds rarely do better stock market indexes. The higher fees of the managed funds really make it hard for these funds to out compete indexed funds. Smart financial journalists occasionally rat out fund managers for not educating the public in this regard. When this happens the mutual fund managers make a feeble attempt at self defense by pointing to something called the 5% rule.
Super Rules, OK?
Do you rule your superannuation or does it rule you?
Retire Dollar Smart
Jim Miller is a registered investment advisor. This means that he is not beholden to a particular brokerage or financial institution. As such, he does not charge monthly fees for "money-managing"; instead, through a consultation fee he is free to give whatever advice will best benefit his clients; he doesn't have to serve them whatever "flavor of the month" the brokerage or financial institution happens to like at that point in time. His investment advice in his book, "Retire Dollar Smart," is clear and filled with common sense.
Getting Started Investing is Often the Hardest Part
There are several reasons people give for not investing their money in things like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. One reason is that they feel that they don't have enough money to make a serious investment, but a more common reason that many people have absolutely no idea how to go about getting started investing. In fact, if more people understood the basics of investing and had a cohesive plan for getting started investing, more people would do it.
Critical Investors Business Daily Responsibilities - If not Followed Could Cost You Millions!
When thinking about the investors business daily responsibilities in today’s market environment, the best remedy for this situation is for you to get more involved in your own investing decisions.
5 Ways To Protect Your Bond Portfolio From Rising Interest Rates
The Federal Reserve recently raised its target federal funds rate for the first time since March 2000. This could be just the tip of the iceberg, though, as many experts believe rising inflation and a strengthening economy will spur continued rate hikes for the foreseeable future.
Why Do You Want to Become a Online Trader?
Motivational guru Tony Robbins teaches that the reason for doing something rates much higher than the methods you use to get the job done. In order to make your goal REAL, you need to attach severe, horrifying, intense and profound fear to failure.
Bad News - Why The Financial News Media Can Cost You Money!
The communication innovations we have around us today like the internet, financial newspapers, and special interest television channels focused on investing like CNBC are a high speed pipeline of nonsensical chatter. All these sources of information mean that there is no shortage of media people trying to answer our questions about the stock market and specific stocks. You have to remember that the news media are constantly competing to survive against other stuff you can watch. If they don't always sound like they know exactly what is going on then you won't watch their presentations. If you don't tune into their show then their ratings go down. If their ratings go down they get fired and their show gets cancelled.
Focus Your Investments on the Long Term
"All human power is a compound of time and patience!"
Honore de Balzac (1799 - 1850)
Trading Tips No 3: Online Trading and Investing: Buy, Hold, and Hope
So you have learned how to trade the markets by mastering a few trading tools like Moving Averages, Channels, Stochastics, MACD, or RSI - that is a great accomplishment achieved by only a few. However, having the tools and rules to trade markets successfully, year in and year out, is only half of the challenge. The other half is far more daunting and achieved by even fewer investors - I am talking about good old-fashioned discipline. That is, discipline to follow your indicators and rules without fail - every trade entry and every trade exit. This is why it is critical that you learn how to trade. This is the ‘moment of truth’ in the life of every trader or investor.
Invest To Make Money, Not To Get Rich
The technology boom of the '90s romanticized the "rags-to-riches" ideal that all of us dream about when investing. For those that invested $1000 in Dell at $5 during 1990, held through the seven splits, then sold in March 2000 at $59, the dream was a reality. That investment would have returned an amazing $1,132,800! Image making over $1 million for every thousand dollars invested. Beyond Dell, companies like EBay, Amazon.com, and many others made their investors very wealthy.
Creating a Financial Future - Putting Your Plan Into Action Part 1
This column has previously discussed "picturing the future that we desire", and outlining a plan to achieve it. We mentioned that the plan must include goal-setting, measurement, and implementation. That implementation is this column's focus.
Day Traders and Swing Traders and Options? Maybe!
Typical day traders and swing traders look for stocks with quick,
short term movements, and are not in the business of holding
positions overnight let alone a week or two. So the use of
options has not usually been a component of their trading
strategies.
Chile Leads the Latin Pack
Everyone's talking about China. Don't miss the opportunities in the other CHI..
Makin The Sauce
Let's face it, you're on a roll. After getting down to your attorney's office to sign the new Living Trust and then diligently tracking down your assets to fund the trust, you should be congratulated. You're one of the responsible ones - 70% of the people who die each year in the United States haven't even bothered to get a will. Frankly, you're an inspiration to us all. But to seal the nomination for the financial Oscars, a little work on your investments could go a long way.
An Old Dividend Stock Investment Idea, for a New Generation
Death and taxes! The certainties of life! And then, of course, there are the mortgage payments, the utility bills, phone bills, the car payments and thirsty automobiles. Add that to the grocery and clothing bills, and there appears to be more then just death and taxes as certainties of life.
What Is A Fair Market Value, Really? If Youre Going To Trade, Be Sure Its Worth It!
I've been involved in online trading, specifically with stock and index options, for several years. In this time, I've spent a great deal of time thinking about value and the fact that anything, be it a stock or currency or even a house, is worth exactly whatever someone else will pay for it. Sure, there are a million and one pricing models (especially in financial markets) that will tell you precisely what something should be worth. But in the final analysis, if nobody will pay that much, then it's not actually worth that price.
|
Comment by Frank O'Donnell