Forex - Introduction

2006-05-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

What is FOREX?

The Foreign Exchange, also referred to as the "FOREX" or "Forex" or “FX” or "Spot FX" market is the largest financial market in the world, with a volume over $1.95 trillion a day. If you compare that to the $25 billion a day volume that the New York Stock Exchange trades, you see how giant the Foreign Exchange really is. It's actually more than three times the total amount of the stocks and futures markets combined!

What is traded on the Foreign Exchange? The answer is money. Forex trading is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another. Currencies are traded through a broker or dealer and are traded in pairs; for example the Euro dollar and the US dollar (EUR/USD) or the British pound and the Japanese Yen (GBP/JPY).

This kind of trading is often very confusing to people because they are not buying anything physical. Think of buying a currency as buying a share in a particular country. When you buy, say, Japanese Yen, you are in effect buying a share in the Japanese economy, as the price of the currency is a direct reflection of what the market thinks about the current and future health of the country's economy.

In general, the exchange rate of a currency versus other currencies is a reflection of the condition of that country's economy compared to the other countries' economies.

Unlike other financial markets like the New York Stock Exchange, the Forex spot market has neither a physical location nor a central exchange. The Forex 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.

Until the late 1990’s, only the “big guys” could play this game. The initial requirement was that you could trade only if you had about ten to fifty million bucks to start. Forex was originally intended to be used by bankers and large institutions and not by us “little guys”. However, because of the rise of the Internet, online Forex trading firms are now able to offer trading accounts to 'retail' traders like us.

All you need to get started is a computer, a high-speed Internet connection, and the information contained within this site. BabyPips.com was created to introduce beginning traders to all the essential aspects of foreign exchange in a fun and easy-to-understand manner.

Why Trade Foreign Currencies?

There are many benefits and advantages to trading Forex. Here are just a few reasons why so many people are choosing this market:

No commissions. No clearing fees, no exchange fees, no government fees, no brokerage fees. Brokers are compensated for its services through the bid-ask spread.
No middlemen. Spot currency trading away with the middlemen and allows clients to interact directly with the market responsible for the pricing on a particular currency pair.
No fixed lot size. In the futures markets, lot or contract sizes are determined by the exchanges. A standard-size contract for silver futures is 5000 ounces. In spot Forex, you determine the lot size. This allows traders to participate with accounts as small as $300.
Low transaction cost. The retail transaction cost (the bid/ask spread) is typically less than 0.1 percent under normal market conditions. At larger dealers, the spread could be as low as .07 percent. This will be explained later.
A 24-hour market. There is no waiting for the opening bell. From Sunday evening to Friday afternoon EST, the Forex market never sleeps. This is very desirable for those who want to trade on a part-time basis, because you can choose when you want to trade--morning, noon or night.
No one can corner the market. The forex market is so huge and has so many participants that no single entity, not even a central bank, can control the market price for an extended period of time. Even interventions by mighty central banks are becoming increasingly ineffective and short-lived. Central banks are becoming less and less inclined to intervene to manipulate market prices.
Leverage. In Forex trading, a small margin deposit can control a much larger total contract value. Leverage gives the trader the ability to make extraordinary profits and at the same time keep risk capital to a minimum. For example, Forex brokers offer 200 to 1 leverage, which means that a $50 dollar margin deposit would enable a trader to buy or sell $10,000 worth of currencies. Similarly, with $500 dollars, one could trade with $100,000 dollars and so on. But leverage is a double-edged sword. Without proper risk management, this high degree of leverage can lead to large losses as well as gains.
High Liquidity. Because the Forex Market is so humongous, it is also extremely liquid. This means that with a click of a mouse, under normal market conditions, you can instantaneously buy and sell at will. You are never "stuck" in a trade. You can even set your online trading platform to automatically close your position at your desired profit level (limit order), and/or close a trade if a trade is going against you (stop loss order).
Free “Demo” Accounts, News, Charts, and Analysis. Most online Forex brokers offer free 'Demo' accounts to practice trading, along with breaking Forex news and charting services. These are very valuable resources for “poor” traders who would like to hone their trading skills with 'virtual' money before opening a live trading account.
'Mini' Trading: You would think that getting started as a currency trader would cost a lot of money. The fact is, it doesn't. Online Forex brokers offer "mini" trading accounts with a minimum account deposit of $300. This makes Forex much more accessible to the average individual who doesn't have a lot of start-up trading capital.

How You Make Money Trading Forex

In the foreign exchange market, you buy or sell currencies. Placing a trade in the foreign exchange market is simple: the mechanics of a trade are very similar to those found in other markets (like the stock market), so if you have any experience in trading, you should be able to pick it up pretty quickly.

The object of forex trading is to exchange one currency for another in the expectation that the price will change so that the currency you bought will increase in value compared to the one you sold.

How to Read an FX Quote

Currencies are always quoted in pairs, such as EUR/USD or USD/CHF. The reason they are quoted in pairs is because in every foreign exchange transaction you are simultanesouly buying one currency and selling another. Here is an example of a foreign exchange rate of the British pound versus the U.S. dollar:

GBP/USD = 1.7500

The currency to the left of the slash ("/") is called the base currency (in this example, the British pound) and the one on the right is called the quote currency or counter currency (in this example, the U.S. dollar).

When buying, the exchange rate tells you how much you have to pay in units of the quote currency to buy one unit of the base currency. In the example above, you have to pay 1.7500 U.S. dollar to buy 1 British pound.

When selling, the exchange rate tells you how many units of the quote currency you get for selling one of the basis currency. In the example above, you will receive 1.7500 U.S. dollar when you sell 1 British pound.

The base currency is the “basis” for the buy or the sell. If you buy EUR/USD this simply means that you are buying the base currency and simultaneously selling the quote currency.

You would buy the pair if you belive the base currency will appreciate relative to the quote currency. You would sell the pair if you think the base currency will depreciate relative to the count currency.

Introduction To Forex

Forex - Introduction

What is FOREX?

Why Trade Foreign Currencies?

How You Make Money Trading Forex

How to Read an FX Quote