The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is by far the largest financial market in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. The average daily trade in the global forex and related markets currently is over US$ 3 trillion.
FX, Forex or Foreign Exchange, is all about exchange of currencies from one hand to another at an ongoing price in the market. Forex is all about investing money in foreign currencies, just gain profit by selling at a higher price, the one you hold, just to buy another one at a lower price. Earlier, not many traders were clear about the Forex trading and that Forex is just short for "foreign exchange", as it did not get much publicity through media.
Foreign Exchange market is the biggest financial market in the world, with a potential of fast and great gains and a sizable number of investors. The advent of internet technology is what made Forex trading grow considerably popular as well as accessible with various types of investors.
About a decade ago, currency trading was only limited to large banks and financial firms because they were the only ones to have access to the tools and methods required to trade Forex market. However recently, due to up and coming efficient online platforms, technology has advanced to the point of being accessible to any and every individual trader who wishes to trade or invest in Forex. Marketforex.net being one of finest online trading platforms is easily accessible by all who are interested in investing in Forex.
Although trading in the Forex market is done for almost all the foreign currencies, there are still, some foreign currency pairs which are considered as “Major” currency pairs as compared to the others. This is because these currency pairs are some of the most traded and most in demand currencies in the Forex trading market. These pairs dominate the percentage of trades and are as follows:
Euro/ U.S. DollarUS Dollar/ Japanese Yen
US Dollar/ Swiss Franc
US Dollar/ British Pound
The FOREX trading market offers its investors with exclusive and lucrative investing opportunities. Other factors like 24 hours open market, high leverage, commission-free trading and easy accessibility through various means of communications has helped Forex to become one of the most popularly invested financial markets.
With a daily volume of about $1.2 trillion money changing hands everyday, the magnitude of Forex market is definitely one of the highest as compared to the Equities and the Futures market. So, you should educate yourself comprehensively and take advantage of this giant investment vehicle.
In finance, a forex swap (or FX swap) is an over-the-counter short term interest rate derivative instrument. In emerging money markets, forex swaps are usually the first derivative instrument to be traded, ahead of forward rate agreements.
A forward contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an asset (which can be of any kind) at a pre-agreed future point in time. Therefore, the trade date and delivery date are separated. It is used to control and hedge risk, for example currency exposure risk (e.g., forward contracts on USD or EUR) or commodity prices (e.g., forward contracts on oil).
One party agrees (obligated) to sell, the other to buy, for a forward price agreed in advance. In a forward transaction, no actual cash changes hands. If the transaction is collateralized, exchange of margin will take place according to a pre-agreed rule or schedule. Otherwise no asset of any kind actually changes hands, until the maturity of the contract.
The forward price of such a contract is commonly contrasted with the spot price, which is the price at which the asset changes hands (on the spot date, usually two business days). The difference between the spot and the forward price is the forward premium or forward discount.
A standardized forward contract that is traded on an exchange is called a futures contract.
Foreign exchange spot trading is buying one currency with a different currency for immediate delivery, rather than for future delivery. The standard settlement timeframe for Foreign Exchange Spot trades is T+2 days, i.e., 2 days from the date of trade execution. A Notable exception is the USD/CAD currency pair which settles T+1.
The central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority, is the entity responsible for the monetary policy of a country or of a group of member states. Its primary responsibility is to maintain the stability of the national currency and money supply, but more active duties include controlling subsidized-loan interest rates, and acting as a "bailout" lender of last resort to the banking sector during times of financial crisis (private banks often being integral to the national financial system). It may also have supervisory powers, to ensure that banks and other financial institutions do not behave recklessly or fraudulently.
Most richer countries today have an "independent" central bank--- that is, one which operates under rules designed to prevent political interference. Examples include the European Central Bank, the Nederlandsche Bank, the Banco Central de Chile, the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Reserve Bank of India, the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada, Sveriges Riksbank, the Banco de la República de Colombia, Norges Bank, State Bank of Pakistan, National Bank of Azerbaijan and the U.S. Federal Reserve. Some central banks are publicly-owned, and others are, in theory, privately-owned. In practice, there is little difference between public and private ownership, since in the latter case almost all profits of the bank are paid to the government either as a tax or a transfer to the government.
Market manipulation describes a deliberate attempt to interfere with the free and fair operation of the market and create artificial, false or misleading appearances with respect to the price of, or market for, a security, commodity or currency.Market manipulation is prohibited under Section 9(a)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and in Australia under Section s 1041A of the Corporations Act 2001. The Act defines market manipulation as transactions which create an artificial price or maintain an artificial price for a tradable security.
Markets manipulation can occur in multiple ways:
- Pools
- "Agreements, often written, among a group of traders to delegate authority to a single manager to trade in a specific stock for a specific period of time and then to share in the resulting profits or losses."
- Churning
- "When a trader places both buy and sell orders at about the same price. The increase in activity is intended to attract additional investors, and increase the price."
- Runs
- "When a group of traders create activity or rumors in order to drive the price of a security up."
- Ramping (the market)
- "Actions designed to artificially raise the market price of listed securities and to give the impression of voluminous trading, in order to make a quick profit."
- Wash sale
- "Selling and repurchasing the same or substantially the same security for the purpose of generating activity and increasing the price"
- Bear raid
- "Attempting to push the price of a stock down by heavy selling or short selling.
Perfect competition is an economic model that describes a hypothetical market form in which no producer or consumer has the market power to influence prices. According to the standard economical definition of efficiency (Pareto efficiency), perfect competition would lead to a completely efficient outcome. The analysis of perfectly competitive markets provides the foundation of the theory of supply and demand. Perfect competition is a market equilibrium in which all resources are allocated and used efficiently, and collective social welfare is maximized.
Market liquidity is a business, economics or investment term that refers to an asset's ability to be easily converted through an act of buying or selling without causing a significant movement in the price and with minimum loss of value. An act of exchange of a less liquid asset with a more liquid asset is called liquidation. Liquidity also refers both to that quality of a business which enables it to meet its payment obligations, in terms of possessing sufficient liquid assets; and to such assets themselves.
In finance, the exchange rates (also known as the foreign-exchange rate, forex rate or FX rate) between two currencies specifies how much one currency is worth in terms of the other. For example an exchange rate of 102 Japanese yen (JPY, ¥) to the United States dollar (USD, $) means that JPY 102 is worth the same as USD 1. The foreign exchange market is one of the largest markets in the world. By some estimates, about 2 trillion USD worth of currency changes hands every day.
Although exchange rates are affected by many factors, in the end, currency prices are a result of supply and demand forces. The world's currency markets can be viewed as a huge melting pot: in a large and ever-changing mix of current events, supply and demand factors are constantly shifting, and the price of one currency in relation to another shifts accordingly. No other market encompasses (and distills) as much of what is going on in the world at any given time as foreign exchange. Supply and demand for any given currency, and thus its value, are not influenced by any single element, but rather by several. These elements generally fall into three categories: economic factors, political conditions and market psychology.
Economic factors
These include economic policy, disseminated by government agencies and central banks, economic conditions, generally revealed through economic reports, and other economic indicators.
Economic policy comprises government fiscal policy (budget/spending practices) and monetary policy (the means by which a government's central bank influences the supply and "cost" of money, which is reflected by the level of interest rates).
Economic conditions include:
Government budget deficits or surpluses: The market usually reacts negatively to widening government budget deficits, and positively to narrowing budget deficits. The impact is reflected in the value of a country's currency.
Balance of trade levels and trends: The trade flow between countries illustrates the demand for goods and services, which in turn indicates demand for a country's currency to conduct trade. Surpluses and deficits in trade of goods and services reflect the competitiveness of a nation's economy. For example, trade deficits may have a negative impact on a nation's currency.
Inflation levels and trends: Typically, a currency will lose value if there is a high level of inflation in the country or if inflation levels are perceived to be rising. This is because inflation erodes purchasing power, thus demand, for that particular currency. However, a currency may sometimes strengthen when inflation rises because of expectations that the central bank will raise short-term interest rates to combat rising inflation.
Economic growth and health: Reports such as gross domestic product (GDP), employment levels, retail sales, capacity utilization and others, detail the levels of a country's economic growth and health. Generally, the more healthy and robust a country's economy, the better its currency will perform, and the more demand for it there will be.
Political conditions
Internal, regional, and international political conditions and events can have a profound effect on currency markets. For instance, political upheaval and instability can have a negative impact on a nation's economy. The rise of a political faction that is perceived to be fiscally responsible can have the opposite effect. Also, events in one country in a region may spur positive or negative interest in a neighboring country and, in the process, affect its currency.Market psychology
Market psychology and trader perceptions influence the foreign exchange market in a variety of ways:
Flights to quality: Unsettling international events can lead to a "flight to quality," with investors seeking a "safe haven". There will be a greater demand, thus a higher price, for currencies perceived as stronger over their relatively weaker counterparts.
Long-term trends: Currency markets often move in visible long-term trends. Although currencies do not have an annual growing season like physical commodities, business cycles do make themselves felt. Cycle analysis looks at longer-term price trends that may rise from economic or political trends.
"Buy the rumor, sell the fact:" This market truism can apply to many currency situations. It is the tendency for the price of a currency to reflect the impact of a particular action before it occurs and, when the anticipated event comes to pass, react in exactly the opposite direction. This may also be referred to as a market being "oversold" or "overbought". To buy the rumor or sell the fact can also be an example of the cognitive bias known as anchoring, when investors focus too much on the relevance of outside events to currency prices.
There is no unified or centrally cleared market for the majority of FX trades, and there is very little cross-border regulation. Due to the over-the-counter (OTC) nature of currency markets, there are rather a number of interconnected marketplaces, where different currency instruments are traded. This implies that there is not a single dollar rate but rather a number of different rates (prices), depending on what bank or market maker is trading. In practice the rates are often very close, otherwise they could be exploited by arbitrageurs instantaneously. A joint venture of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Reuters, called FxMarketSpace opened in 2007 and aspires to the role of a central market clearing mechanism. The main trading centers are in London, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore, but banks throughout the world participate. Currency trading happens continuously throughout the day; as the Asian trading session ends, the European session begins, followed by the North American session and then back to the Asian session, excluding weekends. There is little or no 'inside information' in the foreign exchange markets. Exchange rate fluctuations are usually caused by actual monetary flows as well as by expectations of changes in monetary flows caused by changes in GDP growth, inflation, interest rates, budget and trade deficits or surpluses, large cross-border M&A deals and other macroeconomic conditions. Major news is released publicly, often on scheduled dates, so many people have access to the same news at the same time. However, the large banks have an important advantage; they can see their customers' order flow. 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 is expressed (called base currency). For instance, EUR/USD is the price of the euro expressed in US dollars, as in 1 euro = 1.3045 dollar. Out of convention, the first currency in the pair, the base currency, was the stronger currency at the creation of the pair. The second currency, counter currency, was the weaker currency at the creation of the pair.
The factors affecting XXX will affect both XXX/YYY and XXX/ZZZ. This causes positive currency correlation between XXX/YYY and XXX/ZZZ. On the spot market, according to the BIS study, the most heavily traded products were:
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- EUR/USD: 28 %
- USD/JPY: 18 %
- GBP/USD (also called sterling or cable): 14 %
Unlike a stock market, where all participants have access to the same prices, the forex market is divided into levels of access. At the top is the inter-bank market, which is made up of the largest investment banking firms. Within the inter-bank market, spreads, which are the difference between the bid and ask prices, are razor sharp and usually unavailable, and not known to players outside the inner circle. As you descend the levels of access, the difference between the bid and ask prices widens (from 0-1 pip to 1-2 pips for some currencies such as the EUR). This is due to volume. If a trader can guarantee large numbers of transactions for large amounts, they can demand a smaller difference between the bid and ask price, which is referred to as a better spread. The levels of access that make up the forex market are determined by the size of the “line” (the amount of money with which they are trading). The top-tier inter-bank market accounts for 53% of all transactions. After that there are usually smaller investment banks, followed by large multi-national corporations (which need to hedge risk and pay employees in differentcountries), large hedge funds, and even some of the retail forex market makers. According to Galati and Melvin, “Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other institutional investors have played an increasingly important role in financial markets in general, and in FX markets in particular, since the early 2000s.” (2004) In addition, he notes, “Hedge funds have grown markedly over the 2001–2004 period in terms of both number and overall size” Central banks also participate in the forex market to align currencies to their economic needs.
The foreign exchange market is unique because of
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- its trading volumes,
- the extreme liquidity of the market,
- the large number of, and variety of, traders in the market,
- its geographical dispersion,
- its long trading hours: 24 hours a day (except on weekends),
- the variety of factors that affect exchange rates.
- the low margins of profit compared with other markets of fixed income (but profits can be high due to very large trading volumes)
As such, it has been referred to as the market closest to the ideal perfect competition, notwithstanding authorized market manipulation by central banks. According to the BIS,[1] average daily turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets is estimated at $3.21 trillion. Daily averages in April for different years, in billions of US dollars, are presented on the chart below:
This $3.21 trillion in global foreign exchange market "traditional" turnover was broken down as follows:
