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Foreign Exchange market, abbreviated FOREX or FX, is the largest financial market in the world. Forex traders include many financial institutions, such as large banks or central banks, as well as governments, currency speculators, and multinational corporations. The average daily trade currently exceeds $3 trillion.
Although Foreign exchange trading can be confusing for newbie's, the market still lures many people in because it has numerous advantages when compared to other markets like stocks or commodities. Forex trading is somewhat different from stock exchange markets and there are opportunities for those who take part in it. Do not be tempted to jump into trading forex before you have a clear understanding of how the market works.
So how does the forex market work? Here are the key features of forex that differentiate it from other trading markets:
(1) Forex trading does not happen at one location but through use of the telephone and networks, although there some main trading centers in major cities all over the world. Foreign exchange brokers conduct business from their office via a microphone that is connected directly to a phone line. The brokers voice is continuously being transmitted to dealing banks' speakers. To have a better feel for how this is done, visit http://www.forexvoice.com/ and you will hear brokers calling the bid/ask prices. Currencies are quoted in pairs, for example EUR/USD. A trade in forex is equivalent to buying one currency while at the same time selling another. The sell quote is displayed on the left and is the price at which you can sell the base currency. The sell quote is also referred to as the market maker's bid price.
(2) Forex is extremely liquidity. The large number of traders on the forex market and their diversity makes forex unique. The exchange rates, which represent the basis of the forex market, can be influenced by a great variety of factors, hence the opportunity for speculations that exists on this market more than on any other financial market. Although the forex market has low margins of profit by comparison to other fixed income markets, its large trading volumes allow for profits to be considerably high.
(3) Forex trading hours and the geographical dispersion are unique. Forex trades virtually for 24 hours each day from 5pm EST on Sunday until 4pm EST Friday. A trader can choose to trade whenever it is convenient for him or her. You even have the possibility of using auto-trading on many trading platforms.
(4) Another characteristic specific to the forex market is that it lacks a central regulatory agency. There are some countries that regulate their dealers. You should only do business with regulated dealers. Otherwise, you may wake up one day and find out that your dealer has gone under taking your account with it!
(5) Forex provides the opportunity to trade with leverage, hence higher profit or loss. In the stock market, you could use margin to achieve a leverage of 2:1, while in forex market leverage of 100:1 or 500:1 are available.
(6) You can open an account with as little as $25 to start trading with. With most brokers/dealers, you can open a demo account and practice for as long as you like without paying a dime.
(7) There are free real time quotes and sophisticated charting programs for forex. An excellent example is Metatrader that you can download for free with tons of technical analysis and expert advisors to show you how to trade forex.
Just as in any other market, trading forex along with its exclusively high profit potential, carries a high risk that must be understood. It is possible to gain success only after good training including a familiarization with the structure and kinds of forex, the principles of currencies price formation, the factors affecting prices alterations, trading risks levels, and money management. You also need sources of information necessary to account for all these factors. You need techniques to analyze or predict market movements as well as trading tools and rules. In future articles we will discuss some of the pitfalls beginners should look out for before starting forex trading.