Forex is short for foreign exchange – the transaction of changing one currency into another currency. This process can be performed for a variety of reasons including commercial, tourism and to enable international trade.
Forex is traded on the forex market, which is open to buy and sell currencies 24 hours a day, five days a week and is used by banks, businesses, investment firms, hedge funds and retail traders.
The forex market is by far the largest and most liquid financial market in the world, with an estimated average global daily turnover of more than US$6.5 trillion — which has risen from $5 trillion just a few years ago.
One critical feature of the forex market is that there is no central marketplace or exchange in a central location, as all trading is done electronically via computer networks. This is known as an over the counter (OTC) market.
All transactions made on the forex market involve the simultaneous buying and selling of two currencies.
This ‘currency pair’ is made up of a base currency and a quote currency, whereby you sell one to purchase another. The price for a pair is how much of the quote currency it costs to buy one unit of the base currency. You can make a profit by correctly forecasting the price move of a currency pair.
FXTM offers hundreds of combinations of currency pairs to trade including the majors which are the most popular traded pairs in the forex market. These include the Euro against the US Dollar, the US Dollar against the Japanese Yen and the British Pound against the US Dollar.
The diagram on the left looks at the most traded currency pair (EUR/USD) in the forex market and breaks down its essential components
For most currency pairs, a pip is the fourth decimal place, the main exception being the Japanese Yen where a pip is the second decimal place.
On the forex market, trades in currencies are often worth millions, so small bid-ask price differences (i.e. several pips) can soon add up to a significant profit. Of course, such large trading volumes mean a small spread can also equate to significant losses.
Trading forex is risky, so always trade carefully and implement risk management tools and techniques.
Spread
As a forex trader, you’ll notice that the bid price is always higher than the ask price. The difference between these two prices is the spread. In other words, it is the cost of trading. The narrower the spread, the cheaper it costs. The wider the spread, the more expensive it is.
For example, if EUR/USD is trading with an ask price of 1.1918 and a bid price of 1.1916, then the spread will be the ask price minus the bid price. In this case, 0.0002.
In order to make a profit in foreign exchange trading, you’ll want the market price to rise above the bid price if you are long, or fall below the ask price if you are short.
Pip
A point in percentage – or pip for short – is a measure of the change in value of a currency pair in the forex market.
It is the smallest possible move that a currency price can change which is the equivalent of a ‘point’ of movement.
What is a forex trader?
A forex trader will hold a ‘position’ in a currency pair. This is the term used to describe a trade in progress and one that will have a profit or a loss, as the open position indicates the trader has some market exposure
A long position means a trader has bought a currency expecting its value to rise. Once the trader sells that currency back to the market (ideally for a higher price than he or she paid for it), their long position is said to be ‘closed’ and the trade is complete.
If you wanted to open a long position on the Euro, you would purchase 1 Euro for USD 1.1918. You will then hold your position in the hope that it will appreciate, selling it back to the market at a profit once the price has increased.
A short position refers to a trader who sells a currency expecting its value to fall and plans to buy it back at a lower price. A short position is ‘closed’ once the trader buys back the asset (ideally for less than he or she sold it for).
In this case, if you think the Euro will weaken against the Dollar, you will sell 1 Euro for USD 1.1916 and hold a short position. You expect the Euro to depreciate and plan to buy it back at a lower rate.
There are seven major currency pairs traded in the forex market, all of which include the US Dollar in the pair.
You can also trade crosses, which do not involve the USD, and exotic currency pairs which are historically less commonly traded (and relatively illiquid).
This means they often come with wider spreads, meaning they’re more expensive than crosses or majors.
News and Economic Data
Investors and banks look for strong economies to place their funds, in the expectation that their capital will appreciate.This is because the currency of that country will be in demand as the outlook for the economy encourages more investment. Any news and economic reports which back this up will in turn see traders want to buy that country’s currency.
Central Bank and Government Policy
Central banks determine monetary policy, which means they control things like money supply and interest rates. The tools and policy types used will ultimately affect the supply and demand of their currencies. A government’s use of fiscal policy through spending or taxes to grow or slow the economy may also affect exchange rates.
Candlestick Chart
The chart displays the high-to-low range with a vertical line and opening and closing prices. The difference to the bar charts is in the ‘body’ which covers the opening and closing prices, while the candle ‘wicks’ show the high and low.
If the candlestick is filled, then the currency pair closed lower than it opened. If the candlestick is hollow, then the closing price is higher than the opening price
Bar chart
The whole bar represents the currency pair's whole trading range and the horizontal marks on the sides indicate the opening (left) and the closing prices (right).
Line chart
While a bar chart is commonly used to identify the contraction and expansion of price ranges, a line chart is the simplest of all charts and mostly used by beginners. It simply shows a line drawn from one closing price to the next.
When connected, it is simple to identify a price movement of a currency pair through a specific time period and determine currency patterns.
FXTM gives you access to trading forex as you can execute your buy and sell orders on their trading platforms.
You should always choose a licensed, regulated broker that has at least five years of proven experience. These brokers will offer you peace of mind as they will always prioritise the protection of your funds. Once you open an active account, you can start trading forex — and you will be required to make a deposit to cover the costs of your trades. This is called a margin account which uses financial derivatives like CFDs to buy and sell currencies.
It is important to remember that trading for beginners isn’t an overnight process. It takes time to become familiar with the markets and there’s a whole new vocabulary to learn. For this reason, FXTM offer a wealth of resources to learn to trade forex. For example, our Demo account is a great way to experiment with different trading strategies – but with virtual money which means with no risk attached!
Once you’re ready to move on to live trading, we’ve also got a great range of trading accounts and online trading platforms to suit you.
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