Whenever I mention Forex trading to someone, the first question I’m usually asked is, “What the heck is Forex trading?” Well, I’m prepared to answer that question right from the beginning: Forex trading--also known as the foreign exchange market or FX--involves the buying of one nation’s currency and the selling of another nation’s currency. These units of currency are always expressed in pairs, such as EUR/USD for the Euro and the US Dollar. The currency being purchased will be listed first, while the currency being sold is listed second.
Forex trading usually revolves around the world’s major currencies, with more than 80 percent of the market devoted to the Australian Dollar (AUD), British Pound (GBP), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Euro (EUR), Japanese Yen (JPY), Swiss Franc (CHF) and the US Dollar (USD). Trading takes place 24 hours a day, as one session begins when another one ends. Major trading centers are located in London (the largest), Tokyo, New York, Singapore and Hong Kong, although others do exist. Trading is closed on the weekends.
While the average person can participate in Forex trading, the majority of the moves are made by major players such as governments, corporations, and investment banking institutions. Leading currency traders include: Deutsche Bank, Barclays Capital, UBS AG, Royal Bank of Scotland, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and Lehman Brothers. There’s a lot of money to be made, and the daily turnover is over $3 trillion (with a 41% increase between 2007 and 2008, alone).
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