Introduction to the Forex Market

The foreign exchange markets are sometimes referred to as "forex." The forex market is the largest financial market in the world, with daily average trading turnover of approximately $1.5 trillion. Operating 24 hours a day, the forex market is highly liquid and most of the trading is conducted electronically or over the phone. Banks, insurance companies, large corporations and other large financial institutions all use the forex markets to manage the risks associated with fluctuations in currency rates. In recent years, retail investors have also looked to the forex markets as yet another possible investment opportunity.

Foreign currency futures contracts may be legitimately traded either on a recognized futures exchange or in the "interbank market," which generally involves trading between large institutions such as banks and corporations. The interbank market does not typically include individual or retail customers. Fraudulent currency trading firms often tell customers that their trading is done in the "interbank market." Be wary of any firm that claims that you can or should trade in the "interbank market" or that it can or will do so on your behalf. Your losses can be very large in a single day. Companies that tell you otherwise may well be engaged in illegal schemes. (Source: SEC)

The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is by far the largest market in the world, in terms of cash value traded, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. The trade happening in the forex markets across the globe currently exceeds $1.9 trillion/day (on average). Retail traders (individuals) are currently a very small part of this market and may only participate indirectly through brokers or banks and may be targets of forex scams.

The foreign exchange market is unique because of:

• its trading volume
• 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

There are several types of financial instruments commonly used in the forex market:

Forward transaction: One way to deal with the Forex risk is to engage in a forward transaction. In this transaction, money does not actually change hands until some agreed upon future date. A buyer and seller agree on an exchange rate for any date in the future, and the transaction occurs on that date, regardless of what the market rates are then. The duration of the trade can be a few days, months or years.

Futures: Foreign currency futures are forward transactions with standard contract sizes and maturity dates — for example, 500,000 British pounds for next November at an agreed rate. Futures are standardized and are usually traded on an exchange created for this purpose. The average contract length is roughly 3 months. Futures contracts are usually inclusive of any interest amounts.

Swap: The most common type of forward transaction is the currency swap. In a swap, two parties exchange currencies for a certain length of time and agree to reverse the transaction at a later date. These are not contracts and are not traded through an exchange.

Spot: A spot transaction is a two-day delivery transaction, as opposed to the Futures contracts, which are usually three months. This trade represents a “direct exchange” between two currencies, has the shortest time frame, involves cash rather than a contract; and interest is not included in the agreed-upon transaction. The data for this study come from the Spot market.

Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to IFSL estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 31.3% in April 2004 to 32.4% in April 2006. Other large centres include the US (with a 18.2% global share), Japan (7.6%) and Singapore (5.7%) (Chart 2). Most of the remainder was accounted for by trading in Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, France and Hong Kong. (Source: Wikipedia)

See also:
Forex Trading Blog
Forex Directory