What is the Foreign Exchange Market (Forex, FX)?
The Foreign Exchange Market, also called "Forex" or "FX" is the financial market the largest in the world with a daily average turnover of well over 1,500 Billion USDollar (30 times the total volume of all U.S. equity markets) . Unlike other financial markets, the forex market has no physical location or central exchange. It is a market for OTC where buyers and sellers (banks, corporations, private investors, etc. ..) are the business. An open market 24/24, opening each day in Sydney and moves around the globe. Each trading day begins, first to Tokyo, then London and finally New York. Unlike other financial markets, investors can respond at any time and quickly to market fluctuations caused by economic, social or policy at any time, day or night. The large number and diversity of stakeholders make it difficult for government to control the direction of the market. The high liquidity and the ongoing global activity make forex 24/24 an ideal market for active traders.
Traditionally, the foreign exchange market was only available to big investors who dealt currencies for commercial and institutional through banks. Now trading platforms, such as Pro or RTFX RTFX Light / Web, allow smaller financial institutions and retail investors access to the same level of liquidity that large international banks, offering access to the interbank market. In the forex market, currencies are always traded in pairs. All transactions arise simultaneously buying one currency and selling another. The goal of treating the foreign exchange market is to change one currency against another, hoping that the market moves so that the currency you bought to take the value from the one you sold. If you bought a currency and the price appreciates in value, you must sell the currency to take your profit. An open position is a currency pair that you either bought / sold and you have not sold / bought back the exact amount to effectively close the position.
The first currency in the currency pair is designated as the "base currency" and the second currency is the currency listed or counted. This means that prices are expressed as 1 unit of the first currency quoted per the other currency quoted in the currency pair.
Like all financial products, market quotations of the exchange include an "application" and an "offer". The bid is the price at which a market maker (Realtime Forex) is willing to buy (and clients can buy) the base currency in exchange for the currency quoted. The offer is the price at which a market maker (Realtime Forex) will sell (and clients can buy) the base currency in exchange for the currency quoted. The difference between supply and demand is designated as the spread.
Traditionally, the foreign exchange market was only available to big investors who dealt currencies for commercial and institutional through banks. Now trading platforms, such as Pro or RTFX RTFX Light / Web, allow smaller financial institutions and retail investors access to the same level of liquidity that large international banks, offering access to the interbank market. In the forex market, currencies are always traded in pairs. All transactions arise simultaneously buying one currency and selling another. The goal of treating the foreign exchange market is to change one currency against another, hoping that the market moves so that the currency you bought to take the value from the one you sold. If you bought a currency and the price appreciates in value, you must sell the currency to take your profit. An open position is a currency pair that you either bought / sold and you have not sold / bought back the exact amount to effectively close the position.
The first currency in the currency pair is designated as the "base currency" and the second currency is the currency listed or counted. This means that prices are expressed as 1 unit of the first currency quoted per the other currency quoted in the currency pair.
Like all financial products, market quotations of the exchange include an "application" and an "offer". The bid is the price at which a market maker (Realtime Forex) is willing to buy (and clients can buy) the base currency in exchange for the currency quoted. The offer is the price at which a market maker (Realtime Forex) will sell (and clients can buy) the base currency in exchange for the currency quoted. The difference between supply and demand is designated as the spread.
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