Exchange rates

Because currencies are traded in pairs and exchanged one against the other when traded, the rate at which they are exchanged is called the exchange rate. The majority of the currencies are traded against the US dollar (USD). The four next-most traded currencies are the Euro (EUR), the Japanese yen (JPY), the British pound sterling (GBP) and the Swiss franc (CHF). These five currencies make up the majority of the market and are called the major currencies or "the Majors". Some sources also include the Australian dollar (AUD) within the group of major currencies.

The first currency in the exchange pair is referred to as the base currency and the second currency as the counter term or quote currency. The counter term or quote currency is thus the numerator in the ratio, and the base currency is the denominator. The value of the base currency (denominator) is always 1. Therefore, the exchange rate tells a buyer how much of the counter term or quote currency must be paid to obtain one unit of the base currency. The exchange rate also tells a seller how much is received in the counter term or quote currency when selling one unit of the base currency. For example, an exchange rate for EUR/USD of 1.2083 specifies to the buyer of euros that 1.2083 USD must be paid to obtain 1 euro.

At any given point, time and place, if an investor buys any currency and immediately sells it - and no change in the exchange rate has occurred - the investor will lose money. The reason for this is that the bid price, which represents how much will be received in the counter or quote currency when selling one unit of the base currency, is always lower than the ask price, which represents how much must be paid in the counter or quote currency when buying one unit of the base currency. For instance, the EUR/USD bid/ask currency rates at your bank may be 1.2015/1.3015, representing a spread of 1000 pips (also called points, one pip = 0.0001), which is very high in comparison to the bid/ask currency rates that online Forex investors commonly encounter, such as 1.2015/1.2020, with a spread of 5 pips. In general, smaller spreads are better for Forex investors since even they require a smaller movement in exchange rates in order to profit from a trade.

An overview of the Forex market

The Forex market is a non-stop cash market where currencies of nations are traded, typically via brokers. Foreign currencies are constantly and simultaneously bought and sold across local and global markets and traders' investments increase or decrease in value based upon currency movements. Foreign exchange market conditions can change at any time in response to real-time events.

The main enticements of currency dealing to private investors and attractions for short-term Forex trading are:

* 24-hour trading, 5 days a week with non-stop access to global Forex dealers.
* An enormous liquid market making it easy to trade most currencies.
* Volatile markets offering profit opportunities.
* Standard instruments for controlling risk exposure.
* The ability to profit in rising or falling markets.
* Leveraged trading with low margin requirements.
* Many options for zero commission trading.

Forex Trading Slumdog

What are most people actually looking for in a forex trading guide, so that it can help them achieve their dreams of making millions from forex trading? I would say that a good forex trading guide would have consist of forex trading basics, forex technical analysis, fundamental analysis, trading psychology, forex trading systems, money management rules, forex glossary, how to choose forex broker etc.

Some of the forex trading guides provides forex trading tutorials to introduce you to the global forex trading, so that you will know how to trade forex in a shorter time and help you become a successful and profitable forex trader. Along the way, you will gain an understanding of how foreign exchange prices move and how to develop your own trading system. Some guides include forex trading tips, which is important for those who are new to trading, but also adds value to advanced traders too.

Let's zoom in into some of the contents that are provided in a forex trading guide. Basically, you can find contents like the mechanics and introduction to forex trading, how to be a profession forex trader etc in the forex basics section. Forex technical analysis helps you to be able to read forex charts, use of Fibonacci, support and resistance etc.

Are you a very emotional person who reacts hugely to cases when you win or lose money? If you are, the trading psychology part will teach you how you can control your emotions, how you can overcome greed etc when it comes to trading.

You may find that most people first thing will look for the trading system, let it be a forex course, an ebook, or a tutorial. Why is that so? Most people thought that they can profit with the trading system alone, which is untrue as there is a need for money management and emotions control too!

There are many forex trading systems out there in the world, but you have to find one that fits your personality. There are methods like forex scalping, forex trend trading, breakout system and the list continues. Most traders love automated forex trading as a forex trading software will trade for them without having to open and close a trade manually. Of course, there are pitfalls in those systems too!

So by the time you have gone through everything in a forex trading guide, provided that guide is not a slumdog, and have found your trading system with money management, discipline and emotions control, you should be ready to make money trading forex online.