Forex trading is one of the most rapidly developing financial markets in the world, at the moment. It has served as a great source of alternate income for many people. Many others have taken it as the source of their permanent income as well. In this article, we will try to give a simple definition and explanation of Forex trading.
Forex trading is actually the buying and selling of foreign currencies, simultaneously. You can buy the currency of one nation and sell the currency of another in the Forex market. For instance, you can buy US dollars by exchanging the British pounds you have. When the dollar/pound ratio goes up in the Forex market, you can make good profits by selling dollars and buying pounds again. You will find that you have more pounds than you had earlier, at the end of this transaction.
If compared with the stock market, the Forex market offers much higher liquidity, as much more money is exchanged here. The banks all over the world are involved in Forex trading and as a result, operations in Forex market continue throughout the entire day. The Forex trades are also performed with high leverage, in comparison to the stock market. The usual leverage in Forex trading is 100 and it means that if you invest $1000, you can control a huge amount of $100,000. You can also increase your potential profits accordingly. There are also some traders who provide mini-Forex and here, the size of minimum deposit equals $100. With this, individuals can also enter this market easily.
In Forex trading, there are two parts in the name of a “symbol”. One part of the “symbol” represents the first currency and the other one represents the second currency. For example, if the symbol is USD/JPY, it is representing the transaction between US dollars (USD) and Japanese yen (JPY). You can also apply tools of the technical analysts in Forex charts, just like the stocks. The trader’s indexes can also be optimized for Forex “symbols”.
For example, suppose you have opened a trading account of $25,000 in Forex market and you are trading with a 1% margin requirement. Also assume that the current quote for EUR/USD in Forex market is 1.3225/28 and you have placed a market order to buy 1 lot of 100,000 Euros at 1.3228. You have placed the order expecting the euro to rise against the dollar. If you risk 50 pips for this trade to gain 150 pips, you will have a risk/reward ratio of 1 part risk to 3 parts reward. Now, if you see that the price of Euro has increased against the Dollar, the position will be closed and you will gain a total profit of $1500, for this trade.