Trade Mechanics of Forex 01
Trading currency is a process of exchanging one currency for another, so each currency trade is actually two transactions happening at the same time. One currency is bought while the other is sold. The forex market quotes prices as currency pairs to facilitate the ease of trading one currency for another. The quote of a currency pair represents the number of units of one currency that are required to buy or sell the equivalent amount of the other, based on the given exchange rate.
For example, if the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar is $1.12, a trader may purchase 1.12 Canadian dollars for every one U.S. dollar, or she can buy one dollar for every 1.12 Canadian dollars. Your goal as a currency trader is to hold the currency you believe will gain value against the other currency quoted in the pair. It really is as simple as that.
Currency Pairs
Each currency pair is made up of two parts: the base currency and the quote currency. For example, the U.S. dollar/Canadian dollar example we just discussed is paired as USD/CAD. The base currency is always to the left of the slash (/) mark; the quoted currency is always to the right of
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the slash. It is the direction of the base currency you consider when deciding whether to buy a currency pair or sell it. If you believe the base currency will appreciate against the quoted currency, you will buy the currency pair. If you believe the base currency will depreciate against the quoted currency, you will sell the currency pair. This is an important distinction for new traders to remember because it is easy to buy by accident when you meant to sell. Currency pairs offered on the forex market are constructed using currency from both developed and emerging markets.
Table 1.4 lists the most common currencies, their countries, and their International Standards Organization (ISO) codes used in the forex market to construct currency pairs.
Major Pairs Major currency pairs are created by pairing currencies from countries with highly developed economies and financial systems. Major currency pairs are the most liquid and heavily traded currency pairs on the forex market. Currencies among the majors include the euro, U.S. dollar, British pound, Swiss franc, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, and Canadian dollar.
Major Pairs Major currency pairs are created by pairing currencies from countries with highly developed economies and financial systems. Major currency pairs are the most liquid and heavily traded currency pairs on the forex market. Currencies among the majors include the euro, U.S. dollar, British pound, Swiss franc, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, and Canadian dollar.
Cross-Pairs Some currencies are not directly quoted against each other; rather, they are synthetically traded by combining two different pairs. These pairs, known as cross-pairs, include currency pairs such as GBP/JPY, EUR/JPY, EUR/CHF, and GBP/CHF. When a trader executes a trade to buy GBP/JPY, the trade is really constructed by buying GBP/USD and selling USD/JPY. The dollar component of this trade is equaled out and the trader ends up long GBP and short JPY. Because these pairs are constructed with two different currency pairs, the spread or cost to trade a cross-pair is significantly more than a typical major currency pair, such as EUR/USD.
Trade Mechanics of Forex 02
Trade Mechanics of Forex 02
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Forex
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