The forex is an international over-the-counter currency market, which allows traders to trade currencies both in pairs. This market determines international exchange rates for each currency. It includes all aspects related to trading, buying and selling currencies in current or decided prices. The forex can be accessed through online brokers as well as retail traders. Most novice traders start with the online platform since this is fast and convenient.
Forex deals with the movement of currency pairs on the Forex market. Traders look forward to make quick profits by trading in currency pairs that have high liquidity. Liquidity means that the liquidity of the currency pair allows quick changes in price. High liquidity means the currency price is unpredictable and has big changes often. The Forex trader aims at maximizing his profits with the use of leverage and stops and expires strategies.
Forex can be accessed through online brokers who allow access to over five trillion dollars in currency trading. These traders may open accounts with virtual brokerage firms that do not require a deposit. These account holders have a virtual trading account through which they can place orders as per their individual discretion. Forex is open 24 hours and thus allows traders to trade at any time of day.
Forex deals with commodity and energy exchange rates and the movement of these commodities. Forex is the base unit of foreign exchange trading, which determines the value of the U.S. Dollar against other currencies. Energy futures markets are characterized by large variations in spot market rates of crude oil and gas, electricity and agricultural products. Futures markets also include the price of gold, livestock and foreign currency options. Traders can also speculate on foreign currencies using the spot market. Forex futures markets give the opportunity for forex traders to enter into long and short positions which means that the risk of losses and rewards are equally distributed amongst traders.
Traders may purchase Forex spot contracts, buy long positions, or sell short positions during Forex markets trading hours. Once a trader enters a position, he will receive the interest rate plus the price of the currency futures contract as payment. A trader may hold a position for several days, weeks, months, or years depending on his investment capacity and risk appetite.
Forex futures contracts are traded over the counter. This means that an investor will not get physical possession of the asset that he plans to trade. He will have the right to purchase and sell the Forex contracts over the counter and pay or receive the payoff from exchange markets. As a trader, you are only paid when you successfully execute a profitable transaction. The benefit of the Forex futures market is that you have the flexibility of holding a position for longer duration as compared to the spot markets and thus enjoy more returns.