Basics of Forex Trading

Forex trading or Foreign Exchange Trading refers to the simultaneous trading—that is, buying and selling-of two different currencies. It is done between and among major financial institutions, central banks, retail currency traders or speculators, large international companies, government institutions, companies with overseas operations and the like.

The Forex Market operates 24 hours through a global electronic network where trading occurs over the telephone and computer networks.

The Top Forex Currencies

Each world currency is given a three letter code which is used in FOREX quotes, the instrument traded by Forex traders and investors are currency pairs. A currency pair is the exchange rate of one currency over another. The most traded currency pairs are:
EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/CAD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF, AUD/USD.

The Trade

Trade happens when you accept the offered price and when the dealer confirms.

A currency can never be traded by itself. So you can not ever trade a EUR by itself. You always need to compare one currency with another currency to make a trade possible.

Lets have the EUR/USD and AUD/USD for example.

So, for instance, if a trader goes long or buys the Euro, she or he is simultaneously buying the EUR and selling the USD. If the same trader goes short or sells the Aussie, she or he is simultaneously selling the AUD and buying the USD.

The first currency of each currency pair is referred as the base currency, while second currency is referred as the counter or quote currency. Each currency pair is expressed in units of the counter currency needed to get one unit of the base currency. If the price or quote of the EUR/USD is 1.2545, it means that 1.2545 US dollars are needed to get one EUR.
There are no further costs in the trade. There are no commissions and other fees as well.

Bid/Ask Spread

All currency pairs are commonly quoted with a bid and ask price. The bid is the price your broker is willing to buy at, thus the trader should sell at this price. The ask is the price your broker is willing to sell at, thus the trader should buy at this price.

Margin Trading

In contrast with other financial markets where you require the full deposit of the amount traded, in the Forex market you require only a margin deposit. The rest will be granted by your broker.
The leverage provided by some brokers goes up to 400:1. This means that you require only 1/400 or .25% in balance to open a position (plus the floating gains/losses.) Most brokers offer 100:1, where every trader requires 1% in balance to open a position.

The standard lot size in the Forex market is $100,000 USD.

For instance, a trader wants to get long one lot in USD/YEN and he or she is using 100:1 leverage.

To open such position, he or she requires 1% in balance or $1,000 USD.

Of course it is not advisable to open a position with such limited funds in our trading balance. If the trade goes against our trader, the position is to be closed by the broker.

It’s very important to understand every aspect of trading. Start first from the very basic concepts, then move on to more complex issues such as Forex trading systems, trading psychology, trade and risk manage