"Forex" stands for foreign exchange and refers to the buying or selling of one currency in exchange for another. It's the most heavily traded market in the world because people, businesses, and countries all participate in it, and it's an easy market to get into without much capital.1 When you go on a trip and convert your U.S. dollars for euros, you're participating in the global foreign exchange market.
At any time, the demand for a certain currency will either push it up or down in value relative to other currencies. Here are some basics about the currency market so that you can take the next step and start forex trading.
Currency Pairs Primer
Before you enter your first trade, it's important to learn about currency pairs and what
they signify.
In the forex market, currencies always trade in pairs. When you exchange U.S. dollars for euros, there are two currencies involved, so the exchange always shows the value of one currency relative to the other. The EUR/USD price, for example, lets you know how many U.S. dollars (USD) it takes to buy one euro (EUR).
The forex market uses symbols to designate specific currency pairs. The euro is symbolized by EUR, the U.S. dollar is USD, so the euro/U.S. dollar pair is shown as EUR/USD. Other commonly traded currency symbols include AUD (Australian dollar), GBP (British pound), CHF (Swiss franc), CAD (Canadian dollar), NZD (New Zealand dollar), and JPY (Japanese yen).2
Each forex pair will have a market price associated with it. The price refers to how much of the second currency it takes to buy one unit of the first currency. If the price of the EUR/USD currency pair is 1.3635, this means that it costs 1.3635 U.S. dollars to buy one euro.
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