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Forex Glossary Terms

American-style option An option contract that may be exercised at any time before it expires.


Ask The quoted price at which a customer can buy a currency pair. Also referred to as the 'offer', 'ask price', or 'ask rate'.
Base Currency For foreign exchange trading, currencies are quoted in terms of a currency pair. The first currency in the pair is the base currency. For example, in a USD/JPY currency pair, the US dollar is the base currency. Also may be referred to as the primary currency.
Bid The quoted price where a customer can sell a currency pair. Also known as the 'bid price' or 'bid rate'.
Bid/Ask Spread The point difference between the bid and ask (offer) price.
Call A call option gives the option buyer the right to purchase a particular currency pair at a stated exchange rate.
Counterparty The counterparty is the person who is on the other side of an OTC trade. For retail customers, the dealer will always be the counterparty.
Cross-rate The exchange rate between two currencies where neither of the currencies are the US dollar.
Currency pair The two currencies that make up a foreign exchange rate. For example, USD/YEN is a currency pair.
Dealer A firm in the business of acting as a counterparty to foreign currency transactions.
Euro The common currency adopted by eleven European nations (i.e., Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) on January 1, 1999.
European-style option An option contract that can be exercised only on or near its expiration date.
Expiration This is the last day on which an option may either be exercised or offset.
Forward transaction A true forward transaction is an agreement that expects actual delivery of and full payment for the currency to occur on a future date. This term may also be used to refer to transactions that the parties expect to offset at some time in the future, but these transactions are not true forward transactions and are governed by the federal Commodity Exchange Act.
Interbank market A loose network of currency transactions negotiated between financial institutions and other large companies.
Leverage The ability to control large dollar amount of a commodity with a comparatively small amount of capital. Also known as 'gearing'.
Margin See Security Deposit.
Offer See ask.
Open position Any transaction that has not been closed out by a corresponding opposite transaction.
Pip The smallest unit of trading in a foreign currency price.
Premium The price an option buyer pays for the option, not including commissions.
Put A put option gives the option buyer the right to sell a particular currency pair at a stated exchange rate.
Quote currency The second currency in a currency pair is referred to as the quote currency. For example, in a USD/JPY currency pair, the Japanese yen is the quote currency. Also referred to as the secondary currency or the counter currency.
Rollover The process of extending the settlement date on an open position by rolling it over to the next settlement date.
Retail customer Any party to a forex trade who is not an eligible contract participant as defined under the Commodity Exchange Act. This includes individuals with assets of less than $10 million and most small businesses.
Security deposit The amount of money needed to open or maintain a position. Also known as 'margin'.
Settlement The actual delivery of currencies made on the maturity date of a trade.
Spot market A market of immediate delivery of and payment for the product, in this case, currency.
Spot transaction A true spot transaction is a transaction requiring prompt delivery of and full payment for the currency. In the interbank market, spot transactions are usually settled in two business days. This term may also be used to refer to transactions that the parties expect to offset or roll over within two business days, but these transactions are not true spot transactions and are governed by the federal Commodity Exchange Act.
Spread The point or pip difference between the ask and bid price of a currency pair.
Sterling Another term for British currency, the pound.
Strike price The exchange rate at which the buyer of a call has the right to purchase a specific currency pair or at which the buyer of a put has the right to sell a specific currency pair. Also known as the 'exercise price'.

Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market

Presently, there are various kinds of financial market, it is divided into: Stock market, interest market (including bond, commercial bill and so on), gold market (including gold, platinum, silver), futures market (including grain, cotton and kapok, oil and so on), option market and foreign exchange market or forex market and so on.
The foreign exchange market is a place to trade foreign exchange currency, or it is also a place for the transaction of all foreign currency. The foreign exchange market therefore is existence, because of:

Trade and investment

Import and export business, people pays one kind of currency when doing business, but when earns another kind of currency when receive the commodity. This means that, when settling account, business people will pay and receive different currencies. Therefore, they must convert the currencies that they received into the currencies that they could buy commodities. With this similar, when buying a foreign property a company must use the concerned country's currency to make payment, therefore, it needs to convert the domestic currency is concerned country's currency.
Speculation

Currencies exchange rates could fluctuate according to the demand and supply between two currencies. A Forex trader buys up one kind of currency in an exchange rate, but up casts this currency in another more advantageous exchange rate, he may gain. Speculation has occupied most of the Forex market.
Hedging

Due to the fluctuation between two currencies, those companies who owns foreign asset (for example factory), when these companies convert these properties into cost country currencies, there consist of certain risks. When the value of a foreign asset which is estimated based on foreign currencies remained unchanged, if the exchange rate changes, when converting this property value according to the domestic currency, there could be profit and loss. The company may eliminate such hidden risk through hedging. This carries out a foreign currency trading, its transaction result just counterbalances the foreign currency property profit and loss which produces by the exchange rate change.
Forex Market Development

The history of the Forex market as an international capital speculation market is much shorter compared the stock, the gold, the stock, the interest market, but it is developing in an astonishing speed. Today, the foreign exchange market daily trading volume has amounted to 150 billion US dollars, it’s scale has gone far beyond the stock, the stock and other finance commodity markets, it has became the world's most biggest sole finance market and the also the speculation market. Since the birth of the foreign exchange market, the fluctuation of the exchange rate of the Forex market is becoming bigger. In September 1985, 1 US dollar exchanged 220 Japanese Yen, but in May 1986, 1 US dollar only could exchange 160 Japanese Yen, in 8 months, the Japanese Yen has revalued 27%. In recent years, the foreign exchange market wave amplitude has been bigger, on September 8, 1992, 1 pound exchanged 2.0100 US dollars, on November 10, 1 pound exchanged 1.5080 US dollars, in the short two months, the pound exchanged US dollar exchange rate to fall more than 5,000, depreciated 25%. Not only that, presently, everyday the fluctuation of the exchange rate of the Forex market enlarges unceasingly, within a day the rise and drop 2% to 3% is commonly seen. On September 16, 1992, the pound exchanged US dollar from 1.8755 to fall to 1.7850, the pound on first lowers 5%.
Due to the large fluctuation of the Forex market, it has created more opportunities for the investor, attracted more and more investors to join this ranks

Foreign Exchange

Forex is the abbreviation for foreign exchange, refers to the foreign currency or the foreign country currency expresses which can be use in the international settlement payment means and the property, mainly it includes the credit instrument, disbursement voucher, the negotiable securities and the foreign exchange cash and so on.
The International Monetary Fund defined Forex as the international creditor's rights which a country has, no matter this kind of creditor's rights are express by the foreign currency or expressed by the standard currency.
Exchange Rate

Exchange rate, also known as the exchange price, it refers by a country currency being express by another country currency, or it is also the price ratio between both countries currency, generally it is being expressed by using the price proportion of both countries. For instance: USD/JPY=105.40, is being expressed a US dollar equal to 105.40 Japanese Yen, US dollar is also known as the unit currency, the Japanese Yen is known as the price currency.
In the foreign exchange market, the exchange rate is demonstrated by five numerals, for example:
Euro/US dollar: EUR/USD 1.3325
US dollar/Japanese Yen: USD/JPY 104.95
Pound/US dollar: GBP/USD 1.9337
US dollar/Swiss Franc: USD/CHF 1.2303
The exchange rate smallest change unit is, namely a final one-figure number digital change, is called an exchange rate basic point (Pip), abbreviation exchange rate spot, for example:

Euro EUR 0.0001

Japanese Yen JPY 0.01

Pound GBP 0.0001

Swiss Franc CHF 0.0001

Forex Trading

Forex trading isn’t strange words for those who looking forward to make quick profit in the financial market. Most investors will have at least hear or read about Forex trading. If Forex is a new term to you, please do read the Introduction to the Forex market before proceed reading this Forex trading article.




Forex trading is said to be the highest risk with highest return investment (or speculation game to be more accurate) in the financial market. The amount traded in the Forex market is much larger than any stock market or even combining few stock markets. Forex trading is simply a world wide trading market running 24 hours from Monday to Friday.



Everyday, there are new Forex traders entering into trading Forex. Some of them don’t even fully understand how Forex is traded but have already trading Forex. They are not idiot who want to burn their hard earned money, it’s just because Forex market is simply too lucrative market to enter with extreme high return. Any Forex traders can easily make a double return just in few minutes time trading Forex.



Forex trading is the trading of buying or selling certain currency. For example, buying US Dollar, then selling it later at a higher price to gain profit. Forex traders may also first sell US Dollar and later on buy it back at a lower price with the same gaining profit. It’s simple strategy of selling price minus buying price to make profit. In Forex trading, we just treat currency as a good, buy it and sell it.



You might now think how can Forex trading make huge profit just by selling and buying currency? Forex is traded using margin, Forex traders don’t need to full amount to buy any currency. For example, Forex traders just need 1000 Dollar to buy up 100,000 Dollar. This allows any Forex traders to make huge profit with little money.



Another important factor that any Forex traders can make huge profit is the high fluctuation for currency. Every day every seconds, the currency exchange rate is moving up and down, the Forex exchange rate fluctuate more heavily whenever there is any important economic data being released.



Forex trading is simply sounds too easy for anyone to make profit in very short time. But before you committed into Forex trading, it is strongly advised to have full understanding in Forex trading. Do read up other Forex trading articles in this website and share Forex trading knowledge in the Forex forums.

Forex Development History

Foreign exchange development history - exchange market evolution foreign exchange development history - exchange market evolution gold remittance system and Bretton woods agreement


In 1967, a Chicago bank rejected to provide pound loan to a professor named Milton Friedman, because his purposed was to use this fund to sell short the British pound. Mr. Friedman realized excessively that the price ratio from the British pound to US dollar at that time was high, he wanted first to sell the British pound, after the British pound fell he buys back the British pound to repay the bank again. This family bank rejects the loan offer based on the "Bretton woods Agreement" which was established 20 years ago. This agreement has fixed the various countries' currency to US dollar exchange rate, and the price ratio between the U.S dollar and the gold is also fixed to 35 US dollars to each ounce of gold.


The Bretton Woods Agreement was signed in 1944, the purposed was to prevent the currency to escape between countries, and also to limit the international speculation, thus to stabilize the international currency. Before this agreement was signed, the gold remittance standard system which was widely used since 1876 - was leading the international economy system until the First World War. In the gold remittance system, the currency was at the stable level under the support of the gold price. The gold remittance system has abolished the old time king and the ruler which depreciates the currency value unlawfully, which will lead to inflation.


But, the gold remittance standard system is certainly imperfect. Along with a country economic potentiality enhancement, it can import massive products from overseas, until it exhausts the gold reserve of certain country. It resulted the supply of the currency reduces, the interest rate raises, the economic activity will start to decline until it reaches the recession limit. Finally, the commodity price falls to the valley, gradually attracts other countries to stream in, massively rushes to purchase this country commodity. This will pour gold into this country, this will increase this country currency supplies quantity, and it will reduce the interest rate, and will create the wealth. This is so called the "the prosperity - decline” pattern and is the circulation of the gold remittance standard system, until the trade circulation and the gold freedom was broken by the First World War.


After several catastrophes wars, the Bretton Woods agreement has appeared. The countries which signed the treaty agreed to maintain the domestic currency to US dollar exchange rate, as well as the necessity of the corresponding ratio of the gold, and only allow a small fluctuation. Countries are prohibited to depreciate the currency value for the gain trade benefit, only allows the country to depreciate not more then 10%. Enters the 50's, the continuous growth of the international trade causes the fund large-scale shift which produces because of the postwar reconstruction, this causes Bretton Woods system which establishes the foreign exchange rate to lose stability.


This agreement was finally abolished in 1971, US dollar no longer could convert to gold. Until 1973, each major industrialized nation currency exchange rate fluctuation has been more freely, mainly regulates by the foreign exchange market through the currency supplies and demand quantity. The business volume, the transaction speed as well as the price variability, have achieved a comprehensive growth in the 1970's, come along with the emerge of price ratio fluctuation, the brand-new financial tool, then only the market liberalization and the trade liberalization could be achieved.

In the 1980s, along with the published of the computer and correlation technology, the international capital has flow rapidly, and strongly related the Asia, Europe and America market. Foreign exchange business volume from 80's rises daily from 70 billion US dollars to 150 billion US dollars after 20 years.

European market inflation

One of the reasons why the foreign exchange developed rapidly was the rapid development of the Euro dollar market. In a Euro dollar market, US dollar is stored beyond the border of America banks. Similarly, the European market is refers to property depositing outside the currency rightful owner country market. A Euro dollar market was formed at first in the 50's, at that time Russia deposited its petroleum income beyond the US border, avoid being freeze by the US government. This has formed a large offshore US dollar national treasury which is beyond the control of the US government. The American government has formulated a law to prohibited US dollar from lending money for the foreigner. Because the degree of freedom of the Euro dollar market is bigger and the rate of return is bigger, therefore it has large attraction. Starting from the 80's, the American company starts to borrow loan from the offshore market, they discovered that the European market is a wealth center which consists of large amount of floating capital which could provide short-term loan.
London once was (until now still is) one of the main offshore market. In the 80's, the Bank of England in order to maintain its global finance industry center dominant position, using US dollar as England pound substitution to make loan, thus to become a Euro dollar market center. London's convenient geographical position (is situated between Asian and Americas market) also helps to maintain the European market as the dominant position.