Appreciation - A currency is said to 慳ppreciate ?when it strengthens in price in response to market demand.
Arbitrage - The purchase or sale of an instrument and simultaneous taking of an equal and opposite position in a related market, in order to take advantage of small price differentials between markets.
Around - Dealer jargon used in quoting when the forward premium/discount is near parity. For example, 搕wo-two around?would translate into 2 points to either side of the present spot.
Ask Rate - The rate at which a financial instrument if offered for sale (as in bid/ask spread).
Asset Allocation - Investment practice that divides funds among different markets to achieve diversification for risk management purposes and/or expected returns consistent with an investor抯 objectives.
Back Office - The departments and processes related to the settlement of financial transactions.
Balance of Trade - The value of a country抯 exports minus its imports.
Base Currency - In general terms, the base currency is the currency in which an investor or issuer maintains its book of accounts. In the FX markets, the US Dollar is normally considered the 慴ase?currency for quotes, meaning that quotes are expressed as a unit of $1 USD per the other currency quoted in the pair. The primary exceptions to this rule are the British Pound, the Euro and the Australian Dollar.
Bear Market - A market distinguished by declining prices.
Bid Rate - The rate at which a trader is willing to buy a currency.
Bid/Ask Spread - The difference between the bid and offer price, and the most widely used measure of market liquidity.
Big Figure - Dealer expression referring to the first few digits of an exchange rate. These digits rarely change in normal market fluctuations, and therefore are omitted in dealer quotes, especially in times of high market activity. For example, a USD/Yen rate might be 107.30/107.35, but would be quoted verbally without the first three digits i.e. ?0/35?
Book - In a professional trading environment, a 慴ook?is the summary of a trader抯 or desk抯 total positions.
Broker - An individual or firm that acts as an intermediary, putting together buyers and sellers for a fee or commission. In contrast, a 慸ealer?commits capital and takes one side of a position, hoping to earn a spread (profit) by closing out the position in a subsequent trade with another party.
Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 - An agreement that established fixed foreign exchange rates for major currencies, provided for central bank intervention in the currency markets, and pegged the price of gold at US $35 per ounce. The agreement lasted until 1971, when President Nixon overturned the Bretton Woods agreement and established a floating exchange rate for the major currencies.
Bull Market - A market distinguished by rising prices.
Bundesbank - Germany抯 Central Bank.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Forex Player
The players
Although currency trading is inherently governmental (central banks) and institutional (commercial and investment banks), the foreign exchange market is also the province of non-banking international corporations, hedge funds and individual private investors and speculators. However, technological innovations like the internet have made it feasible for private investors to monitor currency markets and to trade via intermediaries.
The attraction for private investors
The main attractions of currency dealing to private investors are:-
?24-hour trading, 5 days a week with continuous access to global dealers
?An enormous liquid market making it easy to exchange most currencies
?Volatile markets offering profit opportunities
?Recognised instruments for controlling risk exposure
?The ability to profit in rising or falling markets
?Leveraged trading with low margin requirements
?Zero dealing commission
Five ways to trade forex
Private investors can trade directly or indirectly in foreign exchange through: -
?the spot market
?forwards and futures
?options
?contracts for difference
?spread betting
We shall examine each of these instruments in turn, but first a risk warning.
Although currency trading is inherently governmental (central banks) and institutional (commercial and investment banks), the foreign exchange market is also the province of non-banking international corporations, hedge funds and individual private investors and speculators. However, technological innovations like the internet have made it feasible for private investors to monitor currency markets and to trade via intermediaries.
The attraction for private investors
The main attractions of currency dealing to private investors are:-
?24-hour trading, 5 days a week with continuous access to global dealers
?An enormous liquid market making it easy to exchange most currencies
?Volatile markets offering profit opportunities
?Recognised instruments for controlling risk exposure
?The ability to profit in rising or falling markets
?Leveraged trading with low margin requirements
?Zero dealing commission
Five ways to trade forex
Private investors can trade directly or indirectly in foreign exchange through: -
?the spot market
?forwards and futures
?options
?contracts for difference
?spread betting
We shall examine each of these instruments in turn, but first a risk warning.
What is the INTERBANK?
INTERBANK You will often hear the term INTERBANK discussed in FX terminology. This originally, as the name implies was simply banks and large institutions exchanging information about the current rate at which their clients or themselves were prepared to buy or sell a currency. INTER meaning between and Bank meaning deposit taking institutions. The market has moved on to such a degree now that the term interbank now means anybody who is prepared to buy or sell a currency. It could be two individuals or your local travel agent offering to exchange Euros for US Dollars. You will however find that most of the brokers and banks use centralized feeds to insure reliability of quote. The quotes for Bid (buy) and Offer (sell) will all be from reliable sources. These quotes are normally made up of the top 300 or so large institutions. This insures that if they place an order on your behalf that the institutions they have placed the order with is capable of fulfilling the order. Now although we have spoken about orders being fulfilled, it is estimated that anywhere from 70%-90% of the FX market is speculative. In other words the person or institution that bought or sold the currency has no intention of actually taking delivery of the currency. Instead they were solely speculating on the movement of that particular currency.
Monday, October 1, 2007
forex
The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is by far the largest financial market in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. The average daily trade in the global forex markets currently around US$ 1.9 trillion.[1] Retail traders (individuals) are a small fraction of this market and may only participate indirectly through brokers or banks.
The foreign exchange market is unique because of
its trading volume,
the extreme liquidity of the market,
the large number of, and variety of, traders in the market,
its geographical dispersion,
its long trading hours: 24 hours a day (except on weekends),
the variety of factors that affect exchange rates.
According to the BIS,[1] average daily turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets is estimated at $1,880 billion. Daily averages in April for different years, in billions of US dollars, are presented on the chart below:
This $1.88 trillion in global foreign exchange market "traditional" turnover was broken down as follows:
$621 billion in spot transactions
$208 billion in outright forwards
$944 billion in forex swaps
$107 billion estimated gaps in reporting
In addition to "traditional" turnover, $1.26 trillion was traded in derivatives.
Exchange-traded forex futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts. Forex futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, and accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).
Average daily global turnover in traditional foreign exchange market transactions totaled $2.7 trillion in April 2006 according to IFSL estimates based on semi-annual London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore Foreign Exchange Committee data. Overall turnover, including non-traditional foreign exchange derivatives and products traded on exchanges, averaged around $2.9 trillion a day. This was more than ten times the size of the combined daily turnover on all the world’s equity markets. Foreign exchange trading increased by 38% between April 2005 and April 2006 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues such as internet trading platforms has also made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. [2]
Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to IFSL estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 31.3% in April 2004 to 32.4% in April 2006. RPP
The ten most active traders account for almost 73% of trading volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe, (2/9/06 p. 20). These large international banks continually provide the market with both bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices. The bid/ask spread is the difference between the price at which a bank or market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") and the price at which a market-maker will buy ("bid") from a wholesale customer. This spread is minimal for actively traded pairs of currencies, usually 0–3 pips. For example, the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.2200/1.2203. Minimum trading size for most deals is usually $100,000.
These spreads might not apply to retail customers at banks, which will routinely mark up the difference to say 1.2100 / 1.2300 for transfers, or say 1.2000 / 1.2400 for banknotes or travelers' checks. Spot prices at market makers vary, but on EUR/USD are usually no more than 3 pips wide (i.e. 0.0003). Competition has greatly increased with pip spreads shrinking on the major pairs to as little as 1 to 2 pips.
source:wikipedia
The foreign exchange market is unique because of
its trading volume,
the extreme liquidity of the market,
the large number of, and variety of, traders in the market,
its geographical dispersion,
its long trading hours: 24 hours a day (except on weekends),
the variety of factors that affect exchange rates.
According to the BIS,[1] average daily turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets is estimated at $1,880 billion. Daily averages in April for different years, in billions of US dollars, are presented on the chart below:
This $1.88 trillion in global foreign exchange market "traditional" turnover was broken down as follows:
$621 billion in spot transactions
$208 billion in outright forwards
$944 billion in forex swaps
$107 billion estimated gaps in reporting
In addition to "traditional" turnover, $1.26 trillion was traded in derivatives.
Exchange-traded forex futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts. Forex futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, and accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).
Average daily global turnover in traditional foreign exchange market transactions totaled $2.7 trillion in April 2006 according to IFSL estimates based on semi-annual London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore Foreign Exchange Committee data. Overall turnover, including non-traditional foreign exchange derivatives and products traded on exchanges, averaged around $2.9 trillion a day. This was more than ten times the size of the combined daily turnover on all the world’s equity markets. Foreign exchange trading increased by 38% between April 2005 and April 2006 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues such as internet trading platforms has also made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. [2]
Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to IFSL estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 31.3% in April 2004 to 32.4% in April 2006. RPP
The ten most active traders account for almost 73% of trading volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe, (2/9/06 p. 20). These large international banks continually provide the market with both bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices. The bid/ask spread is the difference between the price at which a bank or market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") and the price at which a market-maker will buy ("bid") from a wholesale customer. This spread is minimal for actively traded pairs of currencies, usually 0–3 pips. For example, the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.2200/1.2203. Minimum trading size for most deals is usually $100,000.
These spreads might not apply to retail customers at banks, which will routinely mark up the difference to say 1.2100 / 1.2300 for transfers, or say 1.2000 / 1.2400 for banknotes or travelers' checks. Spot prices at market makers vary, but on EUR/USD are usually no more than 3 pips wide (i.e. 0.0003). Competition has greatly increased with pip spreads shrinking on the major pairs to as little as 1 to 2 pips.
source:wikipedia
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