How are currency prices determined?

Currency prices are affected by a variety of economic and political conditions, most importantly interest rates, inflation and political stability. Moreover, governments sometimes participate in the Forex market to influence the value of their currencies, either by flooding the market with their domestic currency in an attempt to lower the price, or conversely buying in order to raise the price. This is known as Central Bank intervention. Any of these factors, as well as large market orders, can cause high volatility in currency prices. However, the size and volume of the Forex market makes it impossible for any one entity to "drive" the market for any length of time.

How do I manage risk?

The most common risk management tools in FX trading are the limit order and the stop loss order. A limit order places restriction on the maximum price to be paid or the minimum price to be received. A stop loss order ensures a particular position is automatically liquidated at a predetermined price in order to limit potential losses should the market move against an investor's position. The liquidity of the Forex market ensures that limit order and stop loss orders can be easily executed.

What is Forex Trading?

FXCM provides an online trading platform for individuals that want to speculate on the exchange rate between two currencies. In doing so, traders buy and sell currencies with the hope of making a profit when the value of the currencies changes in their favor, whether from market news or events that take place in the world. The forex market is the largest market in the world with daily reported volume of over 1.8 trillion making it one of the most exciting markets for trading.

Forex Glossary

Accrual - The apportionment of premiums and discounts on forward exchange transactions that relate directly to deposit swap (Interest Arbitrage) deals , over the period of each deal.

Adjustment - Official action normally by either change in the internal economic policies to correct a payment imbalance or in the official currency rate or. Adjustment - Official action normally by either change in the internal economic policies to correct a payment imbalance or in the official currency rate or.

Appreciation - A currency is said to 'appreciate' 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.

Ask (Offer) Price - The price at which the market is prepared to sell a specific Currency in a Foreign Exchange Contract or Cross Currency Contract. At this price, the trader can buy the base currency. In the quotation, it is shown on the right side of the quotation. For example, in the quote USD/CHF 1.2627/32, the ask price is 1.2632; meaning you can buy one US dollar for 1.2632 Swiss francs.

At Best - An instruction given to a dealer to buy or sell at the best rate that can be obtained.

At or Better - An order to deal at a specific rate or better.

- B -

Balance of Trade - The value of a country's exports minus its imports.

Bar Chart - A type of chart which consists of four significant points: the high and the low prices, which form the vertical bar, the opening price, which is marked with a little horizontal line to the left of the bar, and the closing price, which is marked with a little horizontal line of the right of the bar.

Base Currency - The first currency in a Currency Pair. It shows how much the base currency is worth as measured against the second currency. For example, if the USD/CHF rate equals 1.2615 then one USD is worth CHF 1.2615 In the FX markets, the US Dollar is normally considered the 'base' 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 Price - The bid is the the price at which the market is prepared to buy a specific Currency in a Foreign Exchange Contract or Cross Currency Contract. At this price, the trader can sell the base currency. It is shown on the left side of the quotation. For example, in the quote USD/CHF 1.2627/32, the bid price is 1.2627; meaning you can sell one US dollar for 1.4527 Swiss francs.

Bid/Ask Spread - The difference between the bid and offer price. Big Figure Quote - Dealer expression referring to the first few digits of an exchange rate. These digits are often omitted in dealer quotes.. For example, a USD/JPY rate might be 117.30/117.35, but would be quoted verbally without the first three digits i.e. "30/35".

Book - In a professional trading environment, a 'book' is the summary of a trader's or desk's 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 'dealer' 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's Central Bank.

- C -

Candlestick Chart - A chart that indicates the trading range for the day as well as the opening and closing price. If the open price is higher than the close price, the rectangle between the open and close price is shaded. If the close price is higher than the open price, that area of the chart is not shaded.

Cash Market - The market in the actual financial instrument on which a futures or options contract is based.

Central Bank - A government or quasi-governmental organization that manages a country's monetary policy. For example, the US central bank is the Federal Reserve, and the German central bank is the Bundesbank.

Chartist - An individual who uses charts and graphs and interprets historical data to find trends and predict future movements. Also referred to as Technical Trader.

Cleared Funds - Funds that are freely available, sent in to settle a trade.

Closed Position - Exposures in Foreign Currencies that no longer exist. The process to close a position is to sell or buy a certain amount of currency to offset an equal amount of the open position. This will 'square' the postion.

Clearing - The process of settling a trade.

Contagion - The tendency of an economic crisis to spread from one market to another. In 1997, political instability in Indonesia caused high volatility in their domestic currency, the Rupiah. From there, the contagion spread to other Asian emerging currencies, and then to Latin America, and is now referred to as the 'Asian Contagion'.

Collaterall - Something given to secure a loan or as a guarantee of performance.

Commission - A transaction fee charged by a broker.

Confirmation - A document exchanged by counterparts to a transaction that states the terms of said transaction.

Contract - The standard unit of trading.

Counter Currency - The second listed Currency in a Currency Pair.

Counterparty - One of the participants in a financial transaction.

Country Risk - Risk associated with a cross-border transaction, including but not limited to legal and political conditions.

Cross Currency Pairs or Cross Rate - A foreign exchange transaction in which one foreign currency is traded against a second foreign currency. For example; EUR/GBP

Currency Symbols
AUD - Australian Dollar
CAD - Canadian Dollar
EUR - Euro
JPY - Japanese Yen
GBP - British Pound
CHF - Swiss Franc

Currency - Any form of money issued by a government or central bank and used as legal tender and a basis for trade.

Currency Pair - The two currencies that make up a foreign exchange rate.
For Example, EUR/USD

Currency Risk - the probability of an adverse change in exchange rates.

- D -

Day Trader - Speculators who take positions in commodities which are then liquidated prior to the close of the same trading day.

Dealer - An individual or firm that acts as a principal or counterpart to a transaction. Principals take one side of a position, hoping to earn a spread (profit) by closing out the position in a subsequent trade with another party. In contrast, a broker is an individual or firm that acts as an intermediary, putting together buyers and sellers for a fee or commission.

Deficit - A negative balance of trade or payments.

Delivery - An FX trade where both sides make and take actual delivery of the currencies traded.

Depreciation - A fall in the value of a currency due to market forces.

Derivative - A contract that changes in value in relation to the price movements of a related or underlying security, future or other physical instrument. An Option is the most common derivative instrument.

Devaluation - The deliberate downward adjustment of a currency's price, normally by official announcement.

- E -

Economic Indicator - A government issued statistic that indicates current economic growth and stability. Common indicators include employment rates, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), inflation, retail sales, etc.

End Of Day Order (EOD) - An order to buy or sell at a specified price. This order remains open until the end of the trading day which is typically 5PM ET.

European Monetary Union (EMU) - The principal goal of the EMU is to establish a single European currency called the Euro, which will officially replace the national currencies of the member EU countries in 2002. On Janaury1, 1999 the transitional phase to introduce the Euro began. The Euro now exists as a banking currency and paper financial transactions and foreign exchange are made in Euros. This transition period will last for three years, at which time Euro notes an coins will enter circulation. On July 1,2002, only Euros will be legal tender for EMU participants, the national currencies of the member countries will cease to exist. The current members of the EMU are Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

EURO - the currency of the European Monetary Union (EMU). A replacement for the European Currency Unit (ECU).

European Central Bank (ECB) - the Central Bank for the new European Monetary Union.

- F -

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) - The regulatory agency responsible for administering bank depository insurance in the US.

Federal Reserve (Fed) - The Central Bank for the United States.

First In First Out (FIFO) - Open positions are closed according to the FIFO accounting rule. All positions opened within a particular currency pair are liquidated in the order in which they were originally opened.

Flat/square - Dealer jargon used to describe a position that has been completely reversed, e.g. you bought $500,000 then sold $500,000, thereby creating a neutral (flat) position.

Foreign Exchange - (Forex, FX) - the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another.

Forward - The pre-specified exchange rate for a foreign exchange contract settling at some agreed future date, based upon the interest rate differential between the two currencies involved.

Forward Points - The pips added to or subtracted from the current exchange rate to calculate a forward price.

Fundamental Analysis - Analysis of economic and political information with the objective of determining future movements in a financial market.

Futures Contract - An obligation to exchange a good or instrument at a set price on a future date. The primary difference between a Future and a Forward is that Futures are typically traded over an exchange (Exchange- Traded Contacts - ETC), versus forwards, which are considered Over The Counter (OTC) contracts. An OTC is any contract NOT traded on an exchange.

FX - Foreign Exchange.

- G -

G7 - The seven leading industrial countries, being US , Germany, Japan, France, UK, Canada, Italy.

Going Long - The purchase of a stock, commodity, or currency for investment or speculation.

Going Short - The selling of a currency or instrument not owned by the seller.

Gross Domestic Product - Total value of a country's output, income or expenditure produced within the country's physical borders.

Gross National Product - Gross domestic product plus income earned from investment or work abroad.

Good 'Til Cancelled Order (GTC) - An order to buy or sell at a specified price. This order remains open until filled or until the client cancels.

- H -

Hedge - A position or combination of positions that reduces the risk of your primary position.

"Hit the bid" - Acceptance of purchasing at the offer or selling at the bid.

- I -

Inflation - An economic condition whereby prices for consumer goods rise, eroding purchasing power.

Initial Margin - The initial deposit of collateral required to enter into a position as a guarantee on future performance.

Interbank Rates - The Foreign Exchange rates at which large international banks quote other large international banks.

Intervention - Action by a central bank to effect the value of its currency by entering the market. Concerted intervention refers to action by a number of central banks to control exchange rates.

- K -

Kiwi - Slang for the New Zealand dollar.

- L -

Leading Indicators - Statistics that are considered to predict future economic activity.

Leverage - Also called margin. The ratio of the amount used in a transaction to the required security deposit.

LIBOR - The London Inter-Bank Offered Rate. Banks use LIBOR when borrowing from another bank.

Limit order - An order with restrictions on the maximum price to be paid or the minimum price to be received. As an example, if the current price of USD/YEN is 117.00/05, then a limit order to buy USD would be at a price below 102. (ie 116.50)

Liquidation - The closing of an existing position through the execution of an offsetting transaction.

Liquidity - The ability of a market to accept large transaction with minimal to no impact on price stability.

Long position - A position that appreciates in value if market prices increase. When the base currency in the pair is bought, the position is said to be long.

Lot - A unit to measure the amount of the deal. The value of the deal always corresponds to an integer number of lots.

- M -

Margin - The required equity that an investor must deposit to collateralize a position.

Margin Call - A request from a broker or dealer for additional funds or other collateral to guarantee performance on a position that has moved against the customer.

Market Maker - A dealer who regularly quotes both bid and ask prices and is ready to make a two-sided market for any financial instrument.

Market Risk - Exposure to changes in market prices.

Mark-to-Market - Process of re-evaluating all open positions with the current market prices. These new values then determine margin requirements.

Maturity - The date for settlement or expiry of a financial instrument.

- N -

Net Position - The amount of currency bought or sold which have not yet been offset by opposite transactions.

- O -

Offer (ask) - The rate at which a dealer is willing to sell a currency. See Ask (offer) price

Offsetting transaction - A trade with which serves to cancel or offset some or all of the market risk of an open position.

One Cancels the Other Order (OCO) - A designation for two orders whereby one part of the two orders is executed the other is automatically cancelled.

Open order - An order that will be executed when a market moves to its designated price. Normally associated with Good 'til Cancelled Orders.

Open position - An active trade with corresponding unrealized P&L, which has not been offset by an equal and opposite deal.

Over the Counter (OTC) - Used to describe any transaction that is not conducted over an exchange.

Overnight Position - A trade that remains open until the next business day.

Order - An instruction to execute a trade at a specified rate.

- P -

Pips - The smallest unit of price for any foreign currency. Digits added to or subtracted from the fourth decimal place, i.e. 0.0001. Also called Points.

Political Risk - Exposure to changes in governmental policy which will have an adverse effect on an investor's position.

Position - The netted total holdings of a given currency.

Premium - In the currency markets, describes the amount by which the forward or futures price exceed the spot price.

Price Transparency - Describes quotes to which every market participant has equal access.

Profit /Loss or "P/L" - The actual "realized" gain or loss resulting fromtrading activities on Closed Positions, plus the theoretical "unrealized" gain or loss on Open Positions that have been Mark-to-Market.

- Q -

Quote - An indicative market price, normally used for information purposes only.

- R -

Rally - A recovery in price after a period of decline.

Range - The difference between the highest and lowest price of a future recorded during a given trading session.

Rate - The price of one currency in terms of another, typically used for dealing purposes.

Resistance - A term used in technical analysis indicating a specific price level at which analysis concludes people will sell.

Revaluation - An increase in the exchange rate for a currency as a result of central bank intervention. Opposite of Devaluation.

Risk - Exposure to uncertain change, most often used with a negative connotation of adverse change.

Risk Management - the employment of financial analysis and trading techniques to reduce and/or control exposure to various types of risk.

Roll-Over - Process whereby the settlement of a deal is rolled forward to another value date. The cost of this process is based on the interest rate differential of the two currencies.

Round trip - Buying and selling of a specified amount of currency.

- S -

Settlement - The process by which a trade is entered into the books and records of the counterparts to a transaction. The settlement of currency trades may or may not involve the actual physical exchange of one currency for another.

Short Position - An investment position that benefits from a decline in market price. When the base currency in the pair is sold, the position is said to be short.

Spot Price - The current market price. Settlement of spot transactions usually occurs within two business days.

Spread - The difference between the bid and offer prices.

Square - Purchase and sales are in balance and thus the dealer has no open position.

Sterling - slang for British Pound.

Stop Loss Order - Order type whereby an open position is automatically liquidated at a specific price. Often used to minimize exposure to losses if the market moves against an investor's position. As an example, if an investor is long USD at 156.27, they might wish to put in a stop loss order for 155.49, which would limit losses should the dollar depreciate, possibly below 155.49.

Support Levels - A technique used in technical analysis that indicates a specific price ceiling and floor at which a given exchange rate will automatically correct itself. Opposite of resistance.

Swap - A currency swap is the simultaneous sale and purchase of the same amount of a given currency at a forward exchange rate.

Swissy - Market slang for Swiss Franc.

- T -

Technical Analysis - An effort to forecast prices by analyzing market data, i.e. historical price trends and averages, volumes, open interest, etc.

Tick - A minimum change in price, up or down.

Tomorrow Next (Tom/Next) - Simultaneous buying and selling of a currency for delivery the following day.

Transaction Cost - the cost of buying or selling a financial instrument.

Transaction Date - The date on which a trade occurs.

Turnover - The total money value of all executed transactions in a given time period; volume.

Two-Way Price - When both a bid and offer rate is quoted for a FX transaction.

- U -

Unrealized Gain/Loss - The theoretical gain or loss on Open Positions valued at current market rates, as determined by the broker in its sole discretion. Unrealized Gains' Losses become Profits/Losses when position is closed.

Uptick - a new price quote at a price higher than the preceding quote.

Uptick Rule - In the U.S., a regulation whereby a security may not be sold short unless the last trade prior to the short sale was at a price lower than the price at which the short sale is executed.

US Prime Rate - The interest rate at which US banks will lend to their prime corporate customers.

- V -

Value Date - The date on which counterparts to a financial transaction agree to settle their respective obligations, i.e., exchanging payments. For spot currency transactions, the value date is normally two business days forward. Also known as maturity date.

Variation Margin - Funds a broker must request from the client to have the required margin deposited. The term usually refers to additional funds that must be deposited as a result of unfavorable price movements.

Volatility (Vol) - A statistical measure of a market's price movements over time.

- W -

Whipsaw - slang for a condition of a highly volatile market where a sharp price movement is quickly followed by a sharp reversal.

- Z -

Yard - Slang for a billion.

E-currency Exchange Programs

The internet is being flooded with E-currency exchange programs, each with their own flaws and virtues. The popularity of the e-currency exchange business is spreading like wildfire, but before you jump in there are a few things you should know. Before you spend your hard earned money on anything promising amazing returns you need to do your research.

First of If you are not familiar with the e-currency exchange business then I will fill you in on the details. This business is not hard to understand but it takes time to get a hang of all the terminology and guidelines. In this business you will create a portfolio which you will use to facilitate the process of exchanging dollars to electronic currencies. For your role in this process you’re portfolio will be rewarded with .2-2% gains compounded daily.

This means that from an initial deposit of $500 successful exchanging can bring in returns of around $1,000 in a months time. Profits will vary based on the initial deposit and the amount of time spent working in the system, obviously the higher the startup capital and the more time spent working the higher the profits will be.

Several successful pioneers of this system have put together training courses designed to assist you in quickly and effectively setting up your portfolio. Most people that get attracted to this business get there by way of one of these e-currency exchange programs.

Why do people pay money for these programs? People pay because these programs provide a service necessary to success in this business. For example, if you log in to the DXInOne website (the site that provides the market place for these transactions) you will quickly see that there is nothing there that provides direction or help. It is set up to be an efficient service for those that know how to operate it.

What these paid programs do is provide non-experienced people with step-by-step tutorials on how to bring in, take out, and manage your money and profits in the DXInOne. The full service programs also provide advanced exchanging strategies along with support capabilities via phone or email.

If you have accepted the fact that the easiest way to get started is through a training course then you’re probably wondering which offer the most bang for your buck.

The most popular courses are: Currency Exchange Profits by Gary Jezorski, DXTrainers by Matthew Glanfield, Barnes e-Currency Exchange program by Warren Barnes, e-Currency Profit by Liza Guchui, Mazu Business Pack by Matt Gagnon and DXPowerTeam by Dave Bennet. These are not the end all of e-currency training programs but are generally accepted as being the leading courses in this industry.

Before purchasing any of those courses I highly recommend doing some research on what each one provides. There are plenty of courses that claim to offer the world and in reality leave you with nothing but a 300 page incoherent e-book and a credit card payment.

Be smart in your decision; choose a course that accommodates your learning abilities and preferences and you won’t regret getting involved in the e-currency exchanging business.

The E-currency Exchange Home Business

So many people today are sick and tired of scam after scam online. I have wasted thousands of dollars testing home based business programs and I will admit that the majority of them do not work. It has taken thousands of dollars, many hours and a lot of due diligence to sift through the enormous amounts of scams online to find something that was real.

E-currency trading has been a long kept secret by many internet gurus for years and has just recently been made available to the general public. E-currency trading is still remains a fairly unknown, yet extremely lucrative business.

In reality, there are global currency exchanges available that will pay you a great return on your working capital in a short period of time. You are simply making funds available to a global financial network through a number of recognized, reputable electronic currencies. Yes, I'm speaking from personal experience.

The e-currency exchange program works in such a way that you act as a middle man merchant in order to process outxchanges and inexchanges from one e-currency to another. For processing these exchanges, you will collect a 6% fee. For example, if you process a $1,000 outxchange, you will profit 6% of $1,000. That is $60 for processing one exchange. It’s not uncommon to receive about 3 to 4 exchanges per day and the amounts can be much higher than $1,000.

There are two ways to make money in the e-currency exchange program. The first way is through an investment where the user is buying shares in e-currencies across the world. The e-currencies return compounding profits of .1% to .3% per day. If you do some quick math on this, a $100 investment can easily turn into a $500-$700 in a month’s time. The second way to make money in the e-currency exchange program is through a console. Owning a console allows you to act as a merchant processing the outxchanges and inexchanges.

When first getting involved in the e-currency exchange program it can be very confusing to some. I found the terminology and navigation to be a bit difficult at first but once I learned how to effectively use the e-currency network I began to see my initial investment grow. I would recommend starting with a small amount at first until you become familiar with the e-currency system.

There are courses available online that will help anyone whishing to get started in e-currency trading. These courses range in price and a lot of them contain valuable resources.

CHART READING: THE BASICS

To be profitable in today's world technology and advancement, one must be proficient and reading and more importantly understanding chart patterns and basic technical indicators. Below is just a few basic points to your understanding the technical analysis of currency chart reading.

Pricing - Price reflect the perceptions and action taken by the market participants. It is the urgency between buyers and sellers in the trading pit that creates price movement. Thus, all fundamental factors are quickly discounted in price. Therefore, by studying the price charts, you are indirectly seeing the fundamental and market psychology all at once - after all the market is feed by two emotions - Greed and Fear and once you understand that, then you begin to understand the psychology of the market and how it relates to the chart patterns.

Data Window - Most computer programs will display a small box of data usually called a display window which will contain the following items:

O = Opening Price
H = Highest Price
L = Lowest Price
C = Close or Last Price
Tr = Volume or number of trades ( not contracts ) in that time period.

Price Bars - Price bars are a linear representation of a period of time. This enables the viewer to see a graphic representation summarizing the activity of a specific time frame. As an example, we use one minute and five-minute bars for our system. Each bar has similar characteristics and tells the viewer several important pieces of information. First, the highest point of the bar represents the highest price that was achieved during that timer period. The lowest point of the bar represents the lowest price during the same period. Regular bars display a small dot on the left side of the bar which represents the opening price of the period and the small dot on the right side represent s the closing price of the period.

Candlesticks - Japanese Candlesticks, or simply Candlesticks as they are now known, are used to represent the same information as Price bars. The only difference is that the difference between the open and close form the body of a box which is displayed with a color inside. A red color means that the close was lower than the open, and the blue color represents that the close what higher than the open. If the box has a line going up from the box it represents the high and is called the wick. If the box has a line going down from the box, it represents the low and is called the tail. Many interpretations can be made from these "candlesticks" and many books have been written on the art of interpreting these bars.

Market Types - The market often display's some very familiar patterns of price movement. Once a pattern is established, it becomes the most probable course of future price action until the market changes. There are two types of markets which become important for the beginning trader to identify; trending and trend-less. Each market type has two specific patterns which you will also notice over time. These market types and patterns can be defined as follows:

Trending - Steady elongated price movements with less than a 45-degree angel with occasional pauses, profit taking, or resting periods.

Uptrends - A pattern of higher highs and higher lows.

Downtrends - A pattern of lower lows and lower highs.

Trend-less - Erratic price movements which are often steep ( greater than 45 -degree angle ) and cannot sustain and therefore must reverse. Although the movements can move many points in a short period of time, they often result in very little net price movement over time.

Choppy - An erratic pattern of higher highs and lower lows.
Sideways - A narrow pattern of lower highs and higher lows.

While up-trend and down-trend days can offer excellent trading results, choppy markets often create stop outs, while sideways markets produce for little in either direction. Our trading objective is to get into a trending market and ride until we make our target objective.

Volume - Four easy rules to follow regarding Volume:

1. When prices are rising and volume is increasing, prices will continue to rise. The uptrend is being confirmed.

2. When prices are rising but volume is decreasing, the uptrend is losing momentum and may be near the end.

3. When prices are falling and volume is increasing, prices will continue to fall.

4. When prices are falling and volume is decreasing, the downtrend is losing momentum and may be near the end.

Gaps - Gaps are simply price ranges on a chart where a closing price and the next opening price are far apart and create a large open space in between the price bars. There are two major types of gaps:

1. Common Gaps - These gaps are usually found on the opening but may happen during the trading day. These gaps are usually the result of a public reaction to some event or news item such as a change in the interest rates. These gaps are usually assumed to have no special meaning and are usually filled within a day or two.

2. Breakaway Gaps - The breakaway gap often accompanies a breakout from a congestion area or a consolidation pattern. If it is a real breakaway gap, its signals the beginning of a rapid price move, or at least a sustainable trend. Breakaway gaps are not filled for several weeks or months if they are filled at all.