What is Forex?

The Foreign Exchange market is a decentralized or over-the counter market for trading currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspects of buying, selling and exchanging currencies at current or determined prices.

Foreign Exchange (forex or fx) is a global market for exchanging national currencies with each other. Foreign exchange venues compromise the largest securities market in the world by nominal value, with trillions of dollars changing hands each day.

The Forex market is a cross roads for international capital, the intersection through which global commercials and investment flows have to move international trade flows, such as when a French electronics company purchases Japanese made components, were the original basis for the development of the Forex Market.

Today global financial and investment flows dominate trade as the primary non speculative source of Forex market volume. Whether it's an Australian pension fund investing in U.S. treasury bonds, a British insurer allocating assets to a Japanese equity market, or a German conglomerate purchasing a Canadian Manufacturing facility, each cross-border transaction passes through the forex market at some stage.

Trading in currencies of smaller countries is called emerging or exotic currency trading.

The Forex Market is open 24 hours a day from the start of business hours Monday morning Asia-Pacific time zone to Friday close of business hours New York.

Global financial centres- such as Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York. Asia -Pacific Session equates to 20% of daily global volume. Principle financial trading centres are Wellington, New Zealand, Sydney, Australia, Tokyo, Japan, Hong Kong: and Singapore. (A Session is a trading period, or trading hours, for a global region)