About the Forex Market
The Foreign Exchange market, also referred to as the "Forex" or "FX"
market is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average
turnover of well over US$1 trillion -- 30 times larger than the combined
volume of all U.S. equity markets.
"Foreign Exchange" is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling
of another. Currencies are traded in pairs, for example Euro/US Dollar
(EUR/USD) or US Dollar/Japanese Yen (USD/JPY).
There are two reasons to buy and sell currencies. About 5% of daily turnover
is from companies and governments that buy or sell products and services
in a foreign country or must convert profits made in foreign currencies
into their domestic currency. The other 95% is trading for profit, or
speculation.