The Largest Market in the World
The FOREX, or FX, is a term that stands for the Foreign Exchange Spot Currency Market.
The FX market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. The FX market is a zero-sum game, meaning that whatever one trader gains, another loses. So the objective of forex currency trading is to exchange one currency for another in the expectation that the market rate or price will change so that the currency you bought has increased its value relative to the currency you sold.
FOREX is by far the largest financial market in the world and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and now private individuals are able to trade currencies as well.
The FX Market is unique because of the following characteristics:
• High trading volumes
• Extreme liquidity of the market
• Large number of traders in the market
• Large variety of traders
• Geographical dispersion
• Long trading hours: 24 hours a day (except on weekends)
• The many factors that affect exchange rates
The FX Spot Currency Market Trades in the Trillions 