Introduction to Forex Trading
February 6th, 2009 . by igenic
Foreign Exchange
The simultaneous transaction of one currency for another.
Foreign Exchange Market
The Foreign exchange market is a large, growing and liquid financial market that operates 24 hours a day. It is not a market in the traditional sense because there is no central trading location or “exchange”. Most of the trading is conducted by telephone or through electronic trading networks. The primary market for currencies is the “interbank market” where banks, insurance companies, large corporations and other large financial institutions manage the risks associated with fluctuations in currency rates.
Exchange Rate
The value of one currency expressed in terms of another. For example, if EUR/USD is 1.3200, 1 Euro is worth US$1.3200.
Currency Pair
The two currencies that make up an exchange rate. When one is bought, the other is sold, and vice versa.
Base Currency
The first currency in the pair. Also the currency your account is denominated in.
Counter Currency
The second currency in the pair. Also known as the terms currency.
Market Maker
A market maker provides pricing for a particular currency pair and stands ready to buy or sell that pair at the quoted price. A market maker takes the opposite side of your trade and has the option of either holding that position or partially or fully offsetting it with other dealers, managing their aggregate exposure to the market. A market maker earns their commission from the spread between the bid and offer price.
Sell Quote / Bid Price
The sell quote is displayed on the left and is the price at which you can sell the base currency. It is also referred to as the market maker’s bid price. For example, if the EUR/USD quotes 1.3200/03, you can sell 1 Euro at the bid price of US$1.3200.
Buy Quote / Offer Price
The buy quote is displayed on the right and is the price at which you can buy the base currency. It is also referred to as the market maker’s ask or offer price. For example, if the EUR/USD quotes 1.3200/03, you can buy 1 Euro at the offer price of US$1.3203.
Spread
The difference between the sell quote and the buy quote or the bid and offer price. For example, if EUR/USD quotes read 1.3200/03, the spread is the difference between 1.3200 and 1.3203, or 3 pips. In order to break even on a trade, a position must move in the direction of the trade by an amount equal to the spread.
Pip
The smallest price increment a currency can make. Also known as points. For example, 1 pip = 0.0001 for EUR/USD, or 0.01 for USD/JPY.
Pip Value
The value of a pip. Pip value can be either fixed or variable depending on the currency pair. e.g. The pip value for EUR/USD is always $10 for standard lots, $1 for mini-lots and $0.10 for micro lots.
Lot
The standard unit size of a transaction. Typically, one standard lot is equal to 100,000 units of the base currency, 10,000 units if it’s a mini, or 1,000 units if it’s a micro. Some dealers offer the ability to trade in any unit size, down to as little as 1 unit.
Standard Account
Trading with standard lot sizes, generally 100,000 units of the base currency. e.g. The pip value is $10 for EUR/USD.
Mini Account
Trading with mini lot sizes, generally 10,000 units of the base currency. e.g. The pip value is $1 for EUR/USD.
Micro Account
Trading with micro lot sizes, generally 1,000 units of the base currency. e.g. The pip value is $0.10 for EUR/USD.
Margin
The deposit required to open or maintain a position. Margin can be either “free” or “used”. Used margin is that amount which is being used to maintain or open a position, whereas free margin is the amount available to open new positions. With a $1,000 margin balance in your account and a 1% margin requirement to open a position, you can buy or sell a position worth up to a notional $100,000. This allows a trader to leverage his account by up to 100 times or a leverage ratio of 100:1. If a traders account falls below the minimum amount required to maintain an open position, he will receive a “margin call” requiring him to either add more money into his or her account or to close the open position. Most brokers will automatically close a traders open positions when the margin balance falls below the amount required to keep the positions open. The amount required to maintain an open position is dependent on the broker and could be 50% of the original margin required to open the trade.
Leverage
Leverage is the ability to gear your account into a position greater than your total account margin. For instance, if a trader has $1,000 of margin in his account and he opens a $100,000 position, he leverages his account by 100 times, or 100:1. If he opens a $200,000 position with $1,000 of margin in his account, his leverage is 200 times, or 200:1. Increasing your leverage magnifies both gains and losses.
To calculate the leverage used, divide the total value of your open positions by the total margin balance in your account. For example, if you have $10,000 of margin in your account and you open one standard lot of USD/JPY (100,000 units of the base currency) for $100,000, your leverage ratio is 10:1 ($100,000 / $10,000). If you open one standard lot of EUR/USD for $150,000 (100,000 x EURUSD 1.5000) your leverage ratio is 15:1 ($150,000 / $10,000).
Market Order
An order to buy or sell at the current market price.
Limit Order
An order to buy or sell at a pre-specified price level.
Stop-Loss Order
An order to restrict losses at a pre-specified price level.
Example Trade
Assume you have a trading account at a broker that requires a 1% margin deposit for every trade. The current quote for EUR/USD is 1.3225/28 and you want to place a market order to buy 1 standard lot of 100,000 Euros at 1.3228, for a total value of US$132,280 (100,000 * $1.3228). The broker requires you to deposit 1% of the total, or $1322.80 to open the trade. At the same time you place a take-profit order at 1.3278, 50 pips above your order price. In taking this trade you expect the Euro to strengthen against the U.S. dollar.
As you expected, the Euro strengthens against the U.S. dollar and you take your profit at 1.3278, closing out the trade. As each pip is worth US$10, your total profit for this trade is $500, for a total return of 38%.
