Forex

Forex stands for foreign (FOR) exchange (EX). The Forex market trades currencies from all over the world. The Forex market is a 24 hour/day market starting on Sundays at 5pm EST and closing on Fridays at 5pm EST. There are five major Forex trading areas which in order of opening hours are Sydney (Australia), Tokyo (Japan), Frankfurt (Germany), London (UK), and New York (USA). Although the Forex market is open 24 hours/day, in order to get the highest liquidity, Forex market participants prefer trading when several Forex trading areas are open simultaneously. Market participants in the Forex market include banks, brokers, central banks, hedge funds, investment firms, investors, and multinational corporations. Market participants in the Forex market trade over the counter. Most Forex market participants speculate on the exchange rate to extract some profits. Other Forex market participants, such as corporations for example, may seek to exchange a currency earned in another country for their home currency. Central banks are also known to trade large volume in the Forex market to impact a particular currency exchange rate. The Forex market is considered the world's largest market given the level of cash traded daily. The Forex market is also referred to as the FX market.