Market hours:

Since Forex market is open for 24 hours, investors can make the transactions any time they want. In the forex market, investors can take good positions responding quickly to the changing economic conditions. Unlike stock markets, forex market is decentralized. Hence, the investors or account holders can trade currencies from anywhere.

Spot rate and Cross rates:

The spot rate refers to the market price of a currency, measured in terms of another, on a particular day. The most traded or liquid currencies are termed as MAJORS. The Majors consists on the US dollar (USD), the Euro (EUR), the British pound (GBP), the Swiss franc (CHF), the Canadian Dollar (CAD), the Australian Dollar (AUD) and the Japanese yen (JPY).

Quote and Spread:

Before making the transaction, the investors ask their concerned dealers for a quote. The quote represents the buying and selling price of a currency, e.g. the quote for Euro 1.2043 – 1.2048. The difference between the selling and buying prices is called as Spread.

Advantages of Forex trading:

During the recent years, the average daily turnover of the forex market has been growing rapidly because more and more people are taking advantage of this unique. Resultantly, the market has been well established. To increase your chances of making money in the forex market, you need to use a dynamic trading platform. Following are the advantages of forex trading:

•    24-hour Trading: Since the forex market is open for 24 hours, participants get to trade currencies whenever they want. Hence, the investors can respond to latest developments in the global economy and take a position accordingly in real quick time.
•    Increase in Leverage: The forex market offers great leverage. Leverage refers to the amount an account holder can trade currencies against the deposited money in the account. For example, to trade $200,000 of currency, with a margin of 1%, an investor will only have to deposit $2,000 into the account. In other words, leveraged trading is the margin. Taking the margin as1%, if you have $1000 in your margin account, you can trade currency up to $100,000. If you anticipate the movements in Forex prices, you can earn greater profits through higher gearing.

•    Lower Transaction Costs: Unlike stock markets, low commissions and transaction fees are charged in the forex market.


Liquidity:

Forex market is considered as the most liquid market in the world. In the forex market, investors can easily sell their holdings because there is always a large number of brokers and dealers who buy currencies. As a matter of fact, the liquidity for major currencies is very high. Following are the advantages of liquidity in forex trading:

•    It ensures the price stability of the currencies
•    The investors can easily take a position responding to changing economic conditions
•    The investors receive a fair market price of the currencies
•    The investors or account holders are less vulnerable to liquidity risk.

Participants of Forex market:

Participants of the forex market are commercial banks, central or national banks, currency stock exchanges, government and private commercial companies (such as foreign trade firms, investment funds), insurance and pension funds, individual investors and the broker companies. The large commercial banks are the most significant participant of the forex market. After large commercial banks, the brokerage houses are the most active participants in the market.
Structure of the forex market:

The structure of the forex market refers to its broad framework that consists on three tiers namely the interbank market, large retail banks and funds and retail foreign exchange firms. The structure of the forex market will help you understand how foreign exchange transactions go through. The breakdown of each tier and the interaction between them is mentioned below:
•    Interbank Market: The Interbank market comprises on the largest banks and central banks. The large commercial banks and the central bank trade currencies via a system known as EBS. EBS can simply be defined as the software application. It provides the interbank participants of the forex market with bank’s resources helping them understand the supply and demand. Depending upon the supply and demand conditions, the participants can develop fair prices to trade with each other.

•    Retail Banks: Retail banks allow the customers to exchange currencies. When people exchange currencies, the retail banks move the currency around from one branch to another. The retail banks earn profit with the help of spread, a different price for buying than for selling. In case the retail banks need a particular currency, they approach to the tier above them which is the interbank market.

•    Retail Forex Brokers: The retail foreign exchange brokers allow the individual traders to open accounts with them to trade currencies in the forex market. Generally, the retail forex brokers have good relations with interbanks and retail banks because they need to take prices from them. How does retail forex trader offer prices to retail traders? In simple words, they take prices from the interbanks banks retail banks, add a markup and offer the new prices to the retailer traders.