What is Forex?

"Forex" stands for foreign exchange; it's also known as FX. In a forex trade, you buy one currency while simultaneously selling another.

Currencies trade in pairs, like the Euro-US Dollar (EUR/USD) or US Dollar / Japanese Yen (USD/JPY).

Forex trading is used to speculate on the relative strength of one currency against another. The foreign exchange market is an over-the-counter market, which means that it is a decentralised market with no central exchange.

Who trades currencies, and why?

Daily turnover in the world's currencies comes from two sources:

• Foreign trade (5%). Companies buy and sell products in foreign countries, plus convert profits from foreign sales into domestic currency.
  
  
• Speculation for profit (95%).

Most traders focus on the biggest, most liquid currency pairs, known as "The Majors". These include US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar. In fact, more than 85% of daily forex trading happens in the major currency pairs.

The world's most traded market, open 24 hours a day

With average daily turnover of US$3.2 trillion, forex is the most traded market in the world.
A true 24-hour market from Sunday 5 PM ET to Friday 5 PM ET, forex trading begins in Sydney, and moves around the globe as the business day begins, first to Tokyo, London, and New York.

Unlike other financial markets, investors can respond immediately to currency fluctuations, whenever they occur - day or night.

More Info

"All About the Foreign Exchange Markets in the United States", from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

What is Technical Analysis FOREX

Technical analysis attempts to forecast future price movements by examining past market data.

Most traders use technical analysis to get a "big picture" on an investment's price history. Even fundamental traders will often glance at a chart to see if they're buying at a fair price, selling at a cyclical top or entering a choppy, sideways market.

Technical analysts make a few key assumptions:

• All market fundamentals are reflected in price data. Moods, differing opinions, and other market fundamentals need not be studied.
  
  
• History repeats itself in regular, fairly predictable patterns. These patterns, generated by price movements, are called signals. A technical analyst's goal is to uncover a current market's signals by examining past market signals.
  
  
• Prices move in trends. Technical analysts believe price fluctuations are not random and unpredictable. Once an up, down or sideways trend has been established, it usually will continue for a period.

Get in and get out - at the right time

Technical analysis can add discipline and minimise emotion in your trading plan. It can be hard to screen out fundamental impressions and stick with your entry and exit points as planned, but, technical analysis helps you see your trading plan more objectively and dispassionately.

Technical analysis can add discipline and minimize emotion in your trading plan. It can be hard to screen out fundamental impressions and stick with your entry and exit points as planned. While no system is perfect, technical analysis helps you see your trading plan through more objectively and dispassionately.

Price chart types

Bar charts
The most common type of chart showing price action. Each bar represents a period of time - a "period" as short as 1 minute or as long as several years. Over time, bar charts show distinct price patterns.

Candlestick charts
Instead of a simple bar, each candlestick shows the high, low, opening and closing price for that period of time it represents. Candlestick patterns provide greater visual detail as they develop.

Point & figure charts
Point & figure patterns resemble bar chart patterns, except Xs and Os are used to mark changes in price direction. Point & figure charts make no use of time scale to associate a certain day with a certain price action.

Technical indicator types

Trend
Trend indicators smooth price data out, so that a persistent up, down or sideways trend can be easily seen. (Examples: moving averages, trend lines)

Strength
Strength indicators describe the intensity of market opinion on a certain price by examining the market positions taken by various market participants. Volume or open interest are the basic ingredients of strength indicators.

Volatility
"Volatility" refers to the magnitude of day-to-day price fluctuations, whatever their directional trend. Changes in volatility tend to anticipate changes in prices. (Example: Bollinger Bands)

Cycle
Cycle indicators indicate repeating market patterns from recurrent events such as seasons or elections. Cycle indicators determine the timing of a particular market pattern. (Example: Elliott Wave)

Support/resistance
Support and resistance describes the price levels where markets repeatedly rise or fall and then reverse. This phenomenon is attributed to basic supply and demand. (Example: Trend Lines)

Momentum
Momentum indicators determine the strength or weakness of a trend as it progresses over time. Momentum is highest when a trend starts and lowest when the trend changes.

When price and momentum diverge, it suggests weakness. If price extremes occur with weak momentum, it signals an end of movement in that direction. If momentum is trending strongly and prices are flat, it signals a potential change in price direction. (Example: Stochastic, MACD, RSI)

Reasons to trade with FOREX

• Competitive pricing
  • Spreads from just 1-2 pips
  • 37 currency pairs plus spot metals and oil

• Expert research and resources
  • Proprietary research and market commentary
  • Professional charting packages
  • Online training courses and webinars

• Sophisticated trading tools
  • Flexible order types including stops and limits
  • Automated trading strategies supported

• Flexibility
  • Account types and leverage to suit your risk appetite
  • Choice of web and downloadable trading platforms

• Customer support 24 hours a day
  • Customer support 24 hours a day
  
  

  Spreads from just 1-2 pips, and no commission Our dealing spreads are as low as 1-2 pips on the most widely traded currency pairs. And with our fractional pips, you gain an extra digit of precision so that you can take advantage of smaller price movements. We don't charge commission on our trades, so all you pay is the spread. Learn more about pricing and spreads 37 currency pairs, plus spot metals and oil FOREX.com offers trading in 37 currency pairs, plus spot metals and Brent Crude Oil. Currencies and commodities such as gold and silver are highly liquid fast moving markets that offer the opportunity to speculate on price movements driven by a wide range of economic factors, or hedge against movements in other markets. FOREX.com offers access to 37 of the most popular currency pairs to ensure that our clients around the world can trade the currencies they want to. Exclusive access to proprietary research and market commentary As a FOREX.com client you have access to a wealth of information and research to help you identify trading opportunities. Visit our Resources centre to read more about our: Daily and weekly forex research Streaming ForexInsider market commentary Professional charting packages With FOREX.com you have a choice of charting packages to meet your needs. FOREXTrader Charts is fully integrated into our trading platforms, and is available free to every client. We also offer ForexCharts by eSignal as a professional level charting package for more active clients. Read more about charting with FOREX.com Online training courses and webinars Our free online training courses provide novice currency traders with a broad overview of the Forex market, covering everything from the factors that drive currency movements through to reading charts and effectively using leverage. FOREX.com also offers regular webinars, one-to-one support form forex experts, and a practice account to test your forex trading skills risk free. Flexible order types including stops and limits to manage your risk Our flexible order types allow you to manage the risk in your account by implementing trading strategies that match your appetite for risk. In addition to click-and-deal trading, we offer limit orders, stop loss orders, guaranteed stop loss orders and trailing stop loss orders. Automated trading strategies supported FOREXTrader and FOREXTrader.web offer the flexibility to trade exactly as you want to. We recognise that our clients may want to use a wide range of trading strategies, including automated execution, and we have built our platforms to facilitate this. FOREXTrader supports full automated trade execution through a standard FIX protocol or API. Find out more about API trading Account types and leverage to suit your risk appetite Standard account: For active forex traders who are comfortable trading standard lot sizes Leverage 100:1 Contract (lot) size 100k Mini account: For those newer to the forex market, or wanting to trader smaller contract sizes Leverage 200:1 Smaller contract size of £10k Choice of web and downloadable trading platforms FOREX.com has won numerous awards for its online trading platforms over the last 10 years. ForexTrader and ForexTraderWeb are exclusive to FOREX.com, offering one click dealing in 37 currency pairs, plus spot metals and oil. Our platforms combine innovation and ease of use to provide advanced customisation features, an intuitive user interface and a full suite of professional charting and order management tools. In addition, we offer access to the MetaTrader4 platform for technical forex traders. Customer support 24 hours a day Whatever time of day you trade, we are here to provide support. You can reach our knowledgeable representatives 24 hours a day from Sunday evening through to Friday evening GMT by phone, email, or live chat.

Forex Research & Commentary

With a 24-hour streaming news feed, professional forex research and live market commentary, you’ll always be up-to-date on important economic events, price movements and market developments

Intraday Commentary
	FOREX Insider

Daily & Weekly Reports
	Daily Technical Analysis Report
	Strategy of the Day
	The Week Ahead
	The Weekly Strategy Forex Charts FOREX.com offers you access to a variety of forex charting packages and premium technical analysis tools to help you trade the Forex market. Access real time forex charts directly inside the trading platform Benefit from free access to eSignal's award-winning charting software

FOREX.com UK Ltd

is a trading name of GAIN Capital - FOREX.com UK Limited, a subsidiary of GAIN Capital Holdings, Inc. GAIN Capital is a global leader in foreign exchange trading, serving retail and professional clients in over 140 countries worldwide through its direct and partner brands, and supporting average trade volume of nearly $200 billion per month.

With FOREX.com UK, you have 24 hour access to the global foreign exchange market, plus powerful charting tools, expert market research and commentary, and advanced forex trading tools. We also offer a wealth of education and training, covering everything from getting started in forex to understanding technical analysis and developing a trading strategy. Register for a practice account today to see for yourself.

FOREXPro

FOREXPro is our active trader programme offering even tighter spreads, plus premium forex trading tools. To qualify, simply open an account with £10,000 or more.
Our Tightest Spreads

* Trade on spreads as low as 0.7 pips - Our tightest available spreads, backed by our commitment to deliver the best possible execution on every trade.


FOREXPro Dealing Spreads
Pair As Low As Pair As Low As
EUR/USD 1.1 XAU/USD 55
USD/JPY 1.1 NZD/USD 1.3
USD/CHF 1.3 CHF/JPY 2
EUR/GBP 0.7 CAD/JPY 3.5
EUR/JPY 1.3 AUD/JPY 3.5
EUR/CHF 1 NZD/JPY 3.5
GBP/USD 1.3 GBP/JPY 2.8
USD/CAD 1.3 GBP/CHF 4
AUD/USD 1.3 EUR/AUD 3.5
AUD/NZD 4 EUR/CAD 3.5
GBP/CAD 3.5 AUD/CAD 2
EUR/NZD 7 GBP/AUD 4
AUD/CHF 5 GBP/NZD 16.5
NZD/CAD 7 NZD/CHF 5.5
USD/HKD 2.8 CAD/CHF 5.5
SGD/JPY 4 USD/SGD 4.5
USD/SEK 21 USD/NOK 21
EUR/NOK 21 USD/DKK 7
EUR/DKK 3.5 EUR/SEK 21
XAG/USD 4 XAU/EUR 86
XAU/GBP 76 XAU/AUD 116
XAU/CHF 116

Click here to request a FOREXPro practice account


Premium Trading Tools

* Third Party Research from Trading Central - Professional grade technical research that can help you find directional trades faster, optimise your timing, and layer on technical indicators and Japanese Candlestick data. You can even drill down to find exact trade entry and exit points.

* ForexCharts by eSignal - A highly flexible charting package that can be extensively customised to enhance your technical trading. Learn more

Additional service benefits of FOREXPro

* Dedicated service - A priority dedicated telephone number into our trading desk, free outgoing wire transfers and invitations to exclusive events, such as live webcasts with forex market professionals.

* High-Yield Interest Accounts - Earn higher interest on your available margin balance (up to £50,000 or currency equivalent).

CALL CENTER

Trying to find success as a call center agent? This section includes comprehensive resources on call center metrics, quality monitoring, performance management, call center training and job satisfaction. Learn how to stay motivated as a customer service representative (CSR) and how to interpret and evaluate important metrics of the call center, including average handle time, average hold time, first call resolution (FCR) and occupancy. This section also includes information on agent churn in the call center and working as a remote or home-based call center agent.