Lesson 1: What You Need to Know About Forex Trading
This first step will be lessons on the basics
of each of the major markets that Individuals trade, beginning with the
Forex Market.
There are many interesting things that can be pointed out about the
foreign exchange market, however there are a few major things that
really separate this market from the equities and futures markets.
24 Hour Liquidity
Probably the biggest advantages that traders of the forex market will
cite is that the market is by far the largest market in the world, and
that main currencies can be traded actively 24 hours a day. The huge
amount of volume traded in the world’s main currencies each day, dwarfs
the volume traded in the equities and the futures markets many times
over. This combined with the 24 hour trading day gives traders the
ability to determine their own trading hours instead of having to trade
within set hours as they would have to when trading stocks and/or
futures. More importantly than this however is that as the market is
more liquid than the futures and equities markets, price slippage (the
difference between where you click to enter or exit a trade and where
you actually get in or out) in the forex market is normally much smaller
than in the stock and futures market.
The disadvantage here is that real market junkies sometimes cannot pull
themselves away from the screen while the market is trading and need the
finite trading hours of futures and/or stocks to force them to step
away from the market. As my background is in forex I have seen many
stock and futures traders burn out when trying to trade forex for this
reason.
Leverage
There is more leverage provided to traders by most forex trading firms
than any other market in the world. Many firms offer you up to 200 to 1
leverage which if fully used would essentially take a .5% move in the
market and turn it into a 100% gain or loss on the value of the account.
As the most highly traded currencies rarely move more than a couple of
percent in a day, this allows traders to tailor the forex market to
their needs, making it a conservative instrument when traded without
leverage or the crack cocaine of financial instruments when making full
use of the leverage available.
While the availability of leverage is normally seen as an advantage in
the above sense, it is also one of the places where forex gets its bad
name. Many times new traders are lured to the market after seeing the
ability to amplify their returns by making use of all that leverage.
What these traders do not fully understand however is that leverage is a
double edged sword causing greater losses just as quickly as it can
cause greater profits. As a result of this lack of understanding and
jackpot mentality, many beginning forex traders loose their money very
quickly as a result.
Only Macro Events Affect the Forex Market
Unlike stocks where individual company events have a huge affect on
price movements the most highly traded currencies are only affected by
macro events like the capital flows between countries, and changes in
government or central bank policies. This is often pointed to as an
advantage by Forex Traders who feel that this brings less uncertainty to
their trades than stock trades which can be thrown way off track if a
surprise happens such as a CEO quitting or something similar in the
micro picture.
This combined with the fact that there is so much liquidity in the
market also makes it a much harder market for someone to come in and
manipulate the price to their advantage and to the detriment of others.
The disadvantage here is that this also means less opportunities to gain
an informational edge and to profit from that edge as well.
No Upward Bias
Over the long term the US stock market has always gone up giving stocks
in the US an upward bias when trading. As currencies are traded in pairs
when the value of one currency is falling this automatically means that
the value of another currency is rising. This is an advantage from the
standpoint of there is equal opportunity for profit from both long and
short trades. This is a disadvantage from the standpoint of not having
that upward bias working for you when you are in a long trade.
The last characteristic that we will cover is how the fact that the
forex market is an over the counter market affects us as traders. As
this is a fairly in depth topic we are going to devote a full lesson to
it which will be our next topic of discussion so we hope to see you
then.
Lesson 2: The Difference Between Exchange Traded and Over the Counter Markets
In our last lesson we began the InformedTrades.com free video forex
course with a look at the major characteristics that make the foreign
exchange market unique in comparison to other markets. In today’s lesson
we are going to continue this discussion with a look at Exchange Traded
vs. Over the Counter Markets and how the fact that currencies trade
over the counter affects us as traders.
When trading stocks or futures you normally do so via a centralized
exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange or the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange. In addition to providing a centralized place where all trades
are conducted, exchanges such as these also play the key role of acting
as the counterparty to all trades. What this means is that while you may
be buying for example 100 shares of Google stock at the same time
someone else is selling those shares, you do not buy those shares
directly from the seller but instead from the exchange.
The fact that the exchange stands on the other side of all trades in
exchange traded markets is one of their key advantages as this removes
counterparty risk, or the chance that the person who you are trading
with will default on their obligations relating to the trade.
A second key advantage of exchange traded markets is that as all trades
flow through one central place, the price that is quoted for a
particular instrument is always the same regardless of the size or
sophistication of the person or entity making the trade. This in theory
should create a more level playing field which can be an advantage to
the smaller and less sophisticated trader.
Lastly, because all firms that offer exchange traded products must be
members and register with the exchange, there is greater regulatory
oversight which can make exchange traded markets a much safer place for
individuals to trade.
The downside that is often cited about exchange traded markets is cost.
As the firms who offer exchange traded products must meet high
regulatory requirements to do so, this makes it more costly for them to
offer these products, a cost that is inevitably passed along to the end
user. Secondly, as all trades in exchange traded products must flow
through the exchange this gives these for profit entities immense power
when setting things such as exchange fees which can also increase
transaction costs for the end user.
Unlike the stock market and the futures market which trade on
centralized exchanges, the spot forex market and many debt markets trade
in what’s known as the over the counter market. What this means is that
there is no centralized place where trades are made, instead the market
is made up of all the participants in the market trading among
themselves.
The biggest advantage to over the counter markets is that because there
is no centralized exchange and little regulation, you have heavy
competition between different providers to attract the most traders and
trading volume to their firm. This being the case transaction costs are
normally lower in over the counter markets when compared to similar
products that trade on an exchange.
As there is no centralized exchange the firms that make prices in the
instrument that is trading over the counter can make whatever price they
want, and the quality of execution varies from firm to firm for the
same instrument. While this is less of a problem in liquid markets such
as FX where there are multiple price reference sources, it can be a
problem in less highly traded instruments.
While the lack of regulation can be seen as an advantage in the above
sense it can also be seen as a disadvantage, as the low barriers to
entry and lack of heavy oversight also make it easier for firms offering
trading to operate in a dishonest or fraudulent way.
Lastly, as there is no centralized exchange the firm that you trade with
when you trade in an over the counter market like forex is the
counterparty to your trade, so if something happens to that firm you are
in danger of loosing not only the trades you have with that firm but
also your account balance.
It is for these reasons that there is so much focus among forex traders
as to which firm to trade with, with special attention being paid to the
financial stability of the firm and the execution that they provide.
As we proceed through this forex trading course we will continue to gain
a better understanding of the structure of the market and traders
should be well prepared after going through those lessons to make an
informed decision for themselves on this issue.
That’s our lesson for today, in our next lesson we are going to look at
the structure of the forex market so we can gain a better understanding
of who actually controls the market, so we hope to see you then.
Lesson 3: The Structure of the Forex Market
In our last lesson we
continued our course on the basics of Forex Trading with a look at the
differences between an exchange traded market like the stock market and
an over the counter market like the forex market. In today's lesson we
are going to continue this discussion with a look at the structure of
the forex market so we can learn who exactly controls the market and how
the forex broker and individual trader fit into this picture.
As we discussed in our
last lesson the forex market is an over the counter market meaning that
there is no centralized exchange where all trades are made. Because of
this, the price that someone receives when trading forex has
traditionally differed depending on the size of the transaction and the
sophistication of the person or entity that is making that transaction.
At the center or first level
of the market is something known as the Interbank market. While
technically any bank is part of the Interbank market, when an FX Trader
speaks of the interbank market he or she is really talking about the 10
or so largest banks that make markets in FX. These institutions make up
over 75% of the over $3 Trillion dollars in FX Traded on any given day.
There are two primary factors which separate institutions with direct interbank access from everyone else which are:
1. Access to the tightest prices.
We will learn more about transaction costs in later lessons however for
now simply understand that for every 1 Million in currency traded those
who have direct access to the Interbank market save approximately $100
per trade or more over the next level of participants.
2. Access to the best liquidity.
As with any other market there is a certain amount of liquidity or
amount that can be traded at any one price. If more than what is
available at the current price is traded, then the price adjusts until
additional liquidity enters the market. As the forex market is over the
counter, liquidity is spread out among different providers, with the
banks comprising the interbank market having access to the greatest
amount of liquidity and then declining levels of liquidity available at
different levels moving away from the Interbank market.
In contrast to individuals
who make a deposit into their account to trade, institutions trading in
the interbank market trade via credit lines. In order to get a credit
line from a top bank to trade foreign exchange you must be a very large
and very financially stable institution, as bankruptcy would mean the
firm that gave you the credit line gets stuck with your trades.
The next level of
participants are the hedge funds, brokerage firms, and smaller banks who
are not quite large enough to have direct access to the Interbank
market. As we just discussed the difference here is that the transaction
costs for the trade are a bit higher and the liquidity available is a
bit lower than at the Interbank level.
The next level of
participants has traditionally been corporations and smaller financial
institutions who do make foreign exchange trades, but not enough to
warrant the better pricing
As you can see here,
traditionally as the market participant got smaller and less
sophisticated the transaction costs they paid to trade became larger and
the liquidity that was available to them got smaller and smaller. In a
lot of cases this is still true today, as anyone who has ever exchanged
currencies at the airport when traveling knows.
To give you an idea of just
how large a difference there is between participants in the Interbank
market and an individual trading currencies for travel, Interbank market
participants pay approximately $.0001 to exchange Euros for Dollars
where Individuals in the airport can pay $.05 or more. This may not seem
like much of a difference but think about it this way: On $10,000 that
is $1 that the Interbank participant pays and $500 that the individual
pays.
The landscape for the
individual trader has changed drastically since the internet has gone
mainstream however, in many ways leveling the playing field and putting
the individual trader along side large financial institutions in terms
of access to pricing and liquidity. This will be the topic of our next
lesson.
Lesson 4: How the Forex Broker Provides Access to Individual Traders
In our last lesson we looked at the structure of the forex market
and how the market has traditionally been a very country club type
environment where the size and sophistication of the market participant
determined the price they received. In today's lesson we are going to
continue this discussion with a look at how the internet and the
invention of online trading platforms has begun to level the playing
field, giving the individual trader much greater access to reasonable
pricing.
Before the internet, very few individuals traded foreign exchange as
they could not get access to a level of pricing that would allow them a
reasonable chance to profit after transaction costs. Shortly after the
internet became mainstream however several firms built online trading
platforms which gave the individual trader a much higher level access to
the market. The internet introduced two main features into the equation
which were not present before:
1. Streaming Quotes: The Internet allowed these firms
to stream quotes directly to traders and then have them execute on those
quotes from their computer instead of having to deal over the phone.
This automated trade processing, and therefore made it easier for firms
to offer the ability to trade fx to the individuals and still be
profitable.
2. Automatic Margin Calls: What is not so obvious but
what was perhaps even more key is that the internet allowed an automated
margin call feature to be built into the platform. This allowed firms
to accept cash deposits from clients instead of having to put them
through the process of signing up to trade via a credit line. As we
discussed in our last lesson it is very difficult to get a credit line
to trade FX and for those who do it is a lot of paperwork and hoops to
jump through before they can begin trading. This would have made it
impossible to offer FX trading to smaller individual traders as the cost
involved in getting them set up to trade would not be worth it.
As the electronic platform allowed clients to deposit funds and then
automatically cut them out of positions if they got to low on funds,
this negated the need for credit lines and made the work to get an
individual account open well worth it to the forex broker from a profit
standpoint.
If you don't understand all the ins and outs of margin at this point
don't worry as this is something that we are going to go into much more
detail on in a later lesson.
For now it is simply important to understand that what these firms did
was take all the traders who were not big enough by themselves to get
access to good pricing and routed their order flow through one entity
that was. This allowed these firms access to much tighter pricing than
would otherwise have been possible which was then passed along plus a
little for the brokers to the end client.
So now you can see why although the forex market has been around for a
relatively long period of time, individuals have only started to trade
the market over the last few years.
Anther key thing that it is important to understand here is that the
larger a firm gets in terms of trading volume, the greater access that
firm has to tighter prices and liquidity and the more likely that firm
is to be able to pass on better pricing and execution to their clients.
This is another reason that many traders will evaluate the size of a
firm as one of the key factors in deciding who to trade with.
That's our lesson for today. In our next lesson we are going to look at
the different categories of participants in the fx market so we hope to
see you in that lesson.
Lesson 5: Forex Market Participants 1: Central Banks
In our last lesson we looked at how the advent of online trading
platforms has begun to level the playing field for individual traders,
allowing a much greater access to favorable pricing than was previously
available. In today’s lesson we are going to continue our discussion on
the structure of the FX market, with a look at who the different players
in the market are and how the motives of each affect us as individual
traders.
While the 10 largest banks which make up the forex Interbank market
account for over 75% of the over $3 Trillion in daily trading volume,
there is actually a level of participants with even more clout in the
market. While generally no where near as active as the banks just
mentioned, the Central Banks of countries also participate in the forex
market, and as they have such deep pockets, have huge clout when they
decide to enter the market.
There are two main reasons why a central bank would participate in the forex market which are:
1. To fix the value of its currency to a particular level:
Unlike the main currencies which we are going to be focusing on in this
course, the currencies of many developing countries are fixed in value
to the dollar or to some other currency or basket of currencies. This is
done to try and promote international competitiveness in the market and
a currency environment that is more conducive to economic stability.
Probably the most talked about example of a country that does this is
China who up until recently maintained a fixed value of their currency
against the US Dollar. A central bank normally accomplishes this by
buying their own currency when the value gets too weak creating more
demand for the currency and therefore driving the value up, and selling
their own currency when it gets to strong creating a greater supply of
that currency and therefore lowering its value back to the desired
level.
2. To protect the value of a floating currency from extreme movements: Unlike
China and many other developing economies in the world, the US, The
Euro Zone, Japan and the other major economies of the world have what is
known as a floating exchange rate. Very simply what this means is that
instead of having the value of the currency pegged to something else
which therefore determines its value, the value of the currency is
determined by market forces.
Although the values of these currencies float freely in the market most
of the time, as a currency’s strength or weakness in the market has such
a dramatic affect on a country’s international competitiveness, there
are rare instances where a central bank will intervene in the market
even with the major currencies. Normally this is only seen after large
one directional moves in the market over a long period of time, to the
point where the country’s stability or competitiveness is being severely
damaged. As Japan’s economy relies heavily on exports the most
notorious central bank for interventions is the Bank of Japan, however
both the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve have intervened
in the currency markets in the pasts.
While some interventions have limited affect on exchange rates others,
as you can see from the chart here of a past Bank of Japan intervention,
can have a dramatic affect on the market.
Because of this often times a central bank can do what is termed a
verbal intervention, where simply the talk of intervention is enough to
have the desired affect on the market.
That’s our lesson for today, In tomorrow’s lesson we will look at the
next level of participants in the market and how they affect us as
individual traders, so we hope to see you in that lesson.
Lesson 6: Forex Market Participants 2: Banks, Hedge Funds, and Corporations
In our last lesson we looked at how central banks are involved in
the foreign exchange markets and how their deep pockets sometimes allow
them the ability to control the level of their currency for their
country's economic benefit. In today's lesson we are going to continue
our discussion on the different participants in the foreign exchange
market with a look at how the rest of the participants in the market
affect us as individual traders.
Behind central banks in terms of size and ability to move the foreign
exchange market are the banks which we learned about in our previous
lessons which make up the Interbank market. It is important to
understand here that in addition to executing trades on behalf of their
clients, the bank's traders often times try to earn additional profits
by taking speculative positions in the market as well.
While most of the other players we are going to discuss in this lesson
do not have the size and clout to move the market in their favor, many
of these bank traders are an exception to this rule and can leverage
their huge buying power and inside knowledge of client order flow to
move the market in their favor. This is why you hear about quick market
jumps in the foreign exchange market being attributed to the clearing
out the stops in the market or protecting an option level, things which
we will learn more about in later lessons.
The next level of participants is the large hedge funds who trade in the
foreign exchange market for speculative purposes to try and generate
alpha, or a return for their investors that is over and above the
average market return. Most forex hedge funds are trend following,
meaning they tend to build into longer term positions over time to try
and profit from a longer term uptrend or downtrend in the market. These
funds are one of the reasons that currencies often times develop nice
longer term trends, something that can be of benefit to the individual
position trader.
Although not the typical way that Hedge funds profit from the market,
probably the most famous example of a hedge fund trading foreign
exchange is the example of George Soros' Quantum fund who made a very
large amount of money betting against the Bank of England.
In short, the Bank of England had tried to fix the exchange rate of the
British Pound at a particular level buy buying British Pounds, even
though market forces were trying to push the value of the Pound Down.
Soros felt that this was a losing battle and essentially bet the entire
value of his $1 Billion hedge fund that the value of the pound would
decrease. The market forces which were already at play, combined with
Soro's huge position against the Bank of England, caused so much selling
pressure on the pound that the Bank of England had to give up trying to
prop up the currency and it preceded to fall over 5% in one day. This
is a gigantic move for a major currency, and a move which netted Soros'
Quantum Fund over $1 Billion in profits in one day.
Next in line are multinational corporations who are forced to be
participants in the forex market because of their overseas earnings
which are often converted back into US Dollars or other currencies
depending on where the company is headquartered. As the value of the
currency in which the overseas revenue was earned can rise or fall
before that conversion, the company is exposed to potential losses
and/or gains in revenue which have nothing to do with their business. To
remove this exchange rate uncertainty many multinational corporations
will hedge this risk by taking positions in the forex market which
negate any exchange rate fluctuation on their overseas revenues.
Secondly these corporations also buy other corporations overseas,
something which is known as cross boarder mergers and acquisitions. As
the transaction for the company being bought or sold is done in that
company's home country and currency, this can drive the value of a
currency up as demand is created for the currency to buy the company or
down as supply is created when the company is sold.
Lastly are individuals such as you and I who participate in the forex market in three main areas.
1. As Investors Seeking Yield: Although not very
popular in the United States, overseas and particularly in Japan where
interest rates have been close to zero for many years, individuals will
buy the currencies or other assets of a country with a higher interest
rate in order to earn a higher rate of return on their money. This is
also referred to as a carry trade, something that we will learn more
about in later lessons.
2. As Travelers: Obviously when traveling to a country
which has a different currency individual travelers must exchange their
home currency for the currency of the country where they are traveling.
3. Individual speculators who actively trade currencies
trying to profit from the fluctuation of one currency against another.
This is as we discussed in our last lesson a relatively new phenomenon
but most likely the reason why you are watching this video and therefore
a growing one.
That's our lesson for today. In tomorrow's lesson we are going to look
at the main cities and time zones where the majority of forex trades
flow through and the differing characteristics of the 24 hour trading
day so we hope to see you in that lesson.
Lesson 7: A Breakdown of the Forex Trading Day
In our last lesson we finished up our discussion on the different
participants in the forex market and how each can affect the market. In
today’s lesson we are going to look at the major cities where foreign
exchange is traded and the characteristics of each of the 8 hour trading
sessions that make up the 24 hour trading day.
Unlike the futures and equities markets, the forex market trades
actively 24 hours a day with active trading hours following the sun
around the globe to each of the major money centers.
As the foreign exchange market is an over the counter market where two
counterparties can trade with each other whenever they want, technically
the market never closes. Most electronic trading platforms however open
for trading at around 5 PM Eastern Time on Sunday, which corresponds to
the start of Monday’s business hours in Australia and New Zealand.
While there are certainly banks in these countries which actively make
markets in foreign exchange, there is very little trading done in these
countries when compared to other major money centers of the world.
The first major money center to open and there fore the start of the
first major session in the forex market is the Asian Trading session
which corresponds with the start of business hours in Tokyo at 7pm
Eastern Time on Sunday.
While still considered 1 of the three major money centers, only 7.6% of
forex transactions flow through Tokyo trading desks, so the Asian
trading session is the least active of the three. While there is active
trading in Yen based currency pairs during Asian hours the market for
currencies outside of Yen based pairs is relatively thin, making Asian
trading hours a time when the larger banks and hedge funds in the market
will sometimes try and push the market in their favor.
Next in line is the European trading session which begins with the start
of London business hours at 2 AM Eastern Standard Time. While New York
is considered by most to be the largest financial center in the world,
London is still king of the forex market with over 32% of all forex
transactions taking place in the city. Before the Euro there were more
than a dozen additional currencies in Europe making foreign exchange
part of every day life for both individuals and businesses operating in
the region. In addition to this, London is situated perfectly from a
time zone standpoint with business hours for both the large eastern and
western economies taking place during London trading hours.
As London is the most active session in the forex market it is also the
session with the most volatility for all the currency pairs which we
will be studying in this course.
Last but not least is the US session which begins with the start of New
York business hours at 8 AM Eastern Standard Time. New York is a distant
second to London in terms of forex trading volumes with approximately
19% of all forex transactions flowing through New York Dealing Rooms.
The most active part of the US Trading session, and the most active time
for the forex market in general, is from about 8am to 12pm when both
London and New York trading desks are open for business. You can see
very large volatility during this time as in addition to both New York
and London trading desks being open, most of the major US economic
announcements are released during these hours as well.
The trading day winds down after 12pm New York time with most electronic
platforms closing for business at around 4 PM Eastern Standard Time on
Friday.
That’s our lesson for today, in our next lesson we will look at the main
currencies of the world which we will be learning to trade throughout
the rest of this course so we hope to see you in that lesson.
Lesson 8: An Overview of the Main World Currencies
In our last lesson we learned about the 3 major money centers of the
world and the characteristics of the three, eight hour trading sessions
which make up the forex market’s 24 hour trading day. In today’s lesson
we are going to look at the main currencies of the world which we will
focus on throughout the rest of this course.
Although there has been much press recently about the US Dollar loosing
its status, there is no doubt that as of this lesson and most likely for
the foreseeable future, the US Dollar still reigns supreme over all
other currencies of the world. The price for the majority of traded
commodities such as oil is quoted in US Dollars and the US Dollar
represents over 60% of the worlds currency reserves (the currency held
by central banks to back their liabilities). These facts combined with
the fact that the US Economy is by far the largest economy in the world
has resulted in a market where over 80% of all currency transactions
involve the US Dollar. As you can probably imagine after hearing this,
currency traders pay heavy attention to what is happening with the US
Economy, as this has a very direct affect not only on the US Dollar but
on every other currency in the world as well.
The rising power of the currency world is the Euro which was introduced
in 1999 as part of an overall plan to unify Europe into something known
as the European Union. In short the differing laws and currencies of the
different European countries were making them less competitive in the
global market place. To try and fix this problem and create one entity
with a common set of laws and a common currency, 15 countries joined
what is now referred to as the European Union and 12 of those countries
adopted the Euro as their common currency. While the economies of the
individual countries that make up the Euro Zone don’t come anywhere
close to the size of the US Economy, when combined into one Euro Zone
economy they do, and therefore some say the Euro will eventually rival
or even replace the Dollar as the main currency of the world.
Japan, which is the second largest individual economy in the world, has
the third most actively traded currency, the Japanese Yen. After
experiencing impressive growth in the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s Japan’s
economy began to stagnate in the late 1980’s and has yet to fully
recover. To try and stimulate economic growth, the central bank of Japan
has kept interest rates close to zero making the Japanese Yen the
funding currency for many carry trades, something which we will learn
more about in later lessons. It is also important to understand at this
stage that Japan is a country with few natural energy resources and an
export oriented economy, so it relies heavily on energy imports and
international trade. This makes the economy and currency especially
susceptible to moves in the price of oil, and rising or slowing growth
in the major economies in which it trades with.
While the United Kingdom is a member of the European Union it was one of
the three countries that opted out of joining the European Monetary
Union which is made up of the 12 countries that did adopt the Euro. The
UK’s currency is known as the Pound Sterling and is a well respected
currency of the world because of the Central Bank’s reputation for sound
monetary policy.
Next in line is Switzerland’s currency the Swiss franc. While
Switzerland is not one of the major economies of the world, the country
is known for its sound banking system and Swiss bank accounts, which are
basically famous for banking confidentiality. This, combined with the
country’s history of remaining neutral in times of war, makes the Swiss
Franc a safe haven currency, or one which attracts capital flows during
times of uncertainty.
When traded against the US Dollar, the Euro, Yen, Pound, and Swiss Franc
make up known as the “major currency pairs” which we will learn more
about in coming lessons.
For the purposes of this course we will focus on currencies that trade
actively 24 hours a day allowing the trader to move in and out of
positions during the trading week at anytime as he or she pleases.
Although not considered part of the major currencies there are three
other currencies in addition to the ones just listed which trade
actively 24 hours a day and which we will be covering in this course.
Known as the commodity currencies because of the fact that they are
natural resource rich countries, the Australian Dollar, New Zealand
Dollar and the Canadian Dollar are the three final currency pairs we
will be covering.
Also known as “The Aussie” the Australian Dollar is heavily dependant
upon the price of gold as the Australian economy is the world’s 3rd
largest producer of gold. As of this lesson interest rates in Australia
are also among the highest in the Industrialized world creating
significant demand for Australian Dollars from speculators looking to
profit from the high yield the currency and other Australian Dollar
denominated assets offer.
Like the Australian Dollar the New Zealand Dollar which is also known as
“The Kiwi” is heavily dependant on commodity prices, with commodities
representing over 40% of the countries total exports. The economy is
also heavily dependant on Australia who is its largest trading partner.
Like Australia, as of this lesson New Zealand also has one of the
highest interest rates in the industrialized world, creating significant
demand from speculators in this case as well.
Last but not least is the Canadian Dollar or otherwise affectionately
known as “The Loony”. Like its commodity currency brothers, the Canadian
Economy, and therefore the currency, is also heavily linked to what
happens with commodity prices. Canada is the 5th largest producer of
gold and while only the 14th largest producer of oil, unbeknownst to
most; it is also the largest foreign supplier of oil to the United
States. Its relationship with the US does not end here either as the
country exports over 80% of its goods to the United States, making the
economy and currency very susceptible to what happens not only with
commodity prices, but to the overall health of the US Economy as well.
That’s our lesson for today. In our next lesson we are going to
introduce the Forex Trading Platform so we can begin learning how to
place some trades using paper money as we learn more about the foreign
exchange market and potential ways to profit from the movement in the
world’s main currencies.
The module2 will be comming very soon so stay with us we promise to give u the real stuff other sites can not give u. Thank u
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