Whether you’re an individual trader or a financial or investment professional, the foreign exchange (forex) market, also known as the currency or foreign currency market, is where the money is. Forex trading amounts to approximately $5 trillion (yes, trillion, not billion) per day.
By comparison, the approximately $700 billion a day bond market and $200 billion a day in stock trading worldwide appear relatively small in size. The total daily value of all the stock trading in the world equals just about one hour’s worth of trading in the forex market every day.
Forex Players – Banks
There are several distinct groups of participants in the forex market. The largest group of forex traders, in terms of the total dollar value of trading that they account for, is comprised of commercial and investment banks. Banks conduct a large amount of currency trading on behalf of their customers who are involved in international business and trade operations. They also serve as market makers in forex trading and trade heavily in their own accounts. (If a banker ever cautions you against forex trading, you might want to ask them why, if forex is such a bad investment, their bank invests such huge sums in the forex market.)
Forex Players – Governments
Governments, through their central banks, are also major players in the forex market. The central bank of a nation will often adopt large positions of buying or selling its own currency in an attempt to control the currency’s relative value in order to combat inflation or to improve the country’s balance of trade. Central bank interventions in the forex market are similar to policy-driven central bank interventions in the bond market.
Forex Players – Companies
Large companies that operate internationally are also substantially involved in forex trading, trading up to hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Corporations can use the forex market to hedge their primary business operations in foreign countries. For example, if a U.S.-based company is doing a significant amount of business in Singapore, requiring it to conduct large business transactions in Singapore dollars, then it might hedge against a decline in the relative value of the Singapore dollar by buying the currency pair Usd/Sgd (US dollar vs. Singapore dollar).
Forex Players – Traders
Last, but certainly not least, are individual forex traders, speculators who trade the forex market seeking investment profits. This group includes a disparate cast of characters, from professional investment fund managers to individual small investors, who come to the market with widely varying levels of skill, knowledge, and resources.
Have a good day.
By comparison, the approximately $700 billion a day bond market and $200 billion a day in stock trading worldwide appear relatively small in size. The total daily value of all the stock trading in the world equals just about one hour’s worth of trading in the forex market every day.
Forex Players – Banks
There are several distinct groups of participants in the forex market. The largest group of forex traders, in terms of the total dollar value of trading that they account for, is comprised of commercial and investment banks. Banks conduct a large amount of currency trading on behalf of their customers who are involved in international business and trade operations. They also serve as market makers in forex trading and trade heavily in their own accounts. (If a banker ever cautions you against forex trading, you might want to ask them why, if forex is such a bad investment, their bank invests such huge sums in the forex market.)
Forex Players – Governments
Governments, through their central banks, are also major players in the forex market. The central bank of a nation will often adopt large positions of buying or selling its own currency in an attempt to control the currency’s relative value in order to combat inflation or to improve the country’s balance of trade. Central bank interventions in the forex market are similar to policy-driven central bank interventions in the bond market.
Forex Players – Companies
Large companies that operate internationally are also substantially involved in forex trading, trading up to hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Corporations can use the forex market to hedge their primary business operations in foreign countries. For example, if a U.S.-based company is doing a significant amount of business in Singapore, requiring it to conduct large business transactions in Singapore dollars, then it might hedge against a decline in the relative value of the Singapore dollar by buying the currency pair Usd/Sgd (US dollar vs. Singapore dollar).
Forex Players – Traders
Last, but certainly not least, are individual forex traders, speculators who trade the forex market seeking investment profits. This group includes a disparate cast of characters, from professional investment fund managers to individual small investors, who come to the market with widely varying levels of skill, knowledge, and resources.
Have a good day.
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