Forex For The Future

A non-geographical, existential market, the foreign exchange
market exists wherever one currency is traded for another.
Far and above the largest market in the world, the $2 billion
traded every day includes trading between large banks,
individual investors, corporations, governments and various
other institutions.
Established in 1971, Forex trading has only recently become
an individually traded market. Until the present time, only
major institutions could trade on this market. Retail traders
are currently a small, but constantly growing, part of the Forex.
Ten years ago, the Wall Street Journal estimated the daily
trading volume in the forex market to be in excess of $1 trillion.
Today that figure has grown to exceed $1.8 trillion a day. Based
on the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1945 aimed to stabilize
international currencies and prevent money fleeing across nations
, the U.S. dollar became fixed at a rate of $35 per ounce of gold.
Thus, the gold standard was formed and Forex trading became
a possibility. But only in 1971, when the Bretton Woods
Agreement was abandoned, was the Forex market established.
By 1973, major currencies became free to the push of supply
and demand. The power of speculators came to be.
With the advent of technological innovations like computers in
the 1980's, money was soon able to be traded across time zones.
Within minutes, like never before, massive amounts of currency
could be exchanged. Today, London holds the world's largest
international financial center and the major site for Forex trading.
The interbank market is beneficial for both the major commercial
turnovers and large amounts of purely speculative trading
that takes place on an everyday basis. Some large banks trade

billions of dollars daily. While some of that trading is on behalf
of the bank's customers, much is for the bank's own account.
Until recently, brokers on the market did most of the business
of trading for a small fee, but now individual investor's can
jump in on their own.
The benefits of individual investors gaining hands-on access
to Forex trading really came to be when the large inter-bank
units began to offer small traders the opportunity to buy or
sell smaller units (or lots) on their own.
At present, the Forex market is appealing because of its
massive trading volume, extreme liquidity, the number and
variety of traders in the market, long trading hours, factors
that affect the currency exchange rates and the geographical
dispersion of the market.
Between April 2005 and April 2006, Forex trading increase
by 38 percent and has more than doubled since 2001. This
can be attributed to the increasing importance of foreign
currency exchange as an asset and an increase in fund
management assets. Also, the vast array of execution
venues, like Internet trading platforms, has also made
it easier for retail traders to trade.
In May 2006, a European exchange survey company
found the top 10 investors in the Forex market were
mostly American banks such as Bank of American
and JP Morgan Chase, as well as international investors
like Deutsch Bank and Barclays Capital.
Trading on the foreign exchange market is up and coming