Guest Post by Jan Erik Miranda
The concept of the Foreign Exchange market is an easy one. It's all about traders buying and selling foreign currency in a simultaneous transaction in the hopes of making a few dollars. But it really is much more than that. The exchange or transaction can serve as a way to facilitate international commerce. Governments use it to impact the value of their country's currency, hopefully for the better. This is usually in a bid help commerce cut their losses due to the ever changing up and down nature of exchange rates.
Quite simply, the purpose of foreign currency exchange markets is to turn one country's currency into another. The US dollar can be converted in a Mexican Peso or into Euros. The amount of money which can be converted depends on the exchange rate which can change minute by minute or can be fixed. Countries such as China have a fixed rate determined by banks. The US dollar's exchange rates are based solely on market demand.
Another interesting point regarding foreign currency exchange markets is that they can pave the way for international financial transactions. These include the buying and selling of goods, direct investing in equipment or real estate in another country or purchasing investments such as foreign bonds. What does this look like? Well, a Canadian company may want to buy manufactured goods in China. The Forex market allows instant exchange from US Dollars to Chinese currency, which is called renminbi.
Currency value has a huge impact on international trade, purchasing power and inflation. Central banks, such as the US Federal Reserve, work hard to minimize the impact of money market fluctuations. They use the Forex market to control the value of their currency, which impacts the total amount of currency in worldwide circulation.
Financial advisors, fund managers and investment agents take advantage of the Forex market to diversify client portfolios and increase their returns. Through carefully managed risks, investors can gamble on whether exchange rates will change. Similar to stocks, if foreign currency is bought low and sold high, the inventory has a nice tidy profit,
Companies and corporations that do business in multiple countries can't escape the losses and gains due to unpredictable and uncontrollable fluctuations. The only thing that may prevent huge losses is to make forward transactions whereby they make a binding agreement to exchange currencies in the future at fixed rates. This helps control losses on future expenses.
To illustrate, a Canadian company orders shoes from Taiwan. The order will be ready in four months, so the buyer draws up a forward transaction agreement that freezes the price based on the exchange rate at the time of placing the order. If the value of the currency in Taiwan changes adversely, the Canadian company is protected.
About the Author:
As an internet marketer, Jan Erik Miranda is also trading Forex for quite sometime now. For more articles on Forex trading and/or currency trading such as this one, visit International Forex Trading.
