Trading Strategy

The foreign exchange market, or Forex market, is an around-the-clock cash market where the currencies of nations are bought and sold, typically via brokers. Forex trading is always done in currency pairs. For example, you buy Euros, paying with U.S. Dollars, or you sell Canadian Dollars for Japanese Yen. The value of your Forex investment increases or decreases because of changes in the currency exchange rate or Forex rate. These changes can occur at any time, and often result from economic and political events.

Using two hypothetical Forex investments, this article shows you how to calculate profit and loss in Forex trading. The currency to the left of the / (USD in this case) is referred to as base currency and its value is always 1. The currency to the right of the / (EUR in this case) is referred to as the counter currency.