Foreign exchange trading popularly known as Forex trading is a lucrative self-employment opportunity. Here a skilled trader through speculating the fluctuation in exchange rates of different currencies makes a profit by selling and buying in currency pairs. The advantages of this trading lie in the high liquidity of forex markets, scalability through stock brokers, accessibility to 24-hour trading, and the ability to make profits in both rising and falling markets.
Regardless of this opportunity and benefits the forex trading has in its store some potential risks that will result in considerable losses for the trader. However, having a thorough knowledge of the terminologies of a forex market helps to stay clear of such pitfalls to some extent. Even novices can attain this with the help of the best forex trading courses for beginners. In case you decide to make it on your own the following essential terminologies could kick-start your journey.
Currency Pair and Exchange Rates
In forex, we trade in pairs where one currency is quoted against the other. For example, AED/USD is a currency pair. To begin with, just understand that here AED is the base currency and USD is the quote currency. Meanwhile, we have the exchange rate, which is the value of one currency in relation to the other.
Bid Price and Ask Price
The bid price is the buying price at which the market is ready to buy the base currency in exchange for the quote currency. For example, if the bid price for AED/USD is 1.2, it means that the market is willing to buy 1 AED for 1.2 USD. On the other side, we have the ask price. It is the selling price at which the market is ready to sell the base currency in exchange for the quote currency. Suppose the ask price for AED/USD is 1.3. It means that the market sells 1 AED for 1.3 USD.
Spread
The spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price. This is exactly where the best forex trading courses for beginners start to inculcate trading knowledge among their students. This difference which represents the transaction costs for traders and brokers is something that affects the profits made in a trade. With a wider spread, you will have larger transaction costs and lesser profits. On the contrary narrower spread offers more trading profits.
PIP
Short form of Point in Percentage. It represents the smallest unit of price movement in the forex market.
Leverage
This is a term as well as a facility in forex trading that helps traders scale up their trades with minimal investment. In effect with a small deposit you borrow money from brokers to open a large position in trade.
Margin
Margin is the collateral that a trader deposits with the broker. The margin requirement is according to the leverage and margin calls initiated by the broker.
Stop Loss and Take Profit
These are risk-mitigating facilities available in forex markets. In case of stop loss, it minimizes losses by closing the trading position at a predetermined price level if the market moves against the trader’s speculation. Likewise, the Take Profit ensures that the trade is closed at a certain profit level.
So here we discussed some essential terms that will help you to understand the forex market better. However, forex is more than mere technical terminologies. It requires consistent practice and experience to mitigate risks and make profits. Rather than taking risks and losing money, it would be better to enrol in the best forex trading courses that provide live trading sessions and demo trading practices. In this direction, the comprehensive course offered by Stewarts Business Academy will be the perfect choice. Our experienced tutors make sure that you leave our academy with expertise in forex trading.