Part I. FOREX – What is it?

“To create a perfect winning strategy, 
You should carefully investigate the 
landscape of the FOREX battlefield.”

Commander in Pips: Ok, troops, let’s get started with this. I suppose most of you, at least once, went to another country. As you know, different countries usually have different currencies. If you are in London, for example, you need British pounds to take a date out for dinner in restaurant. If you’re in Osaka – you need Japanese yen instead. And what do you usually do, when you’ve just arrived at the London airport? Yes, you’re searching for a currency exchange center to change some of your US Dollars or whatever else you have for British Pounds. Congratulations, when you’re doing this, you’ve just become a FOREX market participant.

Pipruit: Ok, ok – let’s shift to trading - how to make money on the FOREX market? I do not need all this theory, let’s trade…
Commander in Pips: Hold on, son. Don’t be hasty. Remember what we’ve talked about in the introduction – discipline. If you don’t have discipline, you’ll probably lose all your money in the wink of an eye. But I can still give you a fast answer – almost as fast as you are:

When your trip is coming to an end, and you start to think about returning home, you look in your wallet and find some British pounds there and think to yourself... 

- Say, I don’t need them any more; it needs to exchange them back to bucks in airport…

You arrive at the airport for departure and visit the same exchange center. And what do you see? The exchange rate has changed! When you’ve just arrived, you converted $170 and got 100 Pounds. But after two weeks have passed you convert 100 pounds and received $171! You just made your first dollar trading FOREX.

Pipruit: Cool! This is it that allows me to make money on FOREX – fluctuations of the exchange rate!​

Commander in Pips: Right, the situation is similar in other countries – Australia, the EU, New Zealand, Russia, China etc. There is no big deal about choosing the particular country for example. The point is that different countries have different currencies and there is a world wide mechanism that makes it easy to make an exchange from one currency to another - and in huge volumes. That is FOREX. 

But just one note is worth saying here – not all currencies are freely convertible. Some currencies do not have an absolutely natural rate of exchange. Usually, it happens when government puts a ceiling and floor for national currency fluctuations. One of the best examples is Chinese Yuan, which trades in a narrow range each day. The most obvious purpose of this is economic protection of national manufacturing. A few countries even artificially lock their exchange rates so they don’t fluctuate at all. Usually, you can only buy those currencies when you arrive in the country and have to change whatever is left back to your original currency when you leave.

Pipruit: So, FOREX is just a number of people who change their currencies in exchange centers, isn’t it?​

Commander in Pips: Not quite. These people are just the smallest tip of the iceberg. Where do you think the foreign currency from exchange centers is transferred to?

Pipruit: Well, different exchange centers belong to different banks, so it seems that currency is also…​

Commander in Pips: Right, you just pointed out the biggest participants in the FX market – banks. There are many different banks – large and small, but the largest are transnational banks and government central banks. These large banks are major participants of FOREX market. All these participants link with each other.

Pipruit: Wait a minute. But how we should trade currency, via exchange centers in banks?​

Commander in Pips: You could do it in this way, but do you really want to sit in the bank lobby or at the airport watching the quote board? There is a much better way to trade. There are special institutions that exist just for this purpose – Retail FOREX brokers. Their business is to provide fast and simple access to the FOREX market to all who wish to trade, even to individuals. All that you have to do is to sign a typical agreement and transfer money to your trading account.

Pipruit: Sounds good. Look’s like it’s really simple. And how big is the FOREX market? I’ve heard from friend of mine, she’s a broker, that there are some markets that are illiquid. As she told me, “illiquid” means insufficient demand or supply volumes, i.e. low trade volume, so you can’t always find a willing buyer or seller. Does FOREX have the same problems?​

Commander in Pips: Well, I’ll show you… FOREX daily turnover was reported to be over 3.98 trillion US dollars in April 2010.

Pipruit: What does it mean? Is that a lot or only a little compared to other markets?​

Commander in Pips: Do you know about equity markets and particularly about the New York Stock Exchange? What do you think, is the stock market large and liquid enough?

Pipruit: I think so. When I watch business media, such as CNBC and Bloomberg, they talk about the stock market all the time – the S&P 500 is moving higher or the Dow Jones Index moving lower. They never say anything about people not being able to buy or sell. So that is a liquid market, I suppose.​

FOREX – What is it? - Forex School
Commander in Pips: Oh yeah? And now look at this little chart I found for you - just compare the dollar value of daily turnover, son…FOREX is not just big compared to the stock market, it’s huge.

Daily Turnover in Billions USD - Forex School
Pipruit: Incredible!​

Trade Spot Forex- Forex School
Commander in Pips: But don’t get too carried away. We trade Spot FOREX, not forwards, swaps and a lot of other stuff that you don’t understand yet. So, the share of retail trading, that spot trading also belongs to, is below the half of overall FX volume – approx. $1.5 trillion. But this is still more than enough, believe me…

Comments

B
BrokerMe
12 years ago,
Registered user
Great, i think i am gong to like This.
S
splithand
11 years ago,
Registered user
Stop Study Plan

> Great, i think i am gong to like This.

OK Hear this I'am not new, although after tradeing for 4+years I've realized that I need to refresh maybe restructure my whole approach In the begining I started with SFS & I will finish with SFS yes im home from the Battlefields of Forexland beat up but not broke now is time for me to do my homework seriously to emerge victoriously had it not been for SFS I would have died on this battlefield called FOREX

Splithand
S
STEVUCHU
11 years ago,
Registered user
Dear Sir,
My name is samson paul and do find the forex trading education materials rewarding. is it not possible to design a pdf format that will allow one to access a comple material in a condensed package
Samson
S
Sive Morten
11 years ago,
Registered user
Hi Samson,
We intentionally do not do this, because FPA site is totally free resource and it survive only by advertisement content. If we will compact all pages in one document we will miss visitors.
That's why, if you want to get more and more information with us, we ask you to be patient with this inconvenience.
W
Whitesnake
10 years ago,
Registered user
I feel that even if we have some trading experience sometimes it becomes to necessary for us to refresh our knowledge to stay updated in todays market and thats when i remember of such lessons which are worth reading and thats when i tune into FPA study materials.
L
luciademoja
10 years ago,
Registered user
Hej!
I found this first chapter very interesting!
I was looking for a source of knowledge that could help me with my new passion for the FOREX field and now I think I've totally found it!
In the last month I spent so much time searching for some kind of information about what REALLY is the Foreign Exchange and how people can actually make money with it, but the internet is full of a lot of weird information that makes difficult for a newbie like me to understand it in deep.
Although I understood a very large quantity of basical information in this page, I also have some question about this first "lesson".
First of all, I don't understand why if FOREX is so easy to put in practice, it seems that no one do it!
I mean, I've looked so long for some kind of forum that allowed me to start practicing with FOREX without a payment online course but, sadly, this is the only "guide" that I found! I am italian and it's not a problem for me to speak or read in English but maybe for other people this could be a problem!
Maybe the problem is that in Italy there are not so many people that operate in this field? I'm not sure, but I'm start to think that the only choose that people who don't speak english have to try to learn something and (maybe one day) try to earn something with FOREX is to do it in English!
P
PhilRichards
10 years ago,
Registered user
Thanks for this wonderful collection of resources, it is most impressive and makes great reading.
M
mudgts
10 years ago,
Registered user
I'm pretty new to this and I just stumbled upon here by accident after searching for the trading company I've dealt with. This is really informative. Thanks.
J
JJA
8 years ago,
Registered user
I am just getting started, a recruit you could say. I am looking to get started soon trading real money but I want to get a working knowledge of the market, the key players and develop a strategy that fits my lifestyle as well as find a broker that can accommodate someone starting up small and hopefully provide some support to this on going learning effort. Thanks for posting this info Sive and FPA. I am confident I will find lots of useful info here.
S
Shantiwiniiiiiii !
8 years ago,
Registered user
Sive, FPA Team ! Thank you for the job you did ! :):):)
Up till now, that's clear and easy to understand... and the images make it more fun. Bursted out laughing at the last one !
***Peace, Joy & Great Luck*** to any Soul reading these words, you are WONDERFUL!!! ;)
A
Ashan.uds
8 years ago,
Registered user
Salute ...
Special Consultant .....!!!:)
B
Billy Pidu
8 years ago,
Registered user
FPA & Sive, thanks for this Forex Military School. I like your style of presentation. I am a newbie exploring options for online biz. Interested in online trading. Have been thinking of signing up for free demo accounts to learn how to trade. FMS provides the education I need to be able to confidently pursue my dream in this risky yet lucrative income generating stream. Thanks again for this service.
W
Whitesnake
8 years ago,
Registered user
> FPA & Sive, thanks for this Forex Military School. I like your style of presentation. I am a newbie exploring options for online biz. Interested in online trading. Have been thinking of signing up for..

Very true FPA is a very good source for all those are willing to enhance their trading related knowledge and most of the traders are adhering to this lucrative business irrespective of the risk involved. :)
S
Sive Morten
7 years ago,
Registered user
Thanks guys. Your warm approvement gives us more inspiration to keep up our work!
S
sergey
7 years ago,
Registered user
Great course
L
lonelywonderer
7 years ago,
Registered user
will definitely advise my friends to check it out cause let me tell you, FPA hides some valuable knowledge here :D
D
dataSaMm
7 years ago,
Registered user
That certainly was an amusing introduction, thumbs up :))
K
Kokumin
7 years ago,
Registered user
Just enjoying and learning from every word...Thank you Sive&FPA
S
szerencsi.zsolt
7 years ago,
Registered user
Hi All! Thank you very much the opportunity and you are approaching the field of forex from different view as I saw it before. I am continuing to discover your course. G-d bless you all.
C
coola
7 years ago,
Registered user
Thanks for all the the I firms information. It's very useful ✌
M
micke_640
7 years ago,
Registered user
hello I have red the first chapter and I like it, so back to reading more.
Thanks for the oppurtunity to this material
regards
Mikael
P
plumule
7 years ago,
Registered user
I know with dedication and persistence, anyone can acquire this information but only if the desire is there. Personally I have been yearning for such knowledge in FX and I count myself lucky to be reading such materials that has been made available by the wonderful human beings behind all this. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
M
Muqasaha
7 years ago,
Registered user
Awesome can't wait to finish the course so I can actually start trading
H
Hamza Samiullah
7 years ago,
Registered user
Good job FPA ... Nice Method of teaching ...
F
fouclycm
7 years ago,
Registered user
Wow! How much really good material for me is in these threads. I will get ready to receive more forex education because the topics I liked.
Fair enough to be good traders.
S
somebody with gun
6 years ago,
Registered user
Thank you! Very clear for a beginner)
D
Daniel-Shurigin
6 years ago,
Registered user
i know a lot about forex but the post was still quite interesting for me
M
Makenzie Malachi
6 years ago,
Registered user
Forex business is very risky business. Though it is very profitable. But to do this business forex knowledge is necessary. All traders need to learn first before they dive deep. But what most of the trader do especially new traders. They just run before they start to learn how to walk. I think demo trading account can help a trader to learn the basic process of trading. Even I use demo trading still now before my trade.
M
mabakoena
6 years ago,
Registered user
I am looking to get started soon trading real money but I want to get a working knowledge of the market,
A
adorod20
6 years ago,
Registered user
I like how the introduction was in a military style. I feel like it resonates with me.
A
ali Abdullah
6 years ago,
Registered user
Thanks Sive for the useful lesson, I really enjoyed
A
Alpheus Dlamini
6 years ago,
Registered user
The information given is an eye opener in the forex business. I'm looking forward to getting a working knowledge of the market through the demo trading account, but after going through the lessons provided by FPA.
A
Anthony23
6 years ago,
Registered user
I'm really not against there being more articles like this on the forum. That would be great=)
J
Jorgetrader
6 years ago,
Registered user
Permissao para falar senhor. !! k
Gostei muito da forma de passar esses conhecimentos que por uma questão de uma didática militar nos tras um reflexo do real mercado Forex. Parabens pela imaginaçao e maneira de nos conduzir ao conhecimento desse mercado. Espero também em breve ja estar realizando as transaçoes no mercado. Abraços.
S
swatique
6 years ago,
Registered user
I really loved this school. Thanks to FPA.
G
gottacoin62
6 years ago,
Registered user
Looking forward to learning from you, sir :)
H
heini82
5 years ago,
Registered user
Just one question though. The last time Sive replied was 2016 do you still correspond Sive?
S
scott11
5 years ago,
Registered user
This is an excellent way of teaching forex to young traders. When a person thinks about investing in forex, they are confused about it and how to trade. Other forums should also follow this teaching technique. We should make teaching creative and exciting.
A
austinFX
5 years ago,
Registered user
Thanks so much FPA team. I believe this tutorial will help me become a Forex guru in time.
N
nagual_emmanuelio
5 years ago,
Registered user
good overview, thanks.
A
APPTRADE
4 years ago,
Registered user
saya menemukan kembali hasrat inti di industri in, dan secara pribadi saya akan redesign transaksi saya setelah belajar lagi disini .... terima kasih Forexpeacearmy saya siap berlatih demi yang lebih baik

I rediscovered the core passion in the industry, and personally I will redesign my transaction after studying here again ... thank you Forexpeacearmy I am ready to practice for the better
W
Watsmae
4 years ago,
Registered user
Lessons are explained in an Amazing 'Military way'. I'm looking forward to the next.
M
Milsol
3 years ago,
Registered user
🇲🇿 estou a iniciar no Forex e feliz pelo acesso a esse conteúdo
D
Ds Bhutto
3 years ago,
Registered user
nice educational methode . dailogy system may most effective for undarestanding easily
W
Watswats
3 years ago,
Registered user
This first step lightens the hope candle. Its worth the going.
C
Comfortangel
3 years ago,
Registered user
I am new to FOREX trading and i find this information so helpful.
so explicit. Thank you
P
Pavanbandari
3 years ago,
Registered user
Very clearly explained...and useful information especially for the newbies. Thank you.
A
Ashraf1999
3 years ago,
Registered user
موقع رائع جدا ومفيد جدا شكرا لكم لقد استفد ت كثيرا من هذه المقالات
R
RODRIGO SEVERO LEITE
2 years ago,
Registered user
Começando novamente, para consolidar todo o conhecimento. Gratidão a todos os envolvidos.
J
Joankid
2 years ago,
Registered user
muy interesante me agrada mucho espero encontrar practicas donde pueda aprender con mas facilidad
R
RuthK
5 months ago,
Registered user
So wonderfully explained. I love the conversational style which makes it so easy to understand! Thank you, Commander!

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