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Introduction Of The Foreign Exchange Market

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Introduction to the Foreign Exchange Market As the leading financial market in the world, the Foreign Exchange Market consists of several types of financial institutions, such as, investors, such as, central banks, brokers, and investment firms. The Foreign Exchange Market does not have an actual physical location; it is a worldwide system of computers. Currency traders are linked together from all over the world by these computers. Once currency traders enter the network, the computers allow them to exchange currencies by purchasing, selling, or speculating ("Foreign Exchange Markets - Forex - Investopedia Definition | Investopedia," n.d.). In the Foreign Exchange Market, also called Forex Market, trillions of transactions are completed everyday. Within this market are the spot market and forward market. Spot transactions take place in the spot market. A spot transaction occurs when one currency is traded for another currency. These types of transactions are immediate, however it takes two business days for the bank to process this transaction due to different time zones (Standard Bank, n.d.). Forward transactions occur in the forward market and are often called foreign exchange contracts. Unlike spot transactions, forward market transactions are set to occur on a specified future date. The agreement and exchange rate of the transaction is already determined, however, it will be traded at a future date, which is noted in the contract (Standard Bank, n.d.). Many historical

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