Significant Facts About Forex Currency Pairs

n the instance of the Euro which is the initial currency it is recognized as the base currency whereas the second currency or the dollar is regarded as the counter or quote currency. What it actually means is in case of these two forex currency pairs, if you want to purchase the currency pair, then you have to buy the Euro currency and sell US dollars at the same time.

Complete Comprehension

Hence, to have success when trading in forex currency pairs, you need to have a full and comprehensive understanding about currency pairs especially when going into a forex trade, you must know what currency you are selling or buying. For success in forex currency pairs, you should have a very complete knowledge about the major currencies such as the US Dollar, Euro, German deutshe mark and so on.

For a very long time, the US dollar has been the major currency throughout the world. It was used as a primary currency to assess other currencies that were being traded on forex and because of this all the currencies needed to be quoted in terms of the how it related to the US dollar.

Because all Forex trading deals in foreign currencies and the full extent of such trade is stupendous and ultimately amounts to well over a trillion dollars, to become a success at trading in them requires a full understanding of forex currencies pairs.

Simultaneous Transactions

As elaborated on, traders purchase and sell currencies by exchanging one type of currency to another and in the hopes of turning a profit from doing in the process. The market quotations as far as Forex is concerned, is specified as forex currency pairs which is denoted as the base currency which is then followed by the quote currency.

Amongst the most usual types of currency pairs are the GBP/USD (British pound vs. US dollar), EUR/USD (Euro vs. US dollar) USD/JPY (US dollar vs. Japanese Yen) and USD/CHF or US dollar vs. Swiss franc.

As far as forex currency pairs go, it is common to have the base currency listed first which is then followed by the quote currency or counter. Moreover, the base currency is a single energetic monetary unit, for instance 1 EUR, 1 USD or 1 GBP, and is implied and not shown necessarily.

Forex Trading System: How to Read a Forex Quote

Forex is an abbreviated name for "foreign exchange." The Forex market is a non-stop cash market where the currencies of nations are bought and sold, typically via brokers. For example, you buy Euros, paying with U.S. Dollars, or you sell Euros 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 often result from economic and political factors, such as the price of oil or political unrest. To better understand how the exchange rate can affect the value of your Forex investment, this article shows you how to read a Forex quote.

Forex quotes are always expressed in pairs. In the following example, your "pair" of currencies are the U.S. Dollar (USD) and the Euro (EUR). The Forex quote, USD/EUR = 265.50, means that one U.S. dollar is equal to 265.50 Euros. 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. In this example, one USD can buy 265.50 EUR, since it is the stronger of the two currencies.

Because the U.S. dollar is regarded as the central currency of the Forex market, it is always treated as the base currency in any Forex quote where it is one of the pairs. Incidentally, the U.S. Dollar is involved in nearly 90% of all Forex transactions.

In this example, your "pair" of currencies are the Japanese Yen (JPY) and the Euro (EUR). The Forex quote, JPY/EUR= 175.10, means that one Japanese Yen is equal to 175.10 Euros. The currency to the left of the / (JPY in this case) is referred to as base currency and its value is 1. The currency to the right of the / (EUR in this case) is referred to as the counter currency. In this example, one JPY can buy 175.10 EUR, since it is the stronger of the two currencies.

The goal of any Forex trading system is to profit from foreign currency movements. This requires adequate training in basic Forex principles, such as performing a Technical Analysis, using Forex charts and Stop/Loss tools, and keeping up-to-date with economic and political events. In a sense, Forex training never ends.

Forex Trading: Currency Exchange Tutorial

The currency trading tutorial you're about to receive here will give you a basic idea of how things works. However, you must keep in mind that this tutorial is only scratching the surface. The Forex market is complex, fast-paced and requires serious further study if you wish to trade successfully.

Now that we have that disclaimer out of the way, let's begin by looking at the fundamental unit involved in every trade: the 'currency pair'.

What are currency pairs?

Currency pairs are units of 2 currencies involved in a foreign exchange trade. For example, if you want to sell U.S. dollars to buy Euros, you would look at the exchange rate quoted for the EUR/USD currency pair. Or, if you wanted to sell Euros to buy U.S. dollars, you would look at the exchange rate quoted for the USD/EUR currency pair.

You might thinking: “Aren't they the same thing?” Well, they almost are, but you must look at the correct pair, in the correct order, based on the currency being purchased.

There are two reasons for doing this:

First, it is easier to calculate the results of your exchange in terms of how much of the base currency you can purchase with your 'quote' currency. Your base currency is the currency you intend to buy, and the quote currency is the currency you intend to sell in exchange for the base.

When quoting an exchange rate, your broker will list the base currency first in the pair, and the quote currency second.

This means that when you see a pair like EUR/USD, you are seeing the cost of 1 Euro in U.S. Dollars. An exchange rate quote of EUR/USD = 1.4436 means that 1 Euro costs $1.4436 in U.S. Dollars.

Likewise, the USD/EUR pair indicates the cost of 1 U.S. Dollar in terms of Euros. An exchange rate of USD/EUR = 0.6834 would mean that 1 U.S Dollar costs 0.6834 Euro.

The second reason for looking at the correct buy/sell ordered pair is that you'll want to know the difference between the 'bid price' (exchange rate) and the 'ask price' (what the market makers want for the currency).

The difference between bid price and ask price make up what is known as 'the spread'. Forex traders are subject to spreads when opening or closing trades in the buying position.

A Guide to Desiphering Forex Quotes

Learning to read forex quotes can be a challenge. They present different information than the standard common stock quotes with which most folks are familiar. Should you determine, after spending plenty of time building a forex trading strategy, that you are ready to enter the forex trading market, then you need to make sure that you know how to properly read the foreign exchange trading quotes.

The first part of the quote lets the forex trader know which currency is involved. The nation listed first is referred to as the base currency. This means the trader currently holds that currency and he is using it to buy the quote currency, sometimes called the trade currency. For example, a quote that reads USD/JPY means that the forex trader currently holds United States Dollars and wants to trade them for Japanese Yen. Forex quotes always begin this way, with the two currencies involved forming what's called the cross.

Quick fact : The Forex market is by far the largest financial market in the world, and includes trading between large banks,central banks, currency speculators,multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions.

The second part of forex quotes that a person needs to pay attention to is the pricing portion of the quote. To continue the example from above, if the quote reads USD/JPY=117.57, then the trader knows that for every $1 (USD) he trades, he will get 117.57 Japanese Yen (JPY) in return. While that may seem really simple, there are a few more details of these quotes that a forex trader needs to take note of before making the trade.

Did you know that the average daily trade in the global forex markets currently exceeds US$ 2-2.5 trillion !

Following the initial line of the quote, which contains the two currencies that form the cross and the exchange rate, is another line of information. This is probably more familiar to common stock traders. Bid prices and ask prices, which make up an integral part of forex quotes, function in forex much the same way. The bid price is the price at which a trader can sell the currency or in other words, that is the price that people are willing to pay for it. The buy price is what a trader will have to pay if he wants to buy the currency. There is usually a difference between the bid and the buy numbers, but it is seldom substantial.

Things to Know to Deal With Foreign Currency Exchange

The main purpose of the foreign currency exchange market is to make money but it is different from other equity markets. There are various technical terminologies and strategies a trader must know to deal with currency exchange. This article will give an insight into the normal operations in the foreign currency exchange market.

In the Currency Exchange market the commodity that is traded is the foreign currency. These foreign currencies are always priced in pairs. The value of one unit of a foreign currency is always expressed in terms of another foreign currency. Thus all trades incorporate the purchase and sale of two foreign currencies at the same time. You have to buy a currency only when you expect the value of that currency to increase in the future. When it increases in value, you have to purchase the currencies you have bought to make your profit. When you buy or sell a currency then the trade is called open trade or in open position and can be closed only when you sell or buy an equivalent amount of currency.

You must also understand how the currencies are quoted in the currency exchange market. They are always quoted in pairs as USD/JPY. The first currency is the base currency and the second one is the quote currency. The quote value depends on the currency conversion rates between the two currencies under consideration. Mostly the USD will be used as based currency but sometimes euro, pound sterling is also used.

The profit of the broker depends on the bid and the ask price. The bid is the price the broker is ready to pay to buy base currency for exchanging the quote currency. The ask is the price the broker is ready to sell the base currency for exchanging the quote currency. The difference between these two prices is called the spread which determines the profit or loss of the trade.

The bid and ask prices are quoted in five figures. The spread is measured in pip which is defined as the smallest change in price based on the current conversion rates of the currencies under consideration. For USD/JPY if the bid price is 136.50 and ask price is 136.55 then spread is 5 pips and you have to recover the five pips from your profit.

Margin used in the foreign currency exchange terminology refers to the deposit that a trader makes to his account to cover any losses expected in the future. A high degree of leverage is supplied by the brokers to traders for currency exchange. The ratio is 100:1 normally. The brokerage system will calculate the funds required for the current trade and will check for the availability of margin before executing any trade.

Making Sense of Forex Quotes and Pips

Forex quotes are always listed in pairs, these quotes reflect the exchange rates of the currencies. These pairs look like this: GBP/USD = 1.9714. The currency listed first is known as the base currency (being the base of the trade), the second is called the counter, or quote currency.

All well and good, but what do these numbers mean? The value of the pair is a ratio of one unit of the base currency to it's equivalent in the quote currency. Supposing that you expect the value of the base to rise against the quote, buy the base currency and sell the quote currency, and vice versa. As an illustration, say that the value of the Euro (EUR) is expected to rise against that of the US Dollar (USD). In this case, buying Euros and selling US Dollars at the same time is what you would normally do. This is called going long.

Further, take the Forex quote CHF/USD = 0.8944 as an example. Say that the Swiss Franc (CHF) is expected to fall as compared to the US Dollar (USD). You would sell US Dollars and buy Swiss Francs - this would be going short.

Now, in an actual Forex trading situation, the exchange quotes will be listed at two slightly differing prices, for instance: EUR/USD = 1.7420/1.7425. The left quote is the Bid price, the right is the Asking price. The difference between these is call a Bid/Ask spread, or just Spread for short. The Bid price is the price you can sell your currency for, while the Ask price is the price at which you can purchase the currency.

This spread means that if you were to buy a great deal of currency, then sell it before there had been any change in the relative values of the two currencies, you would lose money on the trade, but the dealer would make money from the trade. A Forex dealer makes their money from the Ask/Bid Spread. They are in a good position, as they stand to make money whether or not you do well with your trade.

Forex quotes are typically quoted to four decimal places - for example:

USD/EUR = 0.6793
EUR/GBP = 0.7468
GBP/CHF = 2.2041
CHF/AUD = 1.0095

The exception to this rule, at least among the major currencies, is the Japanese Yen (JPY) . If the Yen is being quoted, then the Forex quotes are just to two decimal places, as in these examples:

USD/JPY = 109.32
EUR/JPY = 160.95

This is due to the value of the Japanese Yen being only about one hundredth of the value of one U.S. dollar.

A change of 1 in the last decimal place in a quote is named a Pip. this is the smallest amount by which the relative values of two currencies will change. Normally, a Forex brokers commission (the Ask/Bid Spread) will be somewhere between 2 and 5 Pips.

A movement of 20 to 50 Pips is a typical shift in the value of a quoted pair on any given day of Forex trading. The market can sometimes experience greater volatility though, with much larger movements being seen. In November 2007, there were some bigger shifts in the relative values of the US Dollar (USD) and the UK Pound (GBP), when the change in relative value of the two currencies was as much as 200 Pips on some days.

Usually, the daily changes in the Forex market are very small - so trading with very large amounts of money is the way to go if you are to make a sizable profit.

Let's say that the Euro (EUR) is expected to rise against the U.S. Dollar (USD). Based on this, you buy 100 Euros at a quote of EUR/USD = 1.4720/1.4725. A hundred Euros would cost you $147.25. If the Euro rises fifty Pips against the dollar the quote is now EUR/USD = 1.4770/1.4775.

Currency Exchange Agencies in the UK

Traditionally it was the High Street Bank that was used to transfer currency abroad. Their reputation was second to none and generation after generation used them to Transfer Money Abroad. However in our competitive world we have seen Building Societies command more of the banking market by issuing 'bank accounts'; and also Currency Brokers who originally were formed to transfer large amounts of currency in moments for the Forex Trade Market, have now engulfed the transfer of large funds by being able to beat the processing costs of High Street Banks.

Currency Brokers as do High Street Banks buy their Foreign Currency at wholesale prices. But the one redeeming factor in the brokers favour is the percentage of profit added to each deal. The banks tend to add between 3% to 4%; whereas the Currency Broker will add up to 1%.

For the unsuspecting client this can be all confusing. When the High Street Banks are offering 0% commission why aren't they the best option? There isn't a simple explanation other than saying that over the past 4 decades a commission payment for the transfer of currency has been the normal process. The High Street Banks play heavily on this factor; as I may say do some Currency Brokers.

But ... What we need to establish is what will our money get us when transferred? Forget the 0% commission or any other special offer ... it is the bottom line that counts. If we have £100,000 what will we get?

For those who read this article and have their reservations about using a currency broker allow me to give you a few examples:

Currency Exchange Case Study - In September 2007 Jason and Helen wanted to buy an Apline ski home in Austria. The property was valued at £295,000. They hadn't gone to the bank as they had both heard that the banks weren't always the best choice. A broker will be fully aware of what the banks charge at what rates they work with: Barclays on this day was working with an exchange rate of ¬1.35 / £1; the broker on the other hand could get ¬1.38 / £1. Using Barclays, Jason and Helen would have received ¬398,250; whereas the broker actually secured him ¬407,100 which has a difference of ¬8,850 (£6,400).

Currency Exchange Case Study - In August 2007 there was Ellie from Southampton, she was buying a property in Almeria, Spain. Her transfer was for a villa at £325,000; a superb 5 bedroom villa with sea views. Her bank had frightened her with the exchange rate, so she decided to look elsewhere; fortunately she came to a Currency Broker's website. She was offered an exchange rate of ¬1.39 / £1; we were able to offer ¬1.41 / £1. This meant had she continued with the bank Ellie would have realized ¬451,750 - however fortunately the broker service could manage ¬458,250; saving Jayne ¬6,500 (£4,600)

Currency Exchange Case Study - Paul and Debbie from Bootle in Cheshire had taken 9 months to purchase a villa in Pescara in the Abruzzo region of Italy for ¬650,000; January 2008. Sadly when a house purchase takes so long there can be fluctuations in the currency rate, and on this occasion it wasn't in Paul and Debbie's favour. So it became even more important to save on the currency exchange. Had they gone to a bank they would have paid ¬8,100 more than what they paid a Currency Broker. They successfully managed to save them £6,090.

I hope that showing these examples have helped in your understanding. Do not be afraid to get a quote from an Online Currency Broker; they can provide testimonials should you be concerned.

Each and every step of the process is done through a traditional bank; and account is setup for each transaction and such transaction history can be supplied should you need it.

Forex Secrets. Delusion No1. Forex Currency Rate and Economic Factors Impact on Exchange Rate

The delusion conceptually propounds that intraweek and intraday FOREX currency quotes movement is governed by either improvement or by deterioration of the state’s economic situation. But in reality, even in case the actual Forex news are superior to the estimated one, the FOREX quotes up/down movement is of 50/50 probability.

This statement is thoroughly important. Once the job of Forex trader is gambling on FOREX exchange rates differential (FOREX pairs up/down movement), the following is to be realized to obtain faultless profit:

FOREX pairs pricing mechanism (say at point X where you are completing the market analysis)

Factors imparting growth/decline to FOREX rates (up/down from point X).

Thus, having understood the FOREX ratesfactors effective at the extra-exchange (book-maker) FOREX market and the given currency motive factors, a trader must possess distinct knowledge of whether to buy or to sell the given currency pair.

So, what are these factors?

FOREX student suggest unambiguous interpretation of factors responsible for the price formation and the fluctuations there of:

Forex rate constitutes a demand-supply balance for a given goods (currency).

Any violation of this balance, (for instance, in case where the estimated news is in disagreement with the issued official one), results in the FOREX rates reciprocation in chase of a new demand-supply balance. Poor demand brings about decline in a certain currency rate, with a high demand leading to the growth of the latter. The situation continues as long as the currency buy/sell demand comes to balance at another level or at another point.

Referring to the B. Williams (“Trading Chaos 2” Chapter 1 “The market is what you are thinking of it”):

Each world market is dedicated to distribute or share limited amount of something… among those desirous to obtain it most of all. The market affects it by way of finding out and identifying the exact price? Underlying the buyer’/sellers’ power absolute equilibrium point.

The above point is readily established by stock, futures, bonds, FOREX and options markets, be it either via an open auction or by virtue of a computerized facility. Markets spot this point prior to any misbalance being detectable by You or by me or even by traders at the exchange floor.

With this scenario holding true – and it really does – we are in position to jump at certain simple yet important conclusions as regards the information being circulated through the market and enjoying doubtless acceptance”.

Thomas Demark was more laconic in “Technical analysis - an emerging science”:

“Price movement is governed by demand and supply. Should demand exceed supply, there’s a price rally and if visa versa, there’s a price decline. All economists do share these underlying principles”.

Hence, the role of fundamental analysis for FOREX market is readily apparent.

In scholar fiction one will discover roughly the following explanation, persistently wandering from book to book, from site to site and suggesting attaining successful trading at FOREX market by way of scrutinizing the country’s economic fundamental data, viz. by tracking the factors reflective of the country’s economy condition as below:

State economy condition dynamics indicators (GDP, trade & payments balance, current account, industrial production, etc. It is knowledge, that the higher the above indicators – the faster the economic and the currency price growth);

Stock indices, via average arithmetic index of the country’s securities market condition and dynamics. E.g.: 0.3% daily DJI growth in the USA means that this certain day the shares of 30 leading US companies, being pictured by DJU, went 0.3% more expensive. By similarity, DAX30 is the major German index, incorporating the price of shares of the country’s 30 leading companies.

The country’s interest rate, since the higher the rate, the greater number of investors is eager to invest into the country’s economy and hence into national currency strength.

Rate of inflation (the higher the rate, the quicker the National Bank will hike the interest rate). With this assumption, the CPI constitutes a key factor.

Money supply growth in domestic market, which fact brings about the inflation, leading to the interest rate hike.

The country’s gold and currency reserve assets.

Variation dynamics correlation of: balances of payment, trade balance, state budget, gross domestic product (GDP), etc.

Trade and industry dynamics (industrial production, industrial orders, DGO, capacity utilization, retail sales, etc.)

Construction statistics (construction spending, new home sales, housing under construction, building permits, etc.)

Labor statistics (unemployment rate, new jobs, etc.)

Society investigations (consumer confidence, consumer sentiment, purchase managers and service managers sentiment, etc.)

To be considered additionally are the country’s political stability and tranquility (clearly, any political, natural and other cataclysms are sure to turn investors nervous making them withdraw the investments from the country, thus weakening its national currency). And with the currency being the national economy derivative, changes in economic data will inevitably result in the above currency rate movement.

Conclusions:

Progress in economy results in the currency exchange rate rally.

Decrease in economic indicators leads to the national currency rate decline.

To sum it up, critical economic and political news (whose calendar is issued in advance and is familiar to any trader) constitute a standing factor giving rise to misbalance and causing the currency rate fluctuations.

In anticipation of important economic and political news FOREX pair crawl to the rates as inspired by the estimates (“rumored trade”), whereas upon actual news there occurs a pulse motion of FOREX pairs in accordance with the scheme below;

Forex rate grows if actual news are better than the estimated one;

Forex rate declines if actual news are worse than the estimated one.

The Burgeoning Foreign Currency Exchange Market

The Foreign Exchange market (Forex) is truly the largest exchange in the world. The amount of dollars traded on the Forex market on a daily basis is in the trillions. Most of this currency trading takes place between between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. However, individual traders are starting to get in the mix, using internet discount brokers such as Etrade to participate in the currency exchange market.

There is no central exchange or meeting place for the Forex. All trading is done over computer networks between traders in different parts of the world. Also, unlike the stock market, the foreign exchange market is open 24 hours per day, because it is a global market. A trader in Hong Kong may be exchanging currency with a trader in Australia while an American trader is sleeping.

There are several different markets within the Forex exchange system. First, there is the spot market. The spot market deals with trades that are based on the current values of currencies. One person trades a certain amount of currency with another trader in exchange for an equivalent amount of a different foreign currency. Spot trades take two days for settlement.

The other two types of foreign exchange markets are the forward and futures markets. In the forward market, the buyer and seller agree on an exchange rate and a transaction date is set for a specific time in the future, at which point the trade is executed regardless of what the rates are at that time. On the futures market, futures contracts are bought and sold based upon a standard contract size and maturity date. Futures trades take place on public commodities markets.

A currency quote is listed differently from a stock quote. Stocks are quoted in terms of price per share. Currency exchange prices are listed as either a direct quote or an indirect quote. A direct quote uses the domestic currency as the base and the foreign currency as the quote. An indirect quote works the exact opposite way.

So, if you were to view a quote in an American newspaper that said USD/JPY = 75, that would be a direct quote and would mean that $1 of U.S. currency is equal to 75 Japanese yen. If that same quote appeared in that same American newspaper and was listed as JPY/USD = 0.013, that would be an example of an indirect quote.

As with stock prices, currency exchange prices have a bid and ask spread. The current bid is the amount of foreign currency that someone is willing to spend in order to buy $1 U.S. base currency. The ask is the amount of foreign currency that someone is demanding in order to be willing to sell $1 U.S. base currency.

The Forex markets are generally considered to be less volatile than then stock market because within the course of a trading day, it is highly unlikely for the value of a single currency to move all that much. With equities, it is not uncommon for a trader to buy a stock, and then a negative press release causes the stock to lose considerable value within a day or even a couple of hours. Sometimes, however, the Forex can be volatile. If there is a significant economic or political development with a certain country, the currency of that country can lose value quickly.

There is a higher degree of liquidity on the currency exchange then there is on the stock exchange because the currency exchange is open 24 hours per day and because the very nature of currency exchange is to bet on when certain currencies will go up or down; so, it is easy to sell your position in a certain currency even when the value of that money is going down. A plummeting stock is more difficult to unload, but not impossible.

The Trillion Dollar Currency Exchange Market

The Foreign Exchange market (Forex) is truly the largest exchange in the world. The amount of dollars traded on the Forex market on a daily basis is in the trillions. Most of this currency trading takes place between between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. However, individual traders are starting to get in the mix, using internet discount brokers such as Etrade to participate in the currency exchange market.

There is no central exchange or meeting place for the Forex. All trading is done over computer networks between traders in different parts of the world. Also, unlike the stock market, the foreign exchange market is open 24 hours per day, because it is a global market. A trader in Hong Kong may be exchanging currency with a trader in Australia while an American trader is sleeping.

There are several different markets within the Forex exchange system. First, there is the spot market. The spot market deals with trades that are based on the current values of currencies. One person trades a certain amount of currency with another trader in exchange for an equivalent amount of a different foreign currency. Spot trades take two days for settlement.

The other two types of foreign exchange markets are the forward and futures markets. In the forward market, the buyer and seller agree on an exchange rate and a transaction date is set for a specific time in the future, at which point the trade is executed regardless of what the rates are at that time. On the futures market, futures contracts are bought and sold based upon a standard contract size and maturity date. Futures trades take place on public commodities markets.

A currency quote is listed differently from a stock quote. Stocks are quoted in terms of price per share. Currency exchange prices are listed as either a direct quote or an indirect quote. A direct quote uses the domestic currency as the base and the foreign currency as the quote. An indirect quote works the exact opposite way.

Ciphering the Forex Quotes

Decided to invest in the stock market and confused about the forex quotes. It really seems difficult to understand the forex quotes at first step but a foreign exchange quote is not as difficult as it appears to be. It’s mandatory to understand the forex quotes before you are going to make your first investment in the currency trading. To conquer the currency trading there are two important things to remember about the forex quotes:

• The first currency listed first is the base currency and
• The value of the base currency is always 1.

While trading forex, two-sided quotes come across, which consists of a bid and an Ask

Bid: Bid is the price at which one can sell the base currency

Ask: Ask is the price at which one can buy the base currency and at the same time selling the counter currency.

Foreign Exchange Trading Quotes Tips

• US dollar is considered as the 'base' currency for quotes. It includes USD/JPY, USD/CHF and USD/CAD in the majors.
• Combination of two currencies involved in trade is known as “cross”. USD/JPY means that the forex quote is valid for someone who wants to use United States Dollars to buy Japanese Yen.
• Quotes are generally expressed as a unit of $1 USD per the second currency quoted in pair. A quote of USD/JPY 120.01 means that one U.S. dollar is equal to 120.01 Japanese yen.
• When a currency quote goes up, it means that dollar has appreciated in value and the other currency has gone down.
• If the USD/JPY quote increases to 123.01, the dollar is stronger because it will now buy more Yen than before. British pound (GBP), the Australian dollar (AUD) and the Euro (EUR) are the three exceptions to the above mentioned rule. If a quote is GBP/USD 1.436 it means that one British pound equals 1.4366 U.S. dollars. In these three currency pairs, where the U.S. dollar is not the base rate, a rising quote means a weakening dollar, as it now takes more U.S. dollars to equal one pound, euro or Australian dollar.

Currency Quote

ADVERSE CURRENCY FLUCTUATIONS

Don't run the risk of fluctuations! Currency Brokers, can, by fixing a rate for your currency requirements today for a purchase in the future (up to 6 months).

Currency Example... The Pound against the Euro... 16 months ago was ¬1.48/ £1.00; 6 months later it was ¬1.32/ £1.00. On a £100,000 transfer the difference in those 6 months is £12,000

Currency Example... Again the Pound against the Euro... in February 2008 the exchange rate was ¬1.32/ £1.00; in July 2008 it is ¬1.26/ £1.00. On a transfer of £200,000 the difference in those 6 months have been ¬8,000 (approx £6,000)

When getting a currency quote the Currency Broker can give you a quote by using a fixed rate that is valid for 6 months. Using the Euro against the pound is, and has been a good example of two currencies on the move with fluctuations daily

Trading Currencies and Buying Property Abroad are the two major reasons for changing currency. A close third is when regular payments are made to a different country and subsequent different currency. However a casual approach which is taken by many when buying property abroad can be the single most expensive part of buying abroad.

Getting a 'Currency Quote' when buying property abroad is obviously an important process, but more importantly is getting at least two quotes, possibly three. At the end of the day it is a competitive market and we should compare quotes.

To conclude; where I started about currency fluctuations... When buying property abroad, remember this process... When you first have an offer accepted it is wise to get a currency quote and ask about getting a fixed rate quote which will be valid for 6 months. Plus get the advice of the currency broker as they deal within currencies 24/7. Many experts have suggested the Euro has hit its peak against the Pound and perhaps over the next 6 months the pound may gain some ground lost over the last year.