Key Terms in FOREX Trading

For new FOREX Traders, it is imperative to understand the terminology associated with trading FOREX. The following are some of the important FOREX terms:

Currency Pairs: FOREX trading involves the simultaneous buying and selling of two currencies, for example, CAD/USD: The Base currency is the first currency in the currency pair. The quote currency is the second currency in the currency pair  A FOREX trader will buy 1 currency and at the same time sell another currency. These two currencies are called currency pairs.

Major Currencies: The major, and most frequently traded currencies are: USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD, and AUD.

Minor Currencies: All other currencies not referred to as the major currencies are called minor currencies. The most traded minor currencies are: NZD, ZAR, and SGD.

Cross Currency: A cross currency is a currency pair in which neither the currency is the USD.

PIPs: A pip, also called a point, is the smallest unit of price in FOREX. For example, CAD/USD equals 0.7973, the pip is 0.0001.

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