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INSTRUMENTS

Foreign Exchange

Currencies trade in the largest, most liquid market in the world, and this category covers it for investors rather than gamblers.

The explainers start with what forex is and how a quote reads, base versus quote currency, pips and pipettes, then move to the mechanics that decide profit and loss: lot sizes and position sizing, leverage and margin, the bid-ask spread, and the rollover that funds a carry trade.

Macro drivers, from central bank rates to capital flows, tie it together.

Investing With Purpose is blunt about the risk, since leverage cuts both ways and most retail forex accounts lose money.

Read this to understand how currencies actually trade and what it really costs to hold a position.

Foreign Exchange
What Is Forex? The Currency Market Explained

Forex, short for foreign exchange, is the global market where one currency is traded for another. It is the largest…

Beginner
Foreign Exchange
Currency Pairs: Majors, Minors, and Exotics

Every forex trade involves two currencies, written together as a pair such as EUR/USD or USD/JPY. Pairs are grouped…

Beginner
Foreign Exchange
Base vs Quote Currency: Reading an FX Rate

An FX rate is a ratio between two currencies. The first currency in the pair is the base, the second is the quote, and…

Beginner
Foreign Exchange
Pips and Pipettes: Measuring FX Moves

A pip is the standard unit used to measure how much an exchange rate has moved. A pipette is one-tenth of a pip, the…

Beginner
Foreign Exchange
The FX Bid-Ask Spread and Trading Costs

The bid-ask spread is the gap between the price at which you can sell a currency pair (the bid) and the price at which…

Beginner
Foreign Exchange
FX Market Sessions and Liquidity

Forex trades around the clock, but not evenly. Activity moves through four main regional sessions, and liquidity rises…

Beginner
Foreign Exchange
Lot Sizes and Position Sizing in Forex

A lot is the standardized quantity of currency you trade in one position. Position sizing is the discipline of choosing…

Intermediate
Foreign Exchange
Leverage and Margin in Forex

Leverage lets a forex trader control a large position with a small deposit. Margin is that deposit, the cash the broker…

Intermediate
Foreign Exchange
What Moves Currencies: Rates, Flows, and Policy

Exchange rates move because the relative demand for two currencies changes. The main drivers are interest rates and…

Intermediate
Foreign Exchange
Rollover, Swaps, and the Carry Trade

When you hold a forex position overnight, you either earn or pay interest based on the rate difference between the two…

Advanced