The fact is that the FOREX market never stops; even on September 11, 2001 you
could still get your hands on two-side quotes on currencies. The currency market
is the largest and oldest financial market in the world. It is also called the
foreign exchange market or FX market for short. It is the biggest and most
liquid market in the world, and it is traded mostly through the 24 hour-a-day
inter-bank currency market.
When you compare them, you will see that the currency futures market is only
one per cent as big. Unlike the futures and stock markets, trading currencies is
not centered on an exchange. Trading moves from major banking centers of the
U.S. to Australia and New Zealand, to the Far East, to Europe and finally back
to the U.S. it is truly a full circle trading game. In the past, the forex
inter-bank market was not available to small speculators because of the large
minimum transaction sizes and strict financial requirements. Banks, major
currency dealers and sometimes even very large speculator were the principal
dealers. Only they were able to take advantage of the currency market's
fantastic liquidity and strong trending nature of many of the world's primary
currency exchange rates.
