Everyday, currencies are traded in an international foreign exchange market,
otherwise known as the forex market, with the main marketplaces (otherwise known
as bourses) existing in the world's financial centes New York, London, Tokyo,
Frankfurt and Zurich. Historically, the only way to participate was from the
trading floor of one of these bourses, but today, people can trade forex from
anywhere through a secure internet connection and a PC.
Today's traders operate in a global network, taking positions in the market
and making investment decisions based on either relative value between two
currencies, or a particular currency's actual price. Currency value fluctuations
are constantly renegotiated through trading activity, and this activity, and the
corresponding currency values are also indicators of the levels of currency
supply.
