Forex means FOReign EXchange and it is a 24/5 global market where world currencies are traded one against the other. Forex is the largest financial market in the world. Key Forex centers include London, New York, Tokyo, and Sydney.

A currency pair or else an exchange rate is a quotation of two different currencies (i.e. EURUSD). The first listed currency of a currency pair (i.e. EUR) is called the base currency, and the second currency is called the quote currency (i.e. USD)...

The most liquid pairs in the Foreign Exchange Market are:

■ EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, CADUSD, AUDUSD, EURGBP, EURJPY, and NZD/USD

ECN means Electronic Communication Network and it is an electronic bridge connecting large liquidity providers (i.e. banks) with smaller market participants (i.e. retail traders). This connection works through an ECN Forex Broker who charges trading commissions for offering access to the ECN market.

STP means Straight-Through Processing and refers to the method of transferring retail trading orders straight to liquidity providers, without any dealing desk intervention. STP Forex brokers usually offer a transaction speed between 70 and 150 milliseconds.

■ NDD Brokers: They include ECN/STP brokers and provide direct access to interbank rates. That means traders get a better quotation and faster order-execution

■ DD Brokers: They are known as Market Makers and they build an internal market following the ECN market. Not a good choice for intraday Forex traders

Money management aims to protect portfolios by helping investors to decide how much to risk on any trade based on their total available capital.

In practice, that means implementing various techniques and having a set of rules in order to limit risk, and simultaneously increase the reward.

» Learn more about Money Management

Online Forex works as a decentralized network for exchanging the world's currencies. Trading the online Foreign Exchange market requires a trading platform linked to a trading account. Forex brokers can provide a trading account while most trading platforms are free to download and use...

■ Web-trading platforms: are better for beginners

■ MetaTrader and cTrader: are better for advanced and professional Forex traders

Where to Start?

First of all, you need to find a safe and competitive Online Forex Broker. Then you can open a Demo Account with this broker in order to train without risking your real funds. After you begin to gain some experience, you can move to a Mini-lot account where a 0.01 lot equals just $10. After some time, you can move to a standard-lot account where 0.01 lot equals $1,000...

» Compare Online Forex Brokers