Guide

The Japanese yen (JPY) is considered to be a major currency in the Forex market. Japan has had chronically low interest...

Retail sales announcements report on how much money individual consumers are spending on retail goods. This is where the rubber...

Manufacturing announcements report on how much manufacturing activity is taking place within an economy. Manufacturing is one of the most...

The interest-rate announcement specifies the short-term target rate that the central bank will try to maintain in the future. Interest...

Housing announcements report on how healthy the housing sec­tor of the economy is. Because such a large amount of the...

Employment announcements report on the number of new jobs that have been created in an economy and the percentage of...

Inflation announcements report on how quickly or slowly the general price level in the economy is rising. Monitoring inflation is...

This concept of a currency getting stronger when the country has trade surplus and getting weaker when it has a trade deficit...

Forex traders keep a close watch on the economic calendar because they know that economic announcements provide the data that analysts and...

Economic growth announcements report on how well a coun­try’s economy is doing. Economies can move in one of three directions:...

Trade balance announcements report on how much a country is exporting compared to how much it is importing. Countries that...

Consumer confidence announcements report on how confident the consumers within an economy are. Confident consumers tend to spend more because...

Business confidence announcements report on how confident the business managers within an economy are. Confident business managers tend to hire...

Why is it important to know which investment vehicles are available for a given currency? We care because we are...

Why do we care what goods or services a country imports? We care because if we know the primary goods and...

Why do we care about a country’s central bank, its mandates, and its gold and foreign currency reserve holdings? We care...

Central banks do not like uncertainty or unusual levels of volatility in the Forex market. It is much harder to maintain...

Investment flows represent the money that flows from one coun­try to another as a result of the purchase or sale of assets...

Banks are facilitators, hedgers, and speculators. We know that is quite a statement, but you have to figure that when...

The forces of supply and demand seem to drive every other market on earth, so why shouldn’t they also drive...

Retail traders are speculators. This one is pretty straightforward. You are a retail trader, and let’s face it, you are...