CHAPTER - I
Definitions
Exchange control
The restrictions imposed by the government of a country on conversion of its currency for another, with the purpose to improve its balance of payments position is called exchange control.
Exchange position
Foreign exchange position is the balances of bank foreign exchange assets and liabilities that generate the risk of obtaining additional revenues or expenditures upon the modification of exchange rates.
Foreign Exchange
Any currency other than the local currency which is used in settling international transactions can be termed as foreign exchange. This includes, instruments, such as, draft, cheques etc. and paper currency, used to make payments between countries.
Foreign exchange contract
It is a commitment to buy or sell a specified amount of foreign currency on a fixed date and rate of exchange. Such contracts are used by the importers as a hedge against exchange rate fluctuations.
Foreign exchange earning
It includes, proceeds from the export of goods and services of a country, and the returns from foreign investments, denominated in convertible currencies.
Foreign Exchange Market
The foreign exchange market deals in trading currencies. The purpose of the foreign exchange market is to help international trade and investment. It helps businesses convert one currency to another. For example, it permits a Pakistani businessman to import European goods and pay Euros, even though the business's income is in Pak rupees.
The foreign exchange market is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world. Traders include large banks, central banks, currency speculators, corporations, governments, and other financial institutions. The average daily volume in the global foreign exchange and related markets is continuously growing. Daily turnover is over US$3.00 trillion. Central banks
play an important role in the foreign exchange markets.
Foreign exchange rate
This is the conversion rate of one currency into another. This rate depends on the local demand for foreign currencies and their local supply, country's trade balance, strength of its economy, and other such factors. Exchange rates can be fixed or floating.
Fixed rates is the system in which the value of a country's currency, in relation to the value of other currencies, is maintained at a fixed conversion rate through government intervention.
Floating rate is a system in which a currency's value is determined by the interchange of the market forces of demand and supply, instead of by government intervention. However, all central banks try to control these rates within a certain range by buying or selling their country's currency as the situation warrants.
Terms used in money market
Annualized
Extrapolates the behavior of an element (such as volatility) from a certain time period to a full year.
Ask
The price at which sellers offer currencies to buyers.
Base currency
Usually the currency of the home market in which a trader or investor is buying or selling.
Bid
The price at which buyer offers to buy currencies from sellers.
Currency pair
Exchange rate relationship between two currencies, where one currency is expressed in terms of the other. For example, USD-EUR (US dollar against Euro) is a currency pair.
Dollar rate
The exchange rate of a foreign currency as quoted against the US dollar (USD). Some currencies are typically only quoted against the US dollar, such as the Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) Pak Rupees (PKR). The exchange rate of the Arab Emirates dirham and PKR will be thus computed from AED-USD and PKR-USD.
Exchange rate
The number of one currency needed to buy another.
Exchange rate risk
The potential loss that could be incurred from a movement in bid/ask prices, or exchange rates. For traders, risk is measured by the open currency position.
Exposure
The risk which an investor accepts when buying and selling in foreign currency-hedged financial instruments.
Filtering data
Some data may be "bad," stemming from such causes as a market maker incorrectly typing a price, or entering the correct price but in the wrong format. All data used by OANDA is filtered using its own sophisticated algorithms.
Financial institution
An organization primarily established to offer and perform financial services.
Examples of financial institutions include brokerages and banks.
Forecast
A statistical analysis of the markets whereby a percentage chance is assigned to a given price movement occurring. A forecast of the foreign exchange markets is similar to a weather report in that both assign a
probability to the occurrence of an identified market or climatic change.
FX or Forex
An abbreviation for foreign exchange.
Hedging
A transaction strategy used by traders and investors in foreign exchange to protect an investment or portfolio against currency price fluctuations. A current sale or purchase is offset by contracting to purchase or sell at a specified future date in order to defer a profit or loss on the current sale
or purchase. In this way risk is offset due to currency price fluction.
Interbank prices
Currency prices that reflect market rates among financial institutions for transactions typically over US $1 million. Interbank prices are different from retail prices.
ISO
The International Standards Organization, a worldwide standard-setting
body. We use ISO 4217 currency codes in all of our services.
Long position
A market position where a trader has bought a currency he previously did not own. A long position is normally expressed in terms of the base currency.
Market maker
A financial institution or individual making consistent buy and sell quotations
in selected currencies. A market maker must hold or have ready access to the amounts quoted, that is carry an inventory.
Overbought
Situation where price movement has risen 150% faster or stronger than normal, rising too far in response to net buying. A price movement that becomes overbought is expected to soon make a corrective move. In other
words, the price of the currency pair is expected to fall soon.
Oversold
Situation where price movement has fallen 150% faster or stronger than normal, declining too far in response to net selling. A price movement that becomes oversold is expected to soon make a corrective move. In other
words, the price of the currency pair is expected to soon rise.
Portfolio
A selection of securities held by an investor or financial institution. Portfolios are designed primarily to spread investment risk.
Price / basis point, or pip
One basis point = one paisa (0.01)
Price movement
The change in the price of a currency over a specified time period.
Retail prices
Currency prices which reflect commissions and special charges that a bank or exchange agency demands to convert currencies for no corporate customers. These commissions and special charges vary among countries, banks, and exchange agencies.
Risk
The potential loss that an investor accepts when he makes an investment. Risk can also be defined statistically as the annualized standard deviation of returns. See exchange rate risk.
Short position
A market position where a trader has sold a currency he does not previously own. A short position is normally expressed in terms of the base currency.
Spread
The difference between the bid and the asking price of a currency.
Stop-buy
A buy order for a currency price that is above the current "market," or current price, that becomes a market order when the specified price is reached. Stop-buys are used by traders to establish positions in markets which they perceive to be rising in value.
Stop-loss
A price specified by a trader at which he closes his position ,buys or sells currencies to exit the market, to ensure that in case of a loss he is able to keep his loss in line with his risk profile.
Time horizon
The period of time over which a forecast of the foreign exchange markets is made. Traders generally look at forecasts over several time horizons before making a trading decision. Typical time horizons presently used in financial services are:
• one day (24 hours)
• five days
• three weeks
• three months
Vendor or supplier
An financial organization which collects, packages, and distributes up-to-
the-minute price quotes from banks and other financial institutions.
Volatility
A measure by which an exchange rate is expected to fluctuate or has fluctuated over a given period. Volatility figures are often expressed as a percentage per annum.
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