He top of the bar shows the highest price paid, and the bottom indicates the lowest traded price. Compared to crosses and majors, exotics are traditionally riskier to trade because they are more volatile and less liquid. This is because these countries\u2019 economies can be more susceptible to intervention and sudden shifts in political and financial developments. This means they often come with wider spreads, meaning they\u2019re more expensive than crosses or majors. In EUR\/USD for example, USD is the quote currency and shows how much of the quote currency you\u2019ll exchange for 1 unit of the base currency. One critical feature of the forex market is that there is no central marketplace or exchange in a central location, as all trading is done electronically via computer networks.<\/p>\n

I was fortunate enough in my early twenties to have a friend that recommended a Technical Analysis course run by a British trader who emphasized raw chart analysis without indicators. Having this first-principles approach to charts influences how I trade to this day. Other major currency pairs include the EUR\/JPY, the EUR\/GBP, the EUR\/CHF, the GBP\/USD, the USD\/JPY, the USD\/CHF, the USD\/CAD, the AUD\/USD, and the NZD\/USD. Per the latest Triennial Survey by the Bank for International Settlements , 88% of all Forex traders include the US dollar. The Chinese yuan is the eighth most traded currency globally, positioned to become more dominant moving forward. Other emerging currencies to monitor are the Russian ruble, the Mexican peso, the Indian rupee, the Brazilian real and the South African rand.<\/p>\n