Forex — the market that never sleeps
Currencies trade in pairs: buying EUR/USD means buying euros and paying with dollars — you're always long one, short the other. It's the biggest market on Earth, open 24 hours, five days a week. The catch: it's leveraged, and the session clock decides when there's actually something to trade.
Reading a pair
EUR/USD = 1.0850
EUR = base (what you buy/sell) · USD = quote (what you pay with). The number is how many USD one EUR costs. If the number goes up, the euro strengthened. That's the whole grammar.
Majors, minors, exotics
Majors pair a currency with USD (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY) — tightest spreads, most predictable behavior. Minors skip the USD (EUR/GBP). Exotics pair strong vs emerging currencies — wide spreads, violent moves. Beginners live in the majors.
Anatomy of a pip
The 24-hour session clock
Forex follows the sun: Tokyo hands off to London, London to New York. Volatility lives in the overlaps — London/NY especially. Drag the hour to see who's open.
Lots & what a pip is worth
| Lot type | Units | Pip value (EUR/USD) | A 20-pip move costs/gains |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 100,000 | $10.00 | $200 |
| Mini | 10,000 | $1.00 | $20 |
| Micro | 1,000 | $0.10 | $2 |