Sublime

* Flow traders: Sometimes called execution traders, these are the market-makers, showing two-way prices at which to buy and sell, for the bank’s customers. If the customer makes a trade, the execution trader then has to cover the resulting deal in the interbank market, hopefully at a profit.

The bulk of spot currency trading, about 75 percent by volume, takes place in the so-called “major currencies,” which represent the world’s largest and most developed economies. Trading in the major currencies is largely free from government regulation and takes place outside the authority of any national or international body.

The U.S. dollar index is great parallel universe to the spot U.S. dollar currency pairs. As a currency trader, be sure to follow the U.S. dollar index, especially its technical developments.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the international supervisory body for banks around the world, surveys forex market volumes every three years.