Another item that you should know in basics currency trading is the foreign exchange market. It is the largest market in the world. Trading happens here day in and day out. It functions 24 hours a day 5 days a week, except on holidays and weekends. The week starts at five in the afternoon Sunday Eastern Standard time until four in the afternoon Eastern Standard Time Friday.

Basics currency trading is really simple. The aim of the trader is to purchase something that is about to increase in value, then sells it at a higher price later to earn profit. Another way is to sell at a high price or rate now and buy it lower at later day. The two currencies that make up an exchange rate are referred to as currency pair. Here is a list of the currency codes used in the foreign exchange market:

USD = US Dollar

EUR = Euro

JPY = Japanese Yen

GBP = British Pound

CHF = Swiss Franc

CAD = Canadian Dollar

AUD = Australian Dollar

NZD = New Zealand Dollar

Most traded currency pair

EUR/USD = “Euro”

USD/JPY = “Dollar Yen”

GBP/USD = “Cable” or “Sterling”

USD/CHF = “Swiss”

USD/CAD = “Dollar Canada”

AUD/USD = “Aussie Dollar”

NZD/USD = “Kiwi”

The base currency is the one in the left while the one on the right side is call the counter currency. The exchange rate tells you how much you need to pay based on the counter currency to purchase one unit of the base currency.

There are terms in basics currency trading that you will see as you engage in forex trading. Here are some of the common terms and acronyms to keep in mind on basics currency trading.

Pip is the slow movement of a currency pair can make. It means price interest point.

Leverage is a margin deposit and the rest will be coming from your broker.

FCM means Future Commission Merchant or someone who is licensed by the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission or CFTC to deal in future products and accepts monies from clients to trade them.

A dealing desk provides pricing, liquidity and execution of trades.

NDD or No Dealing Desk uses external liquidity providers to provide pricing and liquidity for its clients.

Spread is the difference between the sell and the buy quote.

For instance Disney pins have become a hit amongst children and every child wants to have one which will surely make him look better in front of his friends. These Disney pins easily identify the animations which the child likes and helps him find friends which also like the same movies. Of course these pins are made to be available for anyone and are usually cheap, but there are many special and collector editions which are quite expensive.

Of course you may not want to buy pins and instead you can easily trade some with other people. This basically means of exchanging pins with other people, so that you both are satisfied with the pins you have. A trading pin could come in all kinds and types, but we won’t be exaggerating if we state that the baseball trading pins are one of the most widely spread and used. Such pins have many different variations – different teams, players, names, designs and etc. And each of them has a unique design.

The baseball trading pins aren’t the most popular pins in the world, but are surely in the United States. This is mainly, because the baseball game there is very developed and has become a national sport, enjoyed by everyone. Such pins are very important to both fans and players, because they are one of the best fan merchandise which you can buy. And for players, these pins have an amazing design which looks great on all kinds of sportswear and uniforms. It is very important for teams to have a proper amount of pins for the entire season, so that they can serve the needs of both players and fans.

Of course trading pins are decorations and due to the fact they have various sizes. Of course don’t expect some extremely large pins – the largest once are usually up to 3″ and the smallest ones 1.50″. However you will most likely see a 2″ or 1.75″ sizes, because these are the most used ones. These various sizes allow the pins to be a part of the clothes or uniform of every player or fan no matter how small or big he is. And there are various add-ons for the pins – things like glittering colors, bobble heads, hangers and others are constantly used.

Every proprietary trading firm will have its own unique recruitment process, and these will often be modified frequently as firms adapt and update their techniques. It is therefore impossible to give anything more than general guidance as to the interview process and what may be involved. However, the following article may help in giving pointers as to what you may be asked, and how you can best prepare yourself for interviewing.

Preparation

Research the company and your interviewer (if known), find out what their markets are (stocks, options, futures or multi-asset) and how they trade (market maker, spreads, pairs, algorithmic, flow trading, etc). Check the job description carefully. Search the internet for prior discussions or comments on forums about the firm or position.

If you do not prepare carefully and thoroughly for the interview, why should the interviewer assume you will prepare properly for each trading day?

Make sure you know the products and exchanges such as fixed income or STIRS, Eurex and LIFFE. Read up on relevant tick sizes, value of contracts, rollover dates, volatility of contracts and product specifications.

Group interview

Some companies do this, some don’t, but be prepared for the first round of interviewing to be done as a group. This is an easy way for a proprietary trading company to get a largish number of their most interesting applicants into their office en-mass, and to narrow down which of these applicants they are interested in speaking to one on one.

In a typical group interview, a recruiter (or two) will introduce the company and their opportunity. They will run through a short presentation, and then they will ask the candidates, one-by-one to stand up and move to the front of the room to make an introduction. You should talk about yourself, why you want to do trading and why with their company, etc. You should tailor your introduction to address what you think the company is looking for based on the job description and your earlier research.

The group interview will possibly include some sort of reflex or cognitive testing; you may be required to do some of this on a PC. Quite likely they will also include some basic numeracy test too – these will not normally be exceptionally difficult tests, but a time limit will be imposed.

The whole process is usually crafted to help the prop firm recruiters identify and single out which of the grouped candidates display the characteristics the firm considers desirable. For example, trading requires confidence and composure, as well as effective communication with trainers and other traders especially if you go on to work in a team. The aptitude or maths tests will demonstrate whether you can retain your focus and accuracy whilst under pressure and in a competing environment against the other candidates.