Wednesday, May 13, 2009

24-Hour Trading

Forex is a true 24 hour market, 5.5 days a week, which offers a major advantage over equities trading. Investors are able to trade at odd hours, thus allowing more flexibility for personal, business and social activities. Whether trading at 8am, 2pm, or even 2am, there will always be buyers and sellers actively trading foreign currencies. Such flexibility allows traders to immediately respond to breaking news and other political factors driving the market.


After hours trading in the equities market has several limitations. In the US, for example, equities traders have access to ECNs (Electronic Communications Networks), also known as “matching systems”. These networks are established to provide a method for equities traders to buy and sell amongst each other. Such networks are usually not able to offer as tight of spreads as would be offered during normal market hours, thus most trades are not executed at a fair market price, subsequently there is no guarantee that every trade will be executed.

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