Foreign Exchange

Four factors are identified as fundamental determinants of the real euro to dollar exchange rate: The international real interest rate differential; Relative prices in the traded and non-traded goods sectors; The real oil price; The relative fiscal position.

The basic theories underlying the dollar to euro exchange rate:

Law of One Price

In competitive markets free of transportation cost barriers to trade, identical products sold in different countries must sell at the same price when the prices are stated in terms of the same currency.

The Australian dollar has been particularly active against the US dollar as of late. So what are the main forces behind the volatility in the Aussie dollar?

To be honest I haven't been trading the stock markets for a while now. It's not because the markets are in a downturn at the moment it was simply a conscious decision to give the forex markets a go using the same technical indicators I use in the stock markets in an attempt to make similar returns or more. And after a few months of currency trading I’ve concluded that the forex markets are simply like the stock markets on steroids from a traders' perspective.

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Get ready to see some very large monetary figures thrown at you. Welcome to the world of Foreign Exchange Reserve Holdings for individual countries.

Last month (December 2005) the Reserve Bank of Australia held $56 billion worth of foreign exchange reserves.