Section
Stocks, indices and the forces that move them, written for curious readers rather than insiders.
7 guides
A rate rise usually supports a currency and a cut usually weighs on it, but the reaction depends on what was already expected. Here is how central bank decisions feed into exchange rates.
4 min read
An exchange rate is a price, and like any price it moves with supply and demand. Here are the economic and human forces that shift the balance between two currencies.
4 min read
Some currencies are left to find their own price; others are pinned to another currency by their central bank. Here is how floating, fixed and managed regimes differ.
4 min read
The currency market runs around the clock on weekdays, but activity rises and falls as financial centres open and close. Here is how the four sessions fit together.
4 min read
The carry trade aims to earn the difference between two countries’ interest rates. Here is how it works and why it can reverse suddenly.
1 min read
Slippage is the gap between the price you expected and the price you got. Why it happens, when it is most likely, and what limits it.
1 min read
Interest-rate decisions, inflation and jobs reports arrive on a timetable. An economic calendar shows when — and what the market is expecting.
2 min read
