The Forex trading transactions and the currency exchanges involve the existence of ‘currency pairs’. Such couples are used to increase or decrease the value of a certain currency amount: to the purchase of a certain currency another one is sold. The aim of such transaction is to change the value of the acquired currency compared to the sold one. The only way to make a good profit out of that transaction is to modify the currency value in favour of the purchased one.

The most important currency pairs in the Forex trading are:

•    Euro/US Dollar (EUR/USD). Currency pair often called ‘Euro’.
•    US Dollar /Yen (USD/JPY). Currency pair often called ‘Dollar Yen’.
•    US Dollar / Swiss franc (USD/CHF). Currency pair often called  ‘Dollar Swiss’ or ‘Swissy’.
•    GB Pound Sterling / US Dollar (GBP/USD). Currency pair often called  ‘Cable’, because the transatlantic cable was the way in which the price was transmitted at the beginning of the transactions.

The most important and most exchanged row materials currency pairs are:

•    Australian Dollar / US Dollar (AUD/USD). Currency pair often called  ‘Aussie Dollar’.
•    New Zealand Dollar  / US Dollar (NZD/USD). Currency pair often called  ‘New Zealand Dollar’ or ‘Kiwi’.
•    US Dollar / Canadian Dollar  (USD/CAD). Currency pair often called  ‘Dollar Canada’ or ‘C-Dollar’.

Currency trading transactions taking place out of  the country in which the currency was quoted in usually involve a cross rate, which is an exchange rate between two different currencies that are not the official currencies of the country. Cross rates usually do not consider the U.S. dollar. In example, an US investor could get the cross rate of the Euro to the GB Pound Sterling.