At its most basic level, when you place a Forex trade, you’re hoping a currency is going to move in the direction you want it to, either up or down, relative to another currency.

Currency or FX pairs are, well, pairs of currencies traded one against the other. For example EUR/USD (United States Dollar vs Euro) or THB/USD (Thai Baht vs United States Dollar). Though Major pairs remain most popular, exotic pairs have been growing since they’ve been made available to the general public through the work of online Forex brokerages. If once you’ve had to go to the bank, the exchange on the street, or some shady street corner where they change major pairs only, today one need only have a computer and a bank account to trade everything from EUR/USD (Euro vs US dollar) to USD/THB (US dollar vs Thai baht). With so many pairs, the potential for profit is limitless.