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The growth of the foreign investment market has been phenomenal. There has been a rapid expansion in trade and investment in the Forex market. More and more players have been involved in Forex trading. The thinking and psychology of the players in Forex market also influences the way the market behaves. If the investors feel that their money is not safe in a country, they will transfer it to a place they feel is safer. The insecurity of one’s money in a country can be caused by financial or political instability in that country. This can be caused by factors that may be internal to the country and even external to it. when this happens, the money will start fleeing out of the country to another country that they feel is a safe haven. When this happens in large volumes, the exchange rate of the currency of the country to which the money is fleeing will increase. Switzerland is one of the most well known destinations considered to be safe. The banking secrecy that they maintain guaranteeing secrecy of the account holder and the transactions made by the account holder has been most attractive. Consequently, Swiss Franc has maintained a high exchange rate.

Investments are also made on the basis of speculation. Investments are called speculative investment when the investor does not analyze and assess the financial asset before investment is made. Often investors are not interested in long term investment but on short term change in price. The fluctuation of prices over a short term is the primary factor in speculative investment. These short term fluctuations may not actually reflect the real value of the asset. Banking on these fluctuations is both risky and distorts the real nature of the asset.

Investors may also indulge in speculative investment. It is not as though that all investments are speculative. When an investor makes an investment on financial assets or financial vehicles, the investor expects to make an earning in the future when these are sold. What makes the investment speculative is when the investor invests without having made an assessment of the financial assets in which the investor is investing. It may be that the asset carries with it a high risk and yet the investor invests. The risk could be so great that there could be the possibility of even losing the sum invested also. When investment is made despite all these risks, then they are speculative.

Money is but a symbol to which we have given a value. It represents the value of goods and services. Before money was invented, products and services were exchanged directly. This exchange was called barter. You sell a good to a person who has a good that you need. This means of transaction was cumbersome. Money became the medium through which business and trade was transacted. When you sell a good you get money in return with which you can buy what you need. It made trade and exchange of products much easier. Money underwent change in its forms through history, from coins made of precious metals such as gold, silver and copper to bank notes or currency. Now digital money or virtual currency is also being used as a medium of transactions.

Currency is the most important form of money in the present world. But it was not always like this. Earlier, coins usually made of gold or silver was used as a form of money. Coins have a natural or inherent value. Gold coins were used for large purchases while silver or copper coins were used for smaller purchases during the medieval period. However, this has been replaced with banknotes. Banknotes are worthless otherwise in terms of natural or inherent value unlike gold coins. These banknotes get the value by decree of the government who declare the banknotes as money.

An investment is made with what one has saved. One saves by making sure that you do not spend what you have in consuming something or the other. This investment is made with the expectation that it will provide you earnings in the future. The investments are made on what you thinks could give you an earning in the future. This is done through an analysis of the opportunities for investment that are available. These opportunities are available in various economic activities around us. It could be in the provision of services or it could be in the provision of goods. The investment in the production of these goods and provision of services is expected to earn a profit in the future.

Saving is closely related to investment. Investment is made normally with what one has saved. Saving is the remaining disposable income or money one has after spending it on consumption. This saving could be invested to create future income. It will be the investor’s choice as to where the investment is to be made, how much and when. This will depend on the understanding of the investor of the investment opportunities that exist. The investment opportunities obviously will have to take into consideration whether there would be earnings in the future and what are the risks involved. The investment could be in real assets for the production of goods and services. The investment could also be in financial assets.

Investment is central to business management as well as finance and economics. Instead of consuming the resources, when these resources are allocated for the creation of future benefits, then such allocation is called investment. Earning of profit and future income is the basic motive for investment. Assets that fulfill these are the objects of such investments by individuals or organizations. Moreover it is the assets that have a lower risk with a potential of profit or income that are where investments are most likely to be made. But if the asset or instrument is not properly analyzed for its risk and potential benefits with the real possibility of even the loss of the principal invested, and yet investment is made, then this is speculation and not investment.

The sales and purchases of the currencies is carried out in the foreign exchange market by governments, banks, currency traders, financial institutions, money managers and speculators. It was in the 1970s that currency trade became a specific global economic activity. Today the volume of business transacted has crossed US$4 trillion daily. Most of the trading, over 60 percent, is speculative in nature. It is only the remaining that is actually used to transact goods and services and includes both financial assets and real assets. When traders do not take into consideration the nature of assets or the risk involved even to the extent of endangering the loss of the investment, it is called speculative trading. Ever since it emerged, the foreign currency market has expanded phenomenally.

Currency trading is the main activity of the foreign exchange market. The barter system was the prevalent system in the ancient days when trade was limited in volume and in geography. In this system, goods were exchanged directly. As trade expanded, the barter system became unwieldy. Something had to be done to make transaction manageable. That was when coins were introduced as a convenient intermediary for exchange of goods. The coins were made from precious metals as gold, silver as well as copper. It became convenient now to buy and sell goods. However, there was a catch. When the goods were of higher value, coins became problem. More coins and heavier coins caused a problem. With trade expanding even more, it became all the more important that a solution had to be found. That was when banknotes came to be introduced to add to the coins as representing higher value. The banknotes, in order to have a value, were pegged to valuable metals as the gold standard. However, later this was de-linked and now its value is as decreed by governments. The central banks controlled by national governments issued these banknotes.