February 20, 2021
20
Feb
Feb
Dealing in the Spot Market
An effective forex trading strategy does not have to be limited to only forward contracts. At times, Trading foreign currency directly in the spot market, at the current spot rate, is the most effective strategy for a business to minimize its costs or maximize its profits. Sometimes, it can be more profitable to execute a currency exchange at the current spot rate to take advantage of favorable pricing for a product, or to receive payment immediately from a client, regardless of what the current spot rate is.
But even when transacting in the spot market, there are various tools a firm can use to maximize its profit (or minimize its loss) on the currency exchange. There are various types of trade orders a firm can utilize in a foreign currency strategy, which give flexibility in limiting the price at which it can buy or sell a currency in the spot market, to prevent surprises should prices rise or drop while the currency exchange is being executed. Some of these trading tools are briefly outlined here:
Limit Order
Limit orders are used to buy or sell a specific amount of a foreign currency at a specified exchange rate (or better). A buy limit order will only be triggered at the specified FX rate (or lower); whereas a sell limit order will only be triggered at the specified FX rate (or higher). For example, a business places a buy limit order to exchange $10,000 U.S. Dollars for Euro, but only if the Euro spot rate reached $1.10 or lower.
Stop Loss Order
A stop loss order protects the value of a business’s currency holding by establishing a “floor” on an acceptable exchange rate. This floor represents the maximum the business is prepared to lose on the currency trade: if the value of its currency holding declines below the floor, the holding is liquidated (sold) to ensure that the business doesn’t lose value (or if the floor is set below an exchange rate in which there is already a loss of value, it can serve to limit further losses).
One Cancels Other (OCO) Order
By combining a limit order with a stop loss order, and adding the condition that if one of these orders is triggered then the other is canceled, a one cancels other (OCO) order is created. For example, an OCO order can be used to set an upper limit order and a lower stop loss order at which a currency holding is to be sold. If one is triggered, the other is cancelled, thus the currency holding is free to trade within this pre-set range.
Leave A Comment