FOREX

Market size and liquidity

The foreign exchange market is unique because of:

* its trading volume,
* the extreme liquidity of the market,
* the large number of, and variety of, traders in the market,
* its geographical dispersion,
* its long trading hours - 24 hours a day (except on weekends).
* the variety of factors that affect exchange rates,

According to the BIS [1], average daily turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets was estimated at $1,880 billion. Daily averages in April for different years, in billions of US dollars, are presented on the chart below:

Global foreign exchange market turnover:

* $621 billion
* $1.26 trillion in derivatives, ie
* $208 billion in outright forwards
* $944 billion in forex swaps
* $107 billion in FX options.

Exchange-traded forex futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts. Forex futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, but only accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).

Average daily global turnover in traditional foreign exchange market transactions totaled $2.7 trillion in April 2006 according to IFSL estimates based on semi-annual London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore Foreign Exchange Committee data. Overall turnover, including non-traditional foreign exchange derivatives and products traded on exchanges, averaged around $2.9 trillion a day. This was more than ten times the size of the combined daily turnover on all the world’s equity markets. Foreign exchange trading increased by 38% between April 2005 and April 2006 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues such as internet trading platforms has also made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. [2]

Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to IFSL estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 31.3% in April 2004 to 32.4% in April 2006.

The ten most active traders account for almost 73% of trading volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe, (2/9/06 p. 20). These large international banks continually provide the market with both bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices. The bid/ask spread is the difference between the price at which a bank or market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") and the price at which a market-maker will buy ("bid") from a wholesale customer. This spread is minimal for actively traded pairs of currencies, usually only 0-3 pips. For example, the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.2200/1.2203. Minimum trading size for most deals is usually $100,000.

These spreads might not apply to retail customers at banks, which will routinely mark up the difference to say 1.2100 / 1.2300 for transfers, or say 1.2000 / 1.2400 for banknotes or travelers' checks. Spot prices at market makers vary, but on EUR/USD are usually no more than 3 pips wide (i.e. 0.0003). Competition has greatly increased with pip spreads shrinking on the major pairs to as little as 1 to 2 pips.

Teenager loses 'purity ring' legal battle

By John Aston and Cathy Gordon, PA

Published: 16 July 2007

Teenager Lydia Playfoot today lost her High Court challenge over a ban preventing her from wearing a Christian "purity ring".

Sixteen-year-old Lydia Playfoot claimed the ban at the Millais School in Horsham, West Sussex, was an "unlawful interference" with her right to express her Christian faith.

In a statement she said she was "very disappointed" by the decision by deputy High Court judge Michael Supperstone QC.

Lydia said: "I am very disappointed by the decision this morning by the High Court not to allow me to wear my purity ring to school as an expression of my Christian faith not to have sex outside of marriage."

She said she believed the ruling "will mean that slowly, over time, people such as school governors, employers, political organisations and others will be allowed to stop Christians from publicly expressing and practising their faith".

She added: "Over two years ago, I was concerned at the number of teenagers who were catching sexually transmitted diseases, getting pregnant and/or having abortions.

"The Government's sex education programme is not working, and the pressure on young people to 'give in' to sex continues to increase. This is often because of the media's focus on sex and the expectations of others."

Lydia is one of a group of Christians at the Millais School who wore the ring engraved with a Biblical verse as a sign of their belief in abstinence from sex until marriage.

In court her lawyers claimed that her secondary school, which allows Muslim and Sikh students to wear headscarfs and religious bracelets, breached her human rights by preventing her from wearing the ring.

The school denied her claims, arguing that the purity ring is not an integral part of the Christian faith and contravenes its uniform policy.

At a recent hearing at the High Court in London, human rights barrister Paul Diamond, appearing for Lydia, argued that the secular school authorities had no right to set themselves up as arbiters of faith and "cannot rule on religious truth".

He argued that the school authorities were violating Lydia's right to " freedom of thought, conscience and religion" under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The rings stem from the "Silver Ring Thing" (SRT) movement which started in the US.

SRT rings are worn by Christian teenagers to symbolise a pledge not to have sex before marriage and have led to an impassioned debate over religious expression and sex education.

Mr Diamond told the court that the case raised a number of issues relating to Lydia's fundamental right to "manifest her religion by the wearing of the Silver Ring Thing".

He argued that secular authorities, including school authorities, "lack capacity to rule on the correct manifestation of religious belief".

He said a question the judge would have to answer was: "What are the religious rights of schoolchildren in the school context?"

He argued that the rights guaranteed under human rights law included the freedom to manifest religious belief "in worship, teaching, practice and observance".

Mr Diamond, who also represented Nadia Eweida in the British Airways " cross" case, argued: "Secular authorities cannot rule on religious truth."

He said no secular inquiry - "be it by the courts, be it by the school board governors, or be it by British Airways" - could decide on what were appropriate manifestations of belief.

He said: "That is the forbidden inquiry. Secular authorities and institutions cannot be arbiters of religious faith."

Their duty was to remain "neutral and impartial in this very sensitive field".

In her statement, Lydia said: "As a Christian I do not agree with sex before marriage.

"I believe I have a right not only to state my Christian views on sex, but also to demonstrate my Christian faith and commitment to God and my future husband not to have sex before marriage, through the wearing of a purity ring.

"I, along with 11 other Christian girls at Millais School, decided before God that we would make a commitment not to have sex before marriage, and as a sign of that commitment, to wear a simple silver ring from the 'Silver Ring Thing' movement."

She said: "The wearing of the ring was, to me, a demonstration of my Christian faith and values, which are based on the Bible - which clearly teaches that sex outside of marriage is wrong and therefore not God's best for us.

"Despite the fact that Muslim girls at our school wear headscarves, and Sikhs wear Kara bangles, the school refused to allow me to manifest my belief through the wearing of a ring.

"The school governors originally said it was for health and safety reasons that purity rings were banned from school, but have offered no evidence to support the view that wearing a ring could physically harm another pupil or staff member.

"I still believe the decision by the governors of the school goes against the Article 9 rights to Freedom of Religion and my right to express my faith in word or deed, in a democratic, Christian-based country."

She added: "I shall be consulting my legal team to consider whether to appeal."

It was a matter of deep regret to her that "I could not persuade the court to consider upholding the religious liberty of Christian people in the United Kingdom".

The teenager concluded: "As a Christian though, I live for another Kingdom, and serve another King, Jesus Christ, and therefore I shall continue to live and speak for what is right and true."

Teen age Parties !...

Expert Teenage Parties Tips

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1
		Best Foods for Teen Parties The best foods for teen parties are the grab and go kind: pizza, burgers, tacos, fried chicken and sub sandwiches.
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2
		Parent Free Teenage Party The word from parents and teens is that teens like supervised parties to be as parent-free as possible. Teens say as long as there's lots of food and music, they´ll have fun and stay out of trouble. Try giving your teen a room, like a closed-off den, basement or living room as the place for the party. Have lots of soda in the fridge, snacks like chips and dip, a portable CD player with a selection of pre-approved CDs and board games. Order pizza when it´s time and for some this would make a great party.
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3
		More Foods for Teen Party Teens tend to eat a lot. When you´re purchasing food, figure that each teen will probably consume three to four cans of soda each, one to two servings of the main course and about 1/2 bag of snacks.
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4
		Foods for Teen Party Set up a taco bar and let the teens build their own tacos for an example of foods to serve for teen parties. Provide taco shells or tortillas, taco meat mixture, chopped tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, onions, hot sauce, salsa and sour cream.
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5
		All Night Horror Show Party for Teens This is a really fun party for your teenager. Have guests bring their favorite horror movie. They should also dress as the main character (Jason - Friday the 13th; Michael - Halloween, etc.) Videos can be shown all night long. Food can include pizza, sandwiches, chips and dip. You can decorate in a Halloween/Monster theme or just keep your house as is.
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6
		Party Prizes for Teens Not sure what types of prizes to offer for teens? Try these: Poster of the latest, hottest band Gift certificate to video store CD baseball football
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7
		70s Slumber Party Ideas Girls will love this slumber party theme idea. It´s a lot of fun and easy to put together. Food: pizza, chips and dip, popcorn, nachos and cheese, sandwiches/beverages named after movie hits like Jawsbreakers, Godfather´s Goodies, Archie Bunker Burgers. Activities: paint tye dye t-shirts, paint pillowcases, watch 70´s movies like Saturday Night Fever and Jaws, listen to disco music, stage a fashion show, hold a "gong" show (talent show).
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8
		Unique Gifts for Teens Birthday Parties Tired of giving your teen the same old mall certificate, cd or movie as a gift? Here are some different and unique gift ideas for teens birthdays: homemade book of poems; a scrapbook of his or her early life; a audio tape or CD book featuring stories, poems or songs; a piece of grandma or grandpa´s jewelry; an autographed picture from one of the teens favorite stars (it´s not as hard as you think); a free pass for tv viewing for a week (he or she can watch whatever they want on the family tv).
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9
		Games for Teenage Parties - Pick a Letter Have everyone sit around in a circle. Pick any letter of the alphabet. Pick a subject (i.e., At the Zoo, Riding in the Car, etc.) The first person uses the selected letter to create sentence for the beginning of a round robin-type story. The next person uses the next letter. Each player only has 10 seconds to come up with something. For example, say the letter is M and the subject is At the Zoo: First person: Monkeys are smelly. Next person: No, I think it's the elephants. Next person: Only girls would say that. Next person: Please can we talk about something else! Next person: Quails. Have you ever eaten one? And so on.
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