Forex, short for the foreign exchange market or currency market, is the world's largest financial market trading the different currencies of the world. At a volume of USD4 trillion a day, it is massive as compared to the NYSE trading USD25billion a day.
Forex is usually traded in pairs. For instance, the United States of America's dollars and the Australian dollar. This would be quoted using its unique currency symbols as USD/AUD.
The most basic of trading the forex is having the long and short position when buying and just waiting for the price change to give you a gain in your trade. So what is a long position and short position? These are important terms because it gets used a lot in the forex.
Long position is a position in a pair in which the base currency is bought. It is beneficial when the price rises. And vice versa, a short position is a position in a pair in which the base currency is sold. The gain arises when the price falls.