Foreign Exchange Exchange Rates Currency band Exchange rate Exchange rate regime Fixed exchange rate Floating exchange rate Linked exchange rate Markets Foreign exchange market Futures exchange Products Currency Currency future Non-deliverable forward Forex swap Currency swap Foreign exchange option See also Bureau de change The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is by far the largest financial market in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. The average daily trade in the global forex and related markets currently is over US$ 3 trillion.[1] Contents 1 Market size and liquidity 2 Market participants 2.1 Banks 2.2 Commercial companies 2.3 Central banks 2.4 Investment management firms 2.5 Hedge funds 2.6 Retail forex brokers 3 Trading characteristics 4 Factors affecting currency trading 4.1 Economic factors 4.2 Political conditions 4.3 Market psychology 5 Algorithmic trading in forex 6 Financial instruments 6.1 Spot 6.2 Forward 6.3 Future 6.4 Swap 6.5 Option 6.6 Exchange Traded

CONMED Corporation Provides Business Update (Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance)

CONMED Corporation announced today that its fourth quarter 2008 sales will be approximately 9% lower than previously anticipated due to unfavorable foreign currency exchange fluctuations and lower than anticipated sales volumes for capital equipment.

Hooray for hip Toronto (Tacoma News Tribune)

With the U.S. dollar surging against Canadian currency, a vacation north of the border is suddenly affordable again. In late December, the currency exchange rate was $1.22 (Canadian) to the $1 (U.S.). In addition to being a good deal, Americans headed to Toronto might also find Canada’s largest city refreshingly hip, diverse and utterly cosmopolitan. Here are some tips to help you explore the ...

FEI expects 4Q gross bookings of more than $170M (AP via Yahoo! Finance)

FEI Co., which supplies equipment used in imaging, analysis and prototyping, said Monday it expects fourth-quarter gross bookings of more than $170 million.

Suspect shot following police chase identified (The Pantagraph)

UPDATED 6 p.m. NORMAL -- Police from Normal and McLean County confronted and shot a man, suspected of robbing a Check n’ Go in Bloomington, following a high-speed chase on interstate highways around Normal Monday afternoon. | Photo gallery

Suspect shot following police chase identified, in hospital (The Pantagraph)

UPDATED 7:40 p.m. NORMAL -- Police from Normal and McLean County confronted and shot a man, suspected of robbing a Check n’ Go in Bloomington, following a high-speed chase on interstate highways around Normal Monday afternoon. | UPDATED Photo gallery

Police shoot man in high-speed chase in cent. Ill. (KWQC-TV 6 Davenport)

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) - Police in McLean County have shot a man on Interstate 39 after he led officers on a high-speed chase. Authorities say the man is suspected of robbing four banks last month. On Monday, police said the man robbed a Bloomington business at gunpoint and fled in his vehicle.

EU says euro adoption runs smoothly in Slovakia (Philippine News Agency)

BRUSSELS, Jan. 6 (PNA/Xinhua) -- The European Commission said on Monday that the changeover to the euro in Slovakia is taking place smoothly.