Forex or FX is the common abbreviation for Foreign Exchange. If you've ever travelled to another country, you probably had to find a currency exchange booth at the airport, and then exchange the money you have in your wallet or purse into the currency of the country you are visiting. When you do this, you have essentially participated in the Forex market – you have exchanged one currency for another. Or in Forex trading terms, assuming you are an Australian visiting United States of America, you've sold Australian dollars and bought United States dollars.