Forex (Foreign Exchange Market) is an international financial marketplace where traders can exchange currency. Currency represents countries’ economies and can fluctuate up and down in value like stocks. When prices of particular currencies go up, traders may sell it and profit when its price goes down; alternatively they could purchase them with plans of selling later at a profit.

Forex trading can yield substantial profits depending on your trading strategy, risk management skills and market knowledge. Your profits also depend on the size and leverage of your trades – leverage is defined as using borrowed capital to increase returns from trades – so successful traders who manage risk effectively while taking full advantage of available leverage can often reap huge profits from this market.

No matter your level of experience or the goal you have for forex trading, setting realistic expectations about how much you can make can help avoid disappointment and loss. Setting expectations too high often ends up costing more in lost opportunities; to achieve maximum profitability it is better to focus on good trading processes with profits following as an unintended side-effect.

As part of your understanding of forex’s profitability, one of the key concepts you’ll need to grasp is how profits are calculated. A profit on any trade is measured in “pips”, units that measure movement in currency pairs. To calculate profits accurately, you need information on lot size of trade, exchange rate at which position was opened and closing price where position closed as well as total profit or loss multiplied by number of pips gained or lost.

Tax laws also play a large part in how much you can earn through trading, as some countries tax some of your earnings while others do not. If more taxes are withheld from your earnings, less money will remain for personal use.

Foreign Exchange trading provides endless potential to make huge amounts of money; trillions are exchanged daily on this market alone! But to realize real profits you need enough capital for wise investments and avoid taking unnecessary risks that could quickly empty out your account.

Notably, your trading results won’t always be consistent from month to month and they may even turn negative at times. Furthermore, leverage and margin can have a dramatic effect on profitability; to mitigate this risk it’s essential that you set clear trading goals that adhere to them and stick to them firmly if long term success is the aim. Keeping learning, trading responsibly and keeping up-to-date on world news are all keys factors.