#2 - Credit Risks
Key points:
- Check the credentials of the person you are trading with, make sure they can pay you
Trust is the key part of any relationship, and the trust between the buyer and the seller in the forex markets is no exception. If you place a trade, your expectation is that the other side will fulfill their part of the deal, yet there is always a risk that the other side might not be able to pay.
For example, bankruptcy can occur. Therefore, to avoid such risks, it is important that proper credit risk management has been implemented. It's a good idea to check if a company is a member of an authorized organisation, like the Financial Commission, for example.
#3 - Political Risks
Key points:
- Statements and data released by politicians can affect markets
Forex trading political risks are among some of the most frequent and ever changing forex market risks, because there are constant announcements made by world governments that affect economies and society in general.
Therefore, political risks inevitably have an affect on forex markets, because traders will speculate based on the latest news developments, or they may anticipate what is coming and trade in response to it.
To give an example, when Donald Trump makes tweets on twitter, his words often have an impact on worldwide markets. Sometimes he makes official statements, but a lot of the time he posts general opinions, and even though these are just opinions and should not necessarily be taken as an indication of what may be coming in the future, they will still prompt traders to act differently in the forex markets.

For instance, some traders may react positively and start trading quickly and in large amounts as a response, whereas others might choose to wait and not trade, or perhaps trade later. The point is, because of Trump's position as the president of the USA, anything he tweets will always have a major impact on the markets.
#4 - Leverage Risks
Key points:
- In a highly volatile market, you can lose more money
- You can also potentially make higher profits in a volatile market
When you are trading in the forex market you will be required to make a small initial investment which is known as a 'margin'. The purpose of this investment is to allow you access to a range of sizable trading opportunities in different foreign currencies.
During a trading window, there will be price fluctuations that can make a 'margin call'. A margin call is an instance whereby an investor must pay for a supplementary margin, when the value of the account decreases till a certain point.
When there is a lot of market volatility, there are significant forex leverage risks, meaning that traders can potentially lose a lot of money, and very quickly. This is because the market is moving so rapidly, and therefore, it could be difficult to recover losses or prevent further losses.
#5 - Interest Rate Risks
Key points:
- Increases in interest rates lead to higher exchange rates
- Decreases in interest rates lead to lower exchange rates
Firstly, it's important to note that interest rates have an impact on the exchange rates of countries. If the interest rates of a country increase, the currency will likely strengthen too, due to the fact that there is likely to be an increase in foreign and domestic (home) investments in the assets of that country.
The reason for these increases in investments is that investors believe that a currency that has become stronger, and will very likely provide higher returns in the future.
In contrast, it can work the same way if a country's interest rates decrease. In this scenario, the country's currency would weaken when investors begin to withdraw their investments in that country's assets.
Because of these changes, forex market prices would also be affected dramatically. Therefore, at a time like this, the markets would likely be highly volatile, presenting opportunities to make higher profits, as well as larger losses simultaneously.
Expert Tip For Avoiding Forex Risks
Hedging forex risks is an effective way of reducing the potential of losing substantial amounts of capital when trading on the forex markets. But what is hedging?

Hedging in forex refers to the act of protecting your position on a currency pair from a move that could affect you negatively. Traders typically use two distinct strategies for hedging forex currency pairs.
1. They create a 'hedge', which means that they choose to hold 'long' and 'short' positions on the same currency pair (like placing the same bet twice, so that one bet will definitely win, and one bet will definitely lose). This strategy is also known as a 'perfect hedge'.
2. They create an 'imperfect hedge', which means that they go long or short on a currency pair, and then purchase options contracts. This reduces what is known as the 'downside risk'.
If the trader is 'going short' on a currency pair, they can instead choose to purchase all of the 'buy call option contracts' in order to lessen the risk involved with their move on the 'upside'.