The modern Foreign Exchange or forex market as we know it has been around since 1973. The establishment of the Bretton-Woods Accord in 1944 is usually thought to have marked the beginning of foreign exchange. It was made to stabilize the global economy after World War II. It not only created the concept of pegging currencies against each other, but also created the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well. Currencies were pegged to the dollar which were then in turn pegged to gold in hopes of bringing stability of global forex events. Up until 1971 when the Act finally failed, it did manage to stabilize the economies in Europe and Japan. (more...)