Business & Finance | March 7th, 2020

Forex: The Millenial Money Trend

By: Akilah Winters

Jamielle Lawson, a 19-year-old Forex Platinum 1000 leader at Tradehouse Investment Group, usually spends her day training her team on how to use Forex and recruiting trading leaders. Once the training and recruiting are over, she spends the majority of her nights evaluating and predicting the market so she can strategize her next trading move. 

Then from 3 a.m. to 10 a.m., she trades different currencies in the foreign exchange market, or what millennials know as Forex. After those seven hours in the market are over, she has the rest of her day to spend it how she wants. Lawson’s schedule is a normal day for many Forex traders. 

According to Ifeakandu Okoye, a Florida A&M University Economics professor, “Forex, or the foreign exchange market, is a market that allows an individual to buy or sell currencies of nations and exchange them.”

So, why have so many millennials joined the sudden trend of trading in the foreign exchange market?

Jamielle Lawson believes many Forex traders are using the market as a secondary plan if life after receiving their college degrees doesn’t go as planned.

“Forex has been becoming more of a trend amongst millennials because most millennials go to college and aren’t ending up with the jobs that they want,” said Lawson. “Our times are catching up with us. People want to be their own boss; they don’t want to go with the norm.”

Jazmine Logan, Lawson’s mentee and a FAMU alumna, believes that most millennials are following the trend because they are simply just doing what they see.

“We are a ‘monkey see, monkey do’ generation. Everyone is doing the same thing. No one wants to work and having social media contributes to this trend,” said Logan.

Compared to the stock market, the foreign exchange market tends to be more volatile, yet more profit seems to be accrued. Volatility refers to the difference in price changes between the two markets.

“Every day around $7.3 trillion is circulated in the foreign exchange market, but a fast-paced stock market has $22 billion circulating in the market,” said Lawson.

“Opportunity can make profit [in the foreign exchange market] because money is always moving…due to trading increasing the volatility in the market increases as well,” said Steven Perfect, a Florida State University College of Business professor.

Risk plays a very important role in trading the foreign exchange market as well. Taking a risk can either involve losing all of your money or simply trading with the wrong country.

“There is a huge risk in trading in the market because when I first started I lost a lot of money. You cannot be greedy, you will lose money quickly. You must learn the skill,” said Logan.

Before someone impulsively jumps into the market, it is advised to become aware of the possible risks and the wise way to trade.

“There is always a risk, the risk you are taking could be connecting with other nations,” said Okoye. “You must assess the environment and make sure you know that you want to maximize your profits,” he said.

There are many different learning platforms that Forex traders use before they begin to trade. Most people who are interested will either use YouTube videos or attend workshops to help them learn this market. Some are fortunate enough to receive mentors and build a bond beyond the trading like Lawson and Logan.

“We connected on Forex, but our relationship goes a lot deeper…I want to help her create a building to help her with her hair business…we would meet up in person in Tallahassee and I would give her training,” said Lawson.

Trading in the Forex market can involve risks, but more money, trading connections turned friendships, and an extremely flexible daily schedule seems to be the perks that are attracting millennials to the movement.