What is FOREX?

The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. The average daily trade in the global forex and related markets currently is almost US$ 4 trillion.

The foreign exchange market is unique because of

• its trading volumes,
• the extreme liquidity of the market,
• the large number of, and variety of, traders in the market,
• its geographical dispersion,
• its long trading hours: 24 hours a day except on weekends (from 3pm EST on Sunday until 4pm EST Friday),
• the variety of factors that affect exchange rates.
• the low margins of profit compared with other markets of fixed income (but profits can be high due to very large trading volumes)
• the use of leverage

Crisis in East Asia (Tom Yum Koong Disease)

The East Asian financial crisis was a period of economic unrest that started in July 1997 in Thailand and affected currencies, stock markets, and other asset prices in several Asian countries, many considered East Asian Tigers. It is also commonly referred to as the East Asian currency crisis or locally as the IMF crisis although the latter is somewhat controversial. There is general consensus on the existence of a crisis and its consequences, but what is less clear are the causes of the crisis, its scope and resolution.
Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand were the countries most affected by the crisis. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Loas and the Philippines were also hit by the slump. Mainland China, Taiwan, Sinaapore and Vietnam were relatively unaffected. Japan was not affected much by this crisis but was going through its own long-term economic difficulties. However, all nations mentioned above saw their currencies dip significantly relative to the US dollar, though the harder hit nations saw extended currency losses.
Though called the "East Asian" crisis because it originated in EastAsia, its effects rippled throughout the globe and caused a global financial crisis, with major effects felt as widely as Russia and Brazill, as investors lost confidence in emerging markets. The United States as an investor was briefly affected. Source : wikipedia