There are some basic principles associated with currency trading. The main one is to trade only when you expect that the currency you are buying will increase in value compared to the currency you are selling. It's that simple. If the currency you are buying really does increase in value, you must sell back that currency in order to get your profit. An open trade, also called an open position, is one in which a trader has bought or sold a particular currency pair, and has not yet sold or bought back the equivalent amount to complete the deal. That's why 95% of the FX market is absolutely speculative in a sense that traders buy or sell, without having an idea to take deliver of the currency in the end. Instead, they are just speculating on the movement of those currencies.