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GAL is a very high level programming language for [[MVS]] based systems such as [[OS/390]] and [[z/OS]]. It contains features and constructs that enable the programmer to efficiently intercept systems events and schedule responses. Somewhat akin to BASIC, GAL enables systems programmer and operators to define logic to apply to systems messages as they flow through a multi-system (sysplex) environment. GAL also enables the programmer to define events that have occurred in the past, by intercepting Action Message Retention Facility (AMRF) messages. The language has built in constructs to obtain the age of a retained message and make decisions about its fate depending on age. GAL can be used to write new systems commands, by intercepting anything that is entered into an Operator Console and interpreting it. GAL uses keywords such as names of days of the week, names of month etc. to automatically schedule events in the system. Like REXX GAL is both an interpretive language and a complied language. GAL statements can be entered to the interpreer on the fly, or entire automation scenario's can be predefined, such as for instance, the logic to define unattended operations of a system, and can be compiled offline, using the compiler program GALCOMP.
{{Foreign Exchange}}
GAL implements comparison by IF statements, setting of variables, by the LET statement and subroutine calls. GAL allows the programmer to break into REXX, and Assembler where it is needed. The very high level nature of GAL is exemplified by the EMAIL statement, which enables the programmer to send an email alert when an event is detected that requires human intervention. Assuming that this message event requires an alert to be sent to a default recipient:
''' MSG=XID999S
In [[finance]], the '''exchange rate''' between two [[currency|currencies]] specifies how much one currency is worth in terms of the other. For example an exchange rate of 120 [[Yen|Japanese yen]] (JPY, ¥) to the [[United States dollar]] (USD, $) means that JPY 120 is worth the same as USD 1. An exchange rate is also known as a '''foreign-exchange rate''', '''forex rate''' or '''FX rate'''. The [[foreign exchange market]] is one of the largest markets in the world. By some estimates, about USD 2 trillion worth of currency changes hands every day.
VAR &MSGTXT LEN 100
LET &MSGTXT = $$MSGTXT
EMAIL
SUBJECT '&MSGTXT'
'This is a problem that needs urgent attention'
'''
GAL uses text capture and replacement facilities. In this simple example, the text of the system message is captured into a variable and the text in that variable is then used as the subject of the email. The message in the body of the email is the text in quotes following the subject.
An exchange rate quotation is given by stating the number of units of a '''price currency''' that can be bought in terms of 1 '''unit currency'''. For example, in a quotation that says the [[euro|EUR]]-USD exchange rate is 1.2 USD per EUR, the price currency is USD and the unit currency is EUR.
GAL allows for cross systems queries to be issued by simple IF statements, without regard for the underlying internal processes required to perform the cross systems communications. It is simply a matter of identifying one or more systems that are to be tested.
Quotes using a country's home currency as the '''price currency''' are known as '''direct quotation''' or '''price quotation''' (from that country's perspective) ([http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/manuals/cfmmanual/cfm7011.htm]) and are used by most countries.
For instance to check if a job is currently running in a partner system:
'''IF SYS=sysn JOB(jobname) ACTIVE
Quotes using a country's home currency as the '''unit currency''' are known as '''indirect quotation''' or '''quality terms''' quotation and are used in [[United Kingdom|British]] newspapers and are also common in [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]] and [[Canada]].
DO
. . .
END'''
If this were to be written in a lower level language it would require many thousands of lines of code.
* direct quotation: Home Currency / Foreign Currency
{{Uncategorized|date=June 2007}}
* indirect quotation: Foreign Currency / Home Currency
Note that, using direct quotation, if a unit currency is strengthening (i.e. [[appreciation|appreciating]], or becoming more valuable) then the exchange rate number increases. Conversely if the price currency is strengthening, the exchange rate number decreases and the unit currency is [[depreciation|depreciating]].
==Free or pegged==
:''Main article: [[Exchange rate regime]]''
If a currency is free-floating, its exchange rate is allowed to vary against that of other currencies. Exchange rates for such currencies are likely to change almost constantly as quoted on [[financial markets]], mainly by [[bank]]s, around the world. If the value of the currency is "[[pegged]]" its value is maintained by the government in question at a fixed rate relative to the other currency. In 1983 the [[Hong Kong dollar]] was linked to the [[United States dollar]].
==Nominal and real exchange rates==
* The nominal exchange rate is the rate at which an organisation can trade the currency of one country for the currency of another.
* The real exchange rate is the rate at which an organisation can trade goods and services of one country for those of another. For example, say the price of a good increases 10% in the UK, and there is also a 10% appreciation in the Japanese currency against the UK currency, the price of the good remains constant for someone in Japan despite increase in price for people in the UK. In cases where [[tariffs]] become an issue, this would be less the case.
==Fluctuations in exchange rates==
A market based exchange rate will change whenever the values of either of the two component currencies change. A currency will tend to become more valuable whenever demand for it is greater than the available supply. It will become less valuable whenever demand is less than available supply (this does not mean people no longer want money, it just means they prefer holding their wealth in some other form, possibly another currency).
Increased demand for a currency is due to either an increased transaction demand for money, or an increased speculative demand for money. The transaction demand for money is highly correlated to the country's level of business activity, gross domestic product (GDP), and employment levels. The more people there are out of work, the less the public as a whole will spend on goods and services. [[Central bank]]s typically have little difficulty adjusting the available money supply to accommodate changes in the demand for money due to business transactions.
The speculative demand for money is much harder for a central bank to accommodate but they try to do this by adjusting [[interest rate]]s. An investor may choose to buy a currency if the return (that is the interest rate) is high enough. The higher a country's interest rates, the greater the demand for that currency. It has been argued that currency speculation can undermine real economic growth, in particular since large currency speculators may deliberately create downward pressure on a currency in order to force that central bank to sell their currency to keep it stable (once this happens, the speculator can buy the currency back from the bank at a lower price, close out their position, and thereby take a profit).
In choosing what type of asset to hold, people are also concerned that the asset will retain its value in the future. Most people will not be interested in a currency if they think it will devalue. A currency will tend to lose value, relative to other currencies, if the country's level of inflation is relatively higher, if the country's level of output is expected to decline, or if a country is troubled by political uncertainty. For example, when [[Russia]]n [[President]] [[Vladimir Putin]] dismissed his Government on February 24, 2004, the price of the [[Ruble]] dropped. When [[China]] announced plans for its first manned space mission, synthetic futures on Chinese yuan jumped (since China's currency is officially pegged, synthetic markets have emerged that can behave as if the yuan was floating).
Like the stock exchange, money can be made or lost on the [[foreign exchange market]] by investors and speculators buying and selling at the right times. Currencies can be traded at spot and [[foreign exchange options]] markets. The [[wiktionary:spot_market|spot market]] represents current exchange rates, where options are [[derivative_(finance)|derivatives]] of exchange rates.
==Foreign exchange markets==
:''Main article: [[Foreign exchange market]]
The [[foreign exchange market]]s are usually highly [[liquidity|liquid]] as the world's main international banks provide a market around-the-clock. The [[Bank for International Settlements]] reported that global foreign exchange market turnover daily averages in April was $650 billion in 1998 (at constant exchange rates) and increased to $1.9 trillion in 2004 ([http://www.bis.org/publ/rpfx05.htm Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity 2004 - Final Results]). The biggest foreign exchange trading centre is [[London]], followed by [[New York]] and [[Tokyo]].
==See also==
*[[Continuous linked settlement]]
*[[Financial instrument]]s
*[[Gold standard]]
*[[List of international trade topics]]
*[[Hyperbolic coordinates]]
*[[Table of historical exchange rates]]
*[[Currency Pair]]
==External links==
*[http://finance.yahoo.com/m3 Yahoo currency converter and cross rates]
*[http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/fds/hi/business/market_data/currency/default.stm BBC cross rates]
*[http://www.rationalfx.com RationalFX Currency Converter]
[[Category:Macroeconomics]]
[[Category:International trade]][[category:International economics]][[Category:Currency]]
[[ca:Taxa de canvi]]
[[cs:Měnový kurz]]
[[de:Wechselkurs]]
[[es:Tipo de cambio]]
[[ko:환율]]
[[nl:Wisselkoers]]
[[ja:為替レート]]
[[nn:Vekslingskurs]]
[[pl:Kurs walutowy]]
[[pt:Taxa de câmbio]]
[[sv:Växelkurs]]
[[tr:Döviz kuru]]
[[zh:汇率]]
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