[Lingo] FX

[s smith <sjs@example.com>]

皆さん

I recently started poking around livedoor.jp and encountered ads for 'FX'.  Here is an example.  As nearly as I can understand, this is 'foreign exchange' but I'm surprised to find this much interest in foreign exchange.  What am I not understanding?  Is it common for people there to use the foreign exchange market this much?

Also I'm seeing the character '銭' on the page a lot.  It's 1/100 of a yen so it makes sense that it's used like % and I'm assuming it's pronounced せん and not ぜん.  I haven't noticed it on other financial pages before but may have missed it.  Is this also a generic term for interest in Japan?

Thanks for your help.

Steve S.