If you are already a trader or is hoping to become one, sure you have heard about forex trading methodologies used by the pros and the like. You will either go by the fundamental trading or by the technical trading which most of them follow. Fundamental analysis places emphasis on critically examining the intrinsic values of currencies and the reasons to their movements regardless of their directions.

The Basis of Fundamental Analysis
For doing fundamental analysis of a particular currency, one needs to get deeper insights beginning from that country's political history, economic policies and performances, inflation for evaluating that currency's potential. These points are some building blocks of an economy. You can obtain such reports over internet. Scrutinizing the reports must indicate whether a country is progressing or not as it implicates large reversals in forex values in case of economic deviations from the norm.

Key Elements in Fundamental Analysis
1. GDP: Gross Domestic Product or the overall earnings of countries. The single most decisive parameter to judge whether countries are progressing. Uncertainties in GDP and GDP growth figures cause fluctuations in currency valuations.
2. Industrial Production: Higher the industrial production the better; better still if a greater chuck of the produce is exported which adds to which adds to the country's forex buying power adds to the forex reserve. As the reserve grows the local currency trends upwards.
3. Consumer Price Index: Tells whether the country is gaining or loosing on the export front when this moves up and down respectively.
4. Inflation Rate: Higher the prevailing inflation rate lower is the currency's valuation in the forex market because of its weakened buying power. You can correlate the trends in both of these.

There are several other indicators of equal importance such as the forex reserve, human development index, infrastructural growth, foreign trade in general and balance of payment (BoP) etc which needs to be given due importance.

How to Use These Indicators?
Economic indicators are mirrors of a currency's trending directions as much as they are a country's prospects in general. Governmental policies, annual budgets and credit & other financial policies are formally announced at definite times by various agencies. An analyst must have a country's economic calendar by his side in order not to miss out.

One must contrast the opposite country's fundamental parameters too. But the golden line in fundamental analysis is never to rush but realize that the released figures are often revised later. Trend setting changes through policy changes are likely to last longer than those indicated by technical analysis.