There are six main participants in the forex market: central banks, commercial banks and investment banks, multinational corporations, institutional traders, retail forex brokers, and retail traders. Central banks take part in the forex market to stabilize their respective economies. Commercial banks take part in the forex market for two reasons: to facilitate forex transactions for their clients and to speculate for profit. Multinational corporations take part in the forex market primarily for hedging purposes. Institutional traders, forex brokers, and retail traders all trade the forex market for the same reason: to generate profits. A segment of the institutional crowd that has gained rapid popularity in recent years is called high-frequency trading (HFT). Sometimes referred to as algorithmic trading, HFT aims to earn small, short-term profits on a high number of trades. As a result of increasing demand from the retail crowd, transaction costs have decreased; technology offerings have improved, and value added services on forex brokerage firms have increased tremendously over the years.