Rydex funds, a leader in exchange traded funds, recently introduced six new currency funds, to supplement the Euro-based fund it released last year. FYI, an exchange traded fund (ETF) is a closed end investment trust that trades on an exchange, much like a stock or bond. More specifically, currency ETF’s sell shares to the public which track the performance of actual currencies. Buying a currency ETF is comparable to buying the currency itself; you gain money when the currency appreciates, and lose money when it depreciates (relative to the USD). The advantage of speculating on currencies by purchasing an ETF instead of the actual currency is the ease of investment, for you can quickly buy and sell ETF’s and hold them in the same account that you use to trade other securities. The Motley Fool reports:

This past June, Rydex added six more currency-based exchange-traded funds to the market when it launched the the CurrencyShares Australian Dollar (NYSE: FXA), British Pound Sterling (NYSE: FXB), Canadian Dollar (NYSE: FXC), Mexican Peso (NYSE: FXM), Swedish Krona (NYSE: FXS), and Swiss Franc (NYSE: FXF) funds.

Read More: The ABCs of Currency ETFs