"In the heyday of the 1990s, a junior bank trader might hold a $1 million to $2 million position overnight, and a top trader might hold a position of up to $100 million overnight," notes Sassan Ghahramani, CEO of New York-based SGH Macro Advisors, which advises money managers. "That has disappeared. Volume is at an all-time high, but its a situation of 'pass the hot potato.' People can't hold positions... Meanwhile, hedge funds and other money managers have become the players holding currency positions for sustained periods, Ghahramani notes. "A lot of them are on the same side [of trades], and if they need to get out, banks are no longer there as a cushion. That tends to exaggerate moves."