The amount of local currency that is needed to buy one unit of the foreign currency (most commonly the USD). In other words, it involves quoting in fixed units of foreign currency against variable amounts of the domestic currency. For example, in the U.S., a direct quote for the Canadian dollar (as of March 2009) would be approximately USD 0.80  = CAD 1.00. Conversely, in Canada, a direct quote for U.S. dollars would be CAD 1.24 = USD 1.00. Direct quoted currency pairs include the USD/JPY, USD/CAD & USD/CHF.  Indirect quoted pairs include the EUR/USD, GBP/USD & AUD/USD.