Swap cost calculator
Holding a position overnight is a financing decision. This adds up what that financing costs, or pays, across your holding period.
What the number means
Every night a leveraged position stays open, financing changes hands - usually against you, occasionally in your favour when the rate differential runs your way. Brokers publish it per lot per night, and once a week most charge a triple night to cover the weekend the market was shut.
Swing traders should do this arithmetic before entry, not after. A position held three weeks pays for the same spread once and the swap twenty-odd times - on many pairs the financing quietly becomes the largest cost of the trade.
Worked example
A broker quotes −7.20 per lot per night. Two lots held ten nights, two of them triple-swap nights.
- Nights charged: 10 + 2 × 2 = 14
- Per night: −7.20 × 2 lots = −14.40
- Total: −14.40 × 14 = −201.60 in the account currency
Two hundred paid for time alone, before the trade moves a pip. The unit test suite pins these exact figures.
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<iframe src="https://ticksprout.com/tools/swap-cost?swap=-7.2&lots=2&nights=10&triple=2&embed=1" width="100%" height="640" style="border:0" title="Swap cost calculator" loading="lazy"></iframe>
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