[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":901},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-are-interest-rates":3,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-are-interest-rates-related":246},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":231,"date":232,"description":233,"draft":234,"extension":235,"meta":236,"navigation":234,"path":237,"related":238,"seo":242,"stem":243,"term":244,"updated":232,"__hash__":245},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-are-interest-rates.md","What Are Interest Rates? How They Set Your Swap Cost",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":223},"minimark",[9,19,24,27,38,41,70,74,77,90,103,107,118,125,128,132,185,189,215],[10,11,12,13,18],"p",{},"Interest rates are the price of money, set for each currency by its central bank. For a trader the consequence is narrower and more measurable than the macro commentary suggests: the difference between the two policy rates in a currency pair determines the ",[14,15,17],"a",{"href":16},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex","swap"," you are charged or paid for holding that pair overnight. Everything else about rates is forecasting. This part is arithmetic that lands on your statement.",[20,21,23],"h2",{"id":22},"how-it-works","How it works",[10,25,26],{},"Every FX position is two currencies at once — long one, short the other. Holding it past the broker's rollover time (usually 17:00 New York) rolls settlement forward a day, and the interest differential is debited or credited.",[28,29,34],"pre",{"className":30,"code":32,"language":33},[31],"language-text","Overnight swap ≈ Notional × (Rate of currency bought − Rate of currency sold) ÷ 365\n                 − broker markup\n","text",[35,36,32],"code",{"__ignoreMap":37},"",[10,39,40],{},"Four properties do most of the work:",[42,43,44,52,58,64],"ul",{},[45,46,47,51],"li",{},[48,49,50],"strong",{},"The sign flips with direction."," Long the higher-rate currency against the lower-rate one earns the differential; short the same pair pays it.",[45,53,54,57],{},[48,55,56],{},"Wednesday counts triple"," on most FX instruments, because that rollover carries the weekend's settlement. Some brokers apply the triple charge on Friday for other asset classes.",[45,59,60,63],{},[48,61,62],{},"The markup applies to both sides."," A positive rate differential does not reliably survive it. This is why so many accounts pay net financing whichever way they are positioned.",[45,65,66,69],{},[48,67,68],{},"Rate changes are not gradual."," A central bank decision moves the swap on every affected instrument from the next rollover, not over the following weeks.",[20,71,73],{"id":72},"why-it-matters","Why it matters",[10,75,76],{},"Swap accrues on time, not on trades. It is not on the entry ticket, it does not show in a gross profit figure, and it does not pause while you are away from the desk. For a system holding positions a couple of hours it is close to irrelevant. For a swing or grid system holding for weeks it is often the whole difference between a strategy that works and one that does not.",[10,78,79,80,84,85,89],{},"The failure mode is specific: a strategy that is profitable gross and unprofitable net, where ",[14,81,83],{"href":82},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-cost-percentage","the gap belongs entirely to the broker",". Alongside the ",[14,86,88],{"href":87},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","spread"," and commissions, financing is one of the three costs that separate a backtest from a statement.",[10,91,92,93,97,98,102],{},"The mirror trap is ",[14,94,96],{"href":95},"\u002Fguides\u002Fswap-and-carry-trade","the carry trade",". Positive swap is a real income stream, but the differentials wide enough to be worth collecting usually belong to currencies with the widest devaluation risk. The income is small and daily; the correction is large and sudden. ",[14,99,101],{"href":100},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage","Leverage"," makes both halves bigger.",[20,104,106],{"id":105},"what-the-data-shows","What the data shows",[10,108,109,110,113,114,117],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), traders have paid ",[48,111,112],{},"$862,547 in swap"," against ",[48,115,116],{},"$4,782,670 in commissions",". Financing is roughly a fifth the size of commission across that set, and it is charged for doing nothing at all. These are accounts published here, not a sample of traders everywhere.",[10,119,120,121,124],{},"The distribution is the harder number: ",[48,122,123],{},"86.3% of accounts that carry any swap pay net negative swap",". Roughly six accounts in seven treat financing as a cost, not an income. The minority collecting it sits on the receiving side of a differential, deliberately or otherwise.",[10,126,127],{},"Scale it against holding time. The median account on the platform holds a trade for 2.4 hours and closes 171 trades. On that profile swap is noise. On the profile that carries positions across weekends and month-ends, the same figure is the line item that decides the year.",[20,129,131],{"id":130},"where-you-see-it-on-showmytrades","Where you see it on ShowMyTrades",[42,133,134,144,155,166,175],{},[45,135,136,139,140,143],{},[48,137,138],{},"Total Swap Paid"," in the advanced statistics: cumulative financing in account currency, sitting next to ",[48,141,142],{},"Total Commissions",". Both are absolute figures reported by the broker, not estimates we reconstruct.",[45,145,146,147,150,151,154],{},"The ",[48,148,149],{},"trades table"," has a per-trade ",[48,152,153],{},"Swap"," column, so you can see which positions carried financing and how much. The open-positions view totals it for everything currently held — the running cost of interest rates on your account right now.",[45,156,157,160,161,165],{},[48,158,159],{},"Breakdown Statistics",", on its ",[162,163,164],"em",{},"By Symbol"," tab, splits profit per instrument — the fastest way to find the pair where financing is quietly eating the edge.",[45,167,168,174],{},[14,169,171],{"href":170},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-average-trade-length",[48,172,173],{},"Avg. Trade Length"," in the advanced statistics tells you whether swap can matter for this account at all: hours, or weeks.",[45,176,177,180,181,184],{},[48,178,179],{},"Custom Analysis"," has an ",[162,182,183],{},"Include swaps in profit calculations"," toggle. Turn it off, recompute the account's statistics, and read the gap directly. That gap is the financing cost of the strategy.",[20,186,188],{"id":187},"common-misunderstandings","Common misunderstandings",[42,190,191,197,203,209],{},[45,192,193,196],{},[48,194,195],{},"\"Swap only matters for long-term traders.\""," It applies to anyone holding past rollover, and it is charged at triple weight on Wednesday whether the position is one day old or one hundred.",[45,198,199,202],{},[48,200,201],{},"\"A positive rate differential means positive swap.\""," The broker's markup is deducted from both sides. Check the figure on the instrument, not the central bank table.",[45,204,205,208],{},[48,206,207],{},"\"Swap is too small to model.\""," Small per night, unbounded in aggregate: $862,547 across our public accounts, none of it visible on an entry ticket.",[45,210,211,214],{},[48,212,213],{},"\"I should trade the rate decision.\""," That is forecasting, with a poor base rate and a crowded field. Managing the financing cost you can already measure is a different activity, and the one with a known answer.",[10,216,217,218,222],{},"The full cost block, and what else a public account page is hiding in plain sight, is covered in ",[14,219,221],{"href":220},"\u002Fguides\u002Freading-a-trading-account-dashboard","how to read a trading account dashboard",".",{"title":37,"searchDepth":224,"depth":224,"links":225},2,[226,227,228,229,230],{"id":22,"depth":224,"text":23},{"id":72,"depth":224,"text":73},{"id":105,"depth":224,"text":106},{"id":130,"depth":224,"text":131},{"id":187,"depth":224,"text":188},"Costs","2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","Central bank interest rates set the rate differential between two currencies, which becomes the swap you pay or earn every night you hold a position open.",true,"md",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-are-interest-rates",[239,240,241],"what-is-a-swap-in-forex","what-is-a-spread","what-is-leverage",{"title":5,"description":233},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-are-interest-rates","Interest Rates","aZvk9CrLc0BqtvVcOtuundXbr3uQsmvcbt2-hlbDf1M",[247,470,674],{"id":248,"title":249,"body":250,"category":231,"date":232,"description":459,"draft":460,"extension":235,"meta":461,"navigation":234,"path":87,"related":462,"seo":466,"stem":467,"term":468,"updated":232,"__hash__":469},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread.md","What Is a Spread in Forex? Definition and Real Costs",{"type":7,"value":251,"toc":452},[252,255,257,260,266,274,285,301,303,311,314,316,321,328,333,340,347,349,409,411,445],[10,253,254],{},"A spread is the difference between the bid price, at which you can sell, and the ask price, at which you can buy. It is what the broker charges for filling your order, and you pay it on every trade whether that trade wins or loses. On most retail accounts it is the largest single cost of trading and the only one that never appears as a line item on the statement.",[20,256,23],{"id":22},[10,258,259],{},"If EUR\u002FUSD is quoted 1.08432 \u002F 1.08442, the spread is 1.0 pip. You buy at the ask and sell at the bid, so the position opens showing a loss equal to the spread. The trade has to cover that distance before it is flat.",[28,261,264],{"className":262,"code":263,"language":33},[31],"Spread (pips)   = (Ask − Bid) \u002F Pip size\nCost per trade  = Spread (pips) × Pip value × Lots\n",[35,265,263],{"__ignoreMap":37},[10,267,268,269,273],{},"On a standard lot of EUR\u002FUSD the ",[14,270,272],{"href":271},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-pip","pip value"," is $10, so a 1.0 pip spread costs $10 per lot, charged once on the round turn.",[10,275,276,277,280,281,284],{},"There are two ways brokers price it. ",[48,278,279],{},"Spread-only"," accounts widen the quote and charge nothing else — the cost is buried in your fill price. ",[48,282,283],{},"Raw spread plus commission"," accounts quote close to the interbank price and bill the difference separately. The total can be identical; only the second model makes the cost visible.",[10,286,287,288,291,292,295,296,300],{},"Spreads are either ",[48,289,290],{},"fixed"," (constant, usually wider, quoted by a dealing desk) or ",[48,293,294],{},"variable"," (tracking real liquidity). Variable spreads sit near zero on majors during the London–New York overlap and widen sharply at economic releases, in the thin hour around the daily rollover, and at the Sunday open. The widening happens precisely when your ",[14,297,299],{"href":298},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-stop-loss","stop loss"," is most likely to be hit.",[20,302,73],{"id":72},[10,304,305,306,310],{},"Spread scales with turnover, not with skill. A system targeting 5 pips per trade gives away ",[14,307,309],{"href":308},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage","20% of its gross edge"," to a 1-pip spread; a system targeting 200 pips gives away 0.5%. That single ratio decides whether a strategy survives at one broker and dies at another while the logic stays identical.",[10,312,313],{},"It also compounds invisibly. The median account published on ShowMyTrades closes 171 trades. One extra pip of spread across 171 standard lots is $1,710 — money that never shows anywhere except as a slightly worse equity curve.",[20,315,106],{"id":105},[10,317,109,318,320],{},[48,319,116],{},". That is only the visible half of execution cost: the spread portion cannot be totalled the same way, because it is priced into the fill rather than charged as a separate line.",[10,322,323],{},[324,325],"img",{"alt":326,"src":327},"The three broker cost lines: spread charged on every entry and exit and invisible in the P&L column, commission printed per trade, swap charged for time held — $4,782,670 in commissions and $862,547 in swap across public ShowMyTrades accounts","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fwhere-costs-hide.svg",[10,329,330],{},[162,331,332],{},"Only one of the three arrives with a number attached to it.",[10,334,335,336,339],{},"The scale of that hidden half is easy to bound. Those accounts have traded ",[48,337,338],{},"1,724,575 lots",". On a $10-per-pip instrument, a difference of just 0.2 pips in average spread across that volume is roughly $3.4 million — more than two thirds of all commissions ever recorded on the platform.",[10,341,342,343,346],{},"And the conditions genuinely differ: those accounts connect through ",[48,344,345],{},"703 distinct broker servers",", and 429 users run accounts at more than one broker precisely to compare them.",[20,348,131],{"id":130},[42,350,351,373,382,403],{},[45,352,353,356,357,359,360,363,364,367,368,372],{},[48,354,355],{},"Advanced Statistics"," shows ",[48,358,142],{},", ",[48,361,362],{},"Total Lots"," and ",[48,365,366],{},"Total Pips",". Divide the first by the second and you have ",[14,369,371],{"href":370},"\u002Fguides\u002Fbroker-cost-audit","that account's real commission per lot"," — a number brokers rarely publish in a comparable form.",[45,374,375,376,378,379,222],{},"The most useful check is ",[48,377,366],{}," against net profit. When an account is positive in pips but flat or negative in money, execution cost is consuming the edge. ",[14,380,381],{"href":82},"That gap is the spread and commission bill",[45,383,146,384,387,388,391,392,395,396,363,399,402],{},[48,385,386],{},"Closed Trades"," table under ",[48,389,390],{},"Trade History & Balance Progression"," carries a ",[48,393,394],{},"Commission"," column per ticket, alongside ",[48,397,398],{},"Open Price",[48,400,401],{},"Close Price",", so you can see what an individual fill actually cost.",[45,404,146,405,408],{},[48,406,407],{},"account header"," carries the broker badge, with the trade server name in its tooltip, next to the account currency and leverage. That is what makes two accounts running the same strategy comparable at all.",[20,410,188],{"id":187},[412,413,414,420,426,432],"ol",{},[45,415,416,419],{},[48,417,418],{},"\"Zero spread\" does not mean free."," Zero- or raw-spread accounts move the cost into commission. Compare the total, not the headline.",[45,421,422,425],{},[48,423,424],{},"The advertised spread is a best case."," Brokers quote typical or minimum spreads measured in liquid hours. Your fills during a rate decision are a different number.",[45,427,428,431],{},[48,429,430],{},"Spread is not on the statement, so people assume they are not paying it."," It is deducted at entry, before the trade exists as a row.",[45,433,434,437,438,363,440,444],{},[48,435,436],{},"Spread alone does not rank a broker."," ",[14,439,153],{"href":16},[14,441,443],{"href":442},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-slippage","slippage"," belong in the same comparison, and a tight spread with poor execution is the more expensive deal.",[10,446,447,448,222],{},"To put real numbers on your own instrument and lot size, see the ",[14,449,451],{"href":450},"\u002Fguides\u002Fforex-calculators-guide","guide to forex calculators",{"title":37,"searchDepth":224,"depth":224,"links":453},[454,455,456,457,458],{"id":22,"depth":224,"text":23},{"id":72,"depth":224,"text":73},{"id":105,"depth":224,"text":106},{"id":130,"depth":224,"text":131},{"id":187,"depth":224,"text":188},"A spread is the gap between the bid and ask price, the cost you pay to enter a trade. Here is how it works, what it costs per lot, and why brokers differ.",false,{},[239,463,464,465],"what-is-slippage","what-is-a-regulated-broker","what-is-a-profit-factor",{"title":249,"description":459},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","Spread","_HiS3N0q5xG6kWJPv01Kjk02mu226hR7wa-SzSCJ0_U",{"id":471,"title":472,"body":473,"category":231,"date":232,"description":667,"draft":234,"extension":235,"meta":668,"navigation":234,"path":16,"related":669,"seo":671,"stem":672,"term":153,"updated":232,"__hash__":673},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex.md","What Is a Swap in Forex? Overnight Costs Explained",{"type":7,"value":474,"toc":660},[475,478,480,487,493,504,510,520,522,530,533,535,546,552,557,572,574,618,620,650],[10,476,477],{},"A swap, also called rollover or overnight financing, is the interest debited from or credited to your account for holding a position past the broker's daily rollover time. It exists because every forex trade borrows one currency to buy another, so you pay the interest rate on the one you are short and earn it on the one you are long. Hold a position for an afternoon and swap is irrelevant; hold it for three months and it can outweigh the trade.",[20,479,23],{"id":22},[10,481,482,483,486],{},"The raw driver is the difference between the ",[14,484,485],{"href":237},"interest rates"," of the two currencies in the pair, adjusted by the broker's own markup, then divided across the year and applied to your position size.",[28,488,491],{"className":489,"code":490,"language":33},[31],"Nightly swap ≈ Position size × (Rate differential − Broker markup) \u002F 365\n",[35,492,490],{"__ignoreMap":37},[10,494,495,496,499,500,503],{},"In practice brokers do not publish it as a rate. They publish a ",[48,497,498],{},"swap long"," and a ",[48,501,502],{},"swap short"," figure per lot, in points or in account currency, in the contract specification for each symbol. You are charged whichever side you hold, once per night, at rollover — typically 21:00 or 22:00 UTC depending on the broker's server time.",[10,505,506,509],{},[48,507,508],{},"Triple swap Wednesday"," is not a penalty. Spot FX settles two business days forward, so a position held through Wednesday night settles on Monday and carries three days of financing, charged in one go. Some brokers apply the triple charge on Friday instead for metals, indices and CFDs, which is why the day matters and the rule is not universal.",[10,511,512,515,516,519],{},[48,513,514],{},"Positive carry"," is real but narrow. Being long the higher-yielding currency can earn swap rather than pay it, which is the mechanism behind ",[14,517,518],{"href":95},"carry trades",". The broker's markup is applied to both sides, so on many pairs both directions are negative, and the pair where carry is genuinely positive is usually the pair where the currency is falling.",[20,521,73],{"id":72},[10,523,524,525,529],{},"Swap is the cost that punishes holding, and specifically punishes holding losers. A grid or martingale system that refuses to close underwater positions pays financing on those positions every single night for as long as it holds them, so the cost grows in step with the mistake. The ",[14,526,528],{"href":527},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-equity-curve","equity curve"," looks flat while the account bleeds.",[10,531,532],{},"It also changes what a strategy is. A system with a positive edge over two days can be net negative over two weeks purely on financing, without a single new losing trade.",[20,534,106],{"id":105},[10,536,537,538,541,542,545],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), ",[48,539,540],{},"$862,547"," has been paid in swap. Of the accounts with any swap activity at all, ",[48,543,544],{},"86.3% pay net negative swap"," — earning carry is the exception, not a plan.",[10,547,548],{},[324,549],{"alt":550,"src":551},"An account falling every night while the price stays unchanged, Wednesday charged triple: 86.3% of ShowMyTrades accounts carrying swap pay it rather than earn it","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fswap-bleed.svg",[10,553,554],{},[162,555,556],{},"Financing accrues on time held, not on trades taken — the chart can stay flat while the balance sinks.",[10,558,559,560,563,564,567,568,571],{},"What makes that total striking is how short the typical holding period is. The median trade on those accounts lasts ",[48,561,562],{},"2.4 hours",", and the median account has ",[48,565,566],{},"171 closed trades",". Most accounts here barely touch rollover, and swap still amounts to roughly 18% of the ",[48,569,570],{},"$4,782,670"," paid in commissions, which suggests the bill is concentrated on the minority of accounts that hold.",[20,573,131],{"id":130},[42,575,576,587,603,611],{},[45,577,578,580,581,583,584,586],{},[48,579,138],{}," sits in the ",[48,582,355],{}," panel, next to ",[48,585,142],{},". It is coloured red when the account is net negative on financing and green when it is net positive, so the direction is readable at a glance.",[45,588,146,589,387,591,593,594,395,596,598,599,602],{},[48,590,386],{},[48,592,390],{}," has a ",[48,595,153],{},[48,597,394],{},". Note that the profit column is labelled ",[48,600,601],{},"Profit (Gross)"," — the financing is shown separately, not folded in.",[45,604,605,607,608,610],{},[48,606,179],{}," carries a toggle, ",[162,609,183],{},". Switch it on and off and the difference in the resulting statistics is exactly what the broker's financing did to the record.",[45,612,613,617],{},[14,614,615],{"href":170},[48,616,173],{}," in Advanced Statistics tells you whether swap should matter for that account before you even look at the figure. A two-hour average and a large swap bill do not belong together.",[20,619,188],{"id":187},[412,621,622,628,634,644],{},[45,623,624,627],{},[48,625,626],{},"Swap is not a service fee."," It is financing, and it can be paid to you. The broker's markup is the fee, and it is applied in both directions.",[45,629,630,633],{},[48,631,632],{},"Triple swap is a settlement convention, not a charge for trading on Wednesday."," Closing before rollover avoids it entirely.",[45,635,636,639,640,643],{},[48,637,638],{},"Carry is not free money."," The interest differential is small relative to the currency move that typically erases it, and ",[14,641,642],{"href":100},"leverage"," magnifies the move far more than the carry.",[45,645,646,649],{},[48,647,648],{},"A flat chart is not a costless month."," Financing on open positions accrues whether or not any trade closes.",[10,651,652,653,655,656,222],{},"For how swap fits alongside ",[14,654,88],{"href":87}," and the rest of the metrics on a public account, read the ",[14,657,659],{"href":658},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-trading-performance","guide to tracking trading performance",{"title":37,"searchDepth":224,"depth":224,"links":661},[662,663,664,665,666],{"id":22,"depth":224,"text":23},{"id":72,"depth":224,"text":73},{"id":105,"depth":224,"text":106},{"id":130,"depth":224,"text":131},{"id":187,"depth":224,"text":188},"A swap is the interest charged or paid for holding a forex position overnight. How it is calculated, why Wednesday is triple, and what thousands of accounts pay.",{},[240,670,241,463],"what-are-interest-rates",{"title":472,"description":667},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex","yHH22IHFSk2H-v9OC6elWwuiadT_ry9LGlqsLULYmM8",{"id":675,"title":676,"body":677,"category":891,"date":232,"description":892,"draft":460,"extension":235,"meta":893,"navigation":234,"path":100,"related":894,"seo":898,"stem":899,"term":101,"updated":232,"__hash__":900},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage.md","What Is Leverage in Forex? Formula and Real Numbers",{"type":7,"value":678,"toc":884},[679,682,684,687,693,696,750,753,756,768,770,773,776,794,796,799,807,810,812,815,849,851,877],[10,680,681],{},"Leverage is the ratio between the size of a position and the capital required to hold it. A broker offering 1:100 lets you control $100,000 of currency with $1,000 of your own money set aside as margin. It is a borrowing facility, not a strategy: it changes how much capital a trade ties up, and nothing else about the trade.",[20,683,23],{"id":22},[10,685,686],{},"Margin is the deposit the broker freezes while a position is open. The arithmetic is short.",[28,688,691],{"className":689,"code":690,"language":33},[31],"Position value  = Contract size × Lots × Price\nRequired margin = Position value ÷ Leverage\n\nEffective leverage = Total open position value ÷ Account equity\n",[35,692,690],{"__ignoreMap":37},[10,694,695],{},"One standard lot of EUR\u002FUSD is 100,000 units. At 1.0850 the position is worth $108,500.",[697,698,699,715],"table",{},[700,701,702],"thead",{},[703,704,705,709,712],"tr",{},[706,707,708],"th",{},"Account leverage",[706,710,711],{},"Margin frozen",[706,713,714],{},"Cost of a 50-pip adverse move",[716,717,718,730,740],"tbody",{},[703,719,720,724,727],{},[721,722,723],"td",{},"1:30",[721,725,726],{},"$3,616.67",[721,728,729],{},"$500",[703,731,732,735,738],{},[721,733,734],{},"1:100",[721,736,737],{},"$1,085.00",[721,739,729],{},[703,741,742,745,748],{},[721,743,744],{},"1:500",[721,746,747],{},"$217.00",[721,749,729],{},[10,751,752],{},"The position is identical in all three rows. Leverage moved the margin, never the risk.",[10,754,755],{},"The number that actually describes exposure is effective leverage: the notional value of everything open divided by equity. A trader on a 1:500 account running 0.05 lots on $10,000 sits at 0.54:1 — less exposed than someone who paid cash for the same currency. A trader on a 1:30 account running 2.5 lots on the same $10,000 sits at 27:1, pressed against the ceiling the regulator set. The tier says nothing about either of them; the position size says everything.",[10,757,758,759,763,764,222],{},"Run it on your own instrument with the ",[14,760,762],{"href":761},"\u002Ftools\u002Fleverage-calculator","leverage calculator"," and the ",[14,765,767],{"href":766},"\u002Ftools\u002Fmargin-calculator","margin calculator",[20,769,73],{"id":72},[10,771,772],{},"High leverage does not lose money. It removes the constraint that used to stop you.",[10,774,775],{},"On a 1:30 account, $10,000 of equity caps you at about 2.7 standard lots of EUR\u002FUSD before margin runs out — the broker enforces a position-size ceiling on your behalf. On 1:500 the same $10,000 supports 46 lots. Nothing improved; a ceiling was removed.",[10,777,778,779,783,784,788,789,793],{},"The chain that empties accounts is always the same. Leverage permits a large position, the large position produces a loss too big to sit through, and the resulting drawdown demands a return arithmetic will not supply — ",[14,780,782],{"href":781},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmaximum-drawdown-explained","a 50% loss needs a 100% gain to get back to flat",". Leverage is where the chain starts, but the link that does the damage is size, which is why ",[14,785,787],{"href":786},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","position sizing"," is the control worth having and the ",[14,790,792],{"href":791},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-margin-call","margin call"," is the symptom rather than the cause.",[20,795,106],{"id":105},[10,797,798],{},"The 10,000+ accounts connected to ShowMyTrades (August 2026) sit across 703 distinct broker servers, on MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradeLocker. Effectively every leverage tier on the market is represented somewhere in that set, from a regulated 1:30 cap to offshore 1:500 and beyond.",[10,800,801,802,806],{},"The outcomes do not sort by tier. Across the public accounts with trading history, the median ",[14,803,805],{"href":804},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","deepest drawdown"," is 9.7% — but 38.5% of them never went more than 5% underwater, while 38.2% gave back more than a fifth of their peak and 17.6% more than half of it.",[10,808,809],{},"Two groups of almost identical size, drawn from the same pool of leverage settings, ending an order of magnitude apart. What separates them is not what the broker permitted. These figures describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general, and within that population the variable that moved was size.",[20,811,131],{"id":130},[10,813,814],{},"The leverage the broker granted appears as a badge in the account page header, next to the broker name and the account currency. It is read from the terminal, not typed in by the owner.",[10,816,817,818,820,821,825,826,363,829,835,836,841,842,363,845,848],{},"What the trader did with it shows up elsewhere. ",[48,819,362],{}," in the advanced statistics is the ",[14,822,824],{"href":823},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-volume-analysis","cumulative volume actually traded",". ",[48,827,828],{},"Drawdown",[48,830,831],{},[14,832,834],{"href":833},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance","DD on Balance"," in the account stats panel show what that volume cost at the worst moment — the first on equity including open positions, the second on closed balance only. The ",[48,837,838],{},[14,839,840],{"href":527},"Equity Curve"," in the charts viewer plots ",[48,843,844],{},"Balance",[48,846,847],{},"Equity"," together, and the gap between the two lines is where an oversized open position hides until it is closed.",[20,850,188],{"id":187},[42,852,853,859,865,871],{},[45,854,855,858],{},[48,856,857],{},"\"1:500 is riskier than 1:30.\""," The account setting is not risk. Two accounts holding identical positions carry identical risk whatever the broker permits. Higher leverage only widens the range of sizes you are allowed to choose badly from.",[45,860,861,864],{},[48,862,863],{},"\"More leverage means more profit.\""," It means less capital tied up as margin. Profit and loss are set by position size and price movement, both unchanged by the tier.",[45,866,867,870],{},[48,868,869],{},"\"Free margin is spare buying power.\""," Free margin is the distance between you and a stop out. Spending it is how a manageable loss becomes a liquidation.",[45,872,873,876],{},[48,874,875],{},"\"My broker caps me at 1:30, so I am safe.\""," A regulatory cap limits maximum total size, not the risk on any single trade. An account can still be lost on one badly sized position well inside a 1:30 limit.",[10,878,879,880,883],{},"Every number above has a calculator behind it — see ",[14,881,882],{"href":450},"the guide to forex calculators"," for how they fit together.",{"title":37,"searchDepth":224,"depth":224,"links":885},[886,887,888,889,890],{"id":22,"depth":224,"text":23},{"id":72,"depth":224,"text":73},{"id":105,"depth":224,"text":106},{"id":130,"depth":224,"text":131},{"id":187,"depth":224,"text":188},"Risk","Leverage is the ratio between position size and the capital backing it. Here is the margin formula, a worked example, and drawdown data from thousands of accounts.",{},[895,896,897],"what-is-a-margin-call","what-is-position-sizing","what-is-maximum-drawdown",{"title":676,"description":892},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage","9fzrPGzcUcu5W9wxB-HAiIpCi3gDQHwpcPzkOAH6NtA",1787415692245]