[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":1252},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage":3,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage-related":283},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":267,"date":268,"description":269,"draft":270,"extension":271,"meta":272,"navigation":270,"path":273,"related":274,"seo":279,"stem":280,"term":281,"updated":268,"__hash__":282},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage.md","What Is Cost Percentage in Trading?",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":259},"minimark",[9,13,18,21,32,35,38,52,60,67,72,76,89,92,96,112,119,135,139,142,176,212,220,224,252],[10,11,12],"p",{},"Cost percentage is the share of an account's gross trading result consumed by commission and swap, expressed as a percentage. It answers the question a raw cost total cannot: not how much you paid, but how much of what the strategy produced you were allowed to keep. Two accounts can pay identical commissions and be in completely different businesses.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"how-it-works","How it works",[10,19,20],{},"Costs are already deducted from every profit figure shown on an account page, so the ratio starts by adding them back to reconstruct what the strategy generated.",[22,23,28],"pre",{"className":24,"code":26,"language":27},[25],"language-text","Gross result = Net result + Commissions paid + Swap paid\nCost %       = (Commissions paid + Swap paid) \u002F Gross result x 100\n","text",[29,30,26],"code",{"__ignoreMap":31},"",[10,33,34],{},"Enter both cost figures as positive amounts — you are undoing a deduction, not applying one. Swap runs either way: an account that is a net receiver holds a credit, not a cost, and it does not belong in the numerator.",[10,36,37],{},"Worked quickly: an account showing $4,900 of commissions, $700 of swap paid and a net result of +$2,100 produced a gross result of $7,700, of which $5,600 went to the broker. That is 72.7%; the trader kept the other $2,100.",[10,39,40,41,45,46,51],{},"The same totals, divided by lots and by trade count, say ",[42,43,44],"em",{},"why",". A ratio driven by the rate per lot is a broker problem; one driven by the number of times that rate was paid is a strategy problem, and only the first is ",[47,48,50],"a",{"href":49},"\u002Fguides\u002Fbroker-cost-audit","fixed by moving accounts",".",[10,53,54,55,59],{},"One cost cannot be added back: the ",[47,56,58],{"href":57},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","spread",". It is paid inside the entry and exit prices, so it appears as a line item nowhere — not in MetaTrader, not here. Every cost percentage computed from published figures is therefore a floor, and the gap widens the shorter the average trade.",[10,61,62],{},[63,64],"img",{"alt":65,"src":66},"Gross profit falling through three deductions — spread, commission and swap — to the net result that reaches the balance","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fgross-to-net.svg",[10,68,69],{},[42,70,71],{},"Two of the three can be added back from the page. The spread never appears as a line at all.",[14,73,75],{"id":74},"why-it-matters","Why it matters",[10,77,78,79,83,84,88],{},"The median ",[47,80,82],{"href":81},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor","profit factor"," across public accounts on ShowMyTrades is 1.28, and that figure is already net of costs: commission and ",[47,85,87],{"href":86},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex","swap"," are folded into each trade before any statistic is computed. Twenty-eight cents of winnings per dollar of losses is the entire margin of survival for the typical published account.",[10,90,91],{},"At that thickness, cost percentage decides which side of 1.0 an account lands on. A strategy that is gross-profitable and net-flat looks healthy from outside: green curve, more green months than red, profit factor above 1.0. Nothing on the page is broken. The edge simply has a silent partner taking most of it.",[14,93,95],{"id":94},"what-the-data-shows","What the data shows",[10,97,98,99,103,104,107,108,111],{},"Accounts published on ShowMyTrades have paid ",[100,101,102],"strong",{},"$4,782,670"," in commissions and ",[100,105,106],{},"$862,547"," in swap, over ",[100,109,110],{},"1,724,575"," lots. These figures describe accounts published here, not traders in general.",[10,113,114,115,118],{},"Swap is not symmetric. Of the accounts carrying any swap at all, ",[100,116,117],{},"86.3%"," pay net negative swap. Holding overnight is a cost for close to nine accounts in ten; the minority who collect it are usually doing so deliberately.",[10,120,121,122,125,126,130,131,134],{},"Set that against the trading pattern: a median of ",[100,123,124],{},"171"," closed trades per account, with a ",[47,127,129],{"href":128},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-average-trade-length","median trade length"," of ",[100,132,133],{},"2.4 hours",". A population trading that frequently pays the cost line often, and the shorter the hold, the larger the share of gross result that never reaches the balance.",[14,136,138],{"id":137},"where-you-see-it-on-showmytrades","Where you see it on ShowMyTrades",[10,140,141],{},"There is no Cost % figure on the page, and none is computed behind it either — no field, no tile, no stored value. What the page publishes are the inputs, and the ratio is a two-minute calculation on them.",[10,143,144,145,148,149,152,153,156,157,156,160,163,164,167,168,171,172,175],{},"The ",[100,146,147],{},"Advanced Statistics"," module, ",[42,150,151],{},"Trades"," column, carries ",[100,154,155],{},"Total Commissions",", ",[100,158,159],{},"Total Swap Paid",[100,161,162],{},"Total Lots"," and ",[100,165,166],{},"Total Trades",". Total Swap Paid is coloured — red for a net payer, green for a net receiver — so its direction is readable without checking the sign. The net result to divide by is ",[100,169,170],{},"Profit",", in the ",[100,173,174],{},"Account Stats"," panel beside the charts.",[10,177,178,179,182,183,186,187,156,190,163,193,196,197,200,201,204,205,163,208,211],{},"Per-trade detail sits in the ",[100,180,181],{},"Trade History & Balance Progression"," table. ",[100,184,185],{},"Net P\u002FL"," is always shown; ",[100,188,189],{},"Profit (Gross)",[100,191,192],{},"Swap",[100,194,195],{},"Commission"," are separate columns that are hidden by default and switched on from the ",[100,198,199],{},"Display"," menu. ",[100,202,203],{},"Breakdown Statistics"," splits the record ",[100,206,207],{},"By Symbol",[100,209,210],{},"By Magic Number",", but its columns are Trades, Pips and Profit — net of costs, with no cost line of its own, so it localises where the volume and the result concentrate rather than the spend itself.",[10,213,214,215,219],{},"Two caveats. An owner can ",[47,216,218],{"href":217},"\u002Fguides\u002Fpublic-profile-and-custom-slugs","hide any of these modules from their public page",", so an account showing no cost block is not an account without costs. And the per-lot cost benchmark our backend computes is shown to the account owner in their own dashboard only, never on a public page.",[14,221,223],{"id":222},"common-misunderstandings","Common misunderstandings",[225,226,227,234,240,246],"ul",{},[228,229,230,233],"li",{},[100,231,232],{},"\"My commissions are low, so costs are not my problem.\""," Low against what? Four thousand dollars is a rounding error on eighty thousand of gross result and fatal on forty-two hundred. The absolute figure means nothing alone.",[228,235,236,239],{},[100,237,238],{},"\"Above 100% is impossible.\""," It is common. It means the strategy produced a gross profit and the account still finished negative.",[228,241,242,245],{},[100,243,244],{},"\"The spread is included.\""," It is not, anywhere. Treat any computed ratio as a floor.",[228,247,248,251],{},[100,249,250],{},"\"Swap only matters to long-term traders.\""," It accrues on any position held past the broker's rollover, including one opened in the afternoon and closed the next morning.",[10,253,254,255,51],{},"The full method, with the diagnosis for each range of the ratio: ",[47,256,258],{"href":257},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-cost-percentage","trading cost percentage explained",{"title":31,"searchDepth":260,"depth":260,"links":261},2,[262,263,264,265,266],{"id":16,"depth":260,"text":17},{"id":74,"depth":260,"text":75},{"id":94,"depth":260,"text":95},{"id":137,"depth":260,"text":138},{"id":222,"depth":260,"text":223},"Costs","2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","Cost percentage is the share of gross trading result taken by commission and swap. Here is the formula, why spread is missing, and what real accounts pay.",true,"md",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage",[275,276,277,278],"what-is-a-spread","what-is-a-swap-in-forex","what-is-a-profit-factor","what-is-a-track-record",{"title":5,"description":269},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-cost-percentage","Cost Percentage","LgRbnF5abnxaaiE6z0jnuw6vMqX85daCthhRUX1svkY",[284,564,778,980],{"id":285,"title":286,"body":287,"category":552,"date":268,"description":553,"draft":554,"extension":271,"meta":555,"navigation":270,"path":81,"related":556,"seo":561,"stem":562,"term":456,"updated":268,"__hash__":563},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor.md","What Is Profit Factor? Formula, Good Values, Real Data",{"type":7,"value":288,"toc":545},[289,292,294,300,303,306,312,315,383,385,388,396,404,406,421,427,432,439,450,452,479,502,504,538],[10,290,291],{},"Profit factor is gross profit divided by gross loss: the total won across all winning trades, divided by the total lost across all losing trades. A profit factor of 1.50 means the account made $1.50 for every $1.00 it gave back. Below 1.00 the account loses money by construction, regardless of how often it wins.",[14,293,17],{"id":16},[22,295,298],{"className":296,"code":297,"language":27},[25],"Profit Factor = Gross Profit \u002F |Gross Loss|\n",[29,299,297],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,301,302],{},"Note what the formula ignores: how long the account traded, how much capital it used, and how deep it fell along the way.",[10,304,305],{},"It can also be written in terms of win rate and average trade size, which is where it becomes diagnostic:",[22,307,310],{"className":308,"code":309,"language":27},[25],"Profit Factor = (Win Rate × Avg Win) \u002F ((1 − Win Rate) × Avg Loss)\n",[29,311,309],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,313,314],{},"Two very different systems can land on the same value. A 30% win rate with winners four times the size of losers gives 1.71. An 80% win rate with winners half the size of losers gives 2.00. Both work; they fail differently and feel completely different to trade.",[316,317,318,331],"table",{},[319,320,321],"thead",{},[322,323,324,328],"tr",{},[325,326,327],"th",{},"Profit factor",[325,329,330],{},"Reading",[332,333,334,343,351,359,367,375],"tbody",{},[322,335,336,340],{},[337,338,339],"td",{},"Below 1.00",[337,341,342],{},"Loses money — structurally, not marginally",[322,344,345,348],{},[337,346,347],{},"1.00 – 1.10",[337,349,350],{},"Inside the noise. One bad week erases it",[322,352,353,356],{},[337,354,355],{},"1.10 – 1.30",[337,357,358],{},"Thin but real edge, if the sample is large",[322,360,361,364],{},[337,362,363],{},"1.30 – 2.00",[337,365,366],{},"A working strategy",[322,368,369,372],{},[337,370,371],{},"2.00 – 3.00",[337,373,374],{},"Strong. Check trade count and cost accounting",[322,376,377,380],{},[337,378,379],{},"Above 3.00",[337,381,382],{},"Rare on long histories: usually a short sample, a few outsized winners, or open losers not yet realised",[14,384,75],{"id":74},[10,386,387],{},"Profit factor is the cleanest single answer to \"does this system make money\", and it is much harder to dress up than a win rate, because every loss enters the denominator at full size.",[10,389,390,391,395],{},"It is not, however, a risk measure. Profit factor knows nothing about sequence: an account that made its money in one month and bled for eleven shows the same value as one that ground upward every week. Read it next to ",[47,392,394],{"href":393},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","maximum drawdown",", or you are measuring the destination without the trip.",[10,397,398,399,403],{},"The same caution applies to a profit factor quoted from a ",[47,400,402],{"href":401},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-backtesting","backtest",": optimisers maximise exactly this ratio, so a high backtested value often measures the fitting process rather than the strategy.",[14,405,95],{"id":94},[10,407,408,409,412,413,420],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Across the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026), the ",[100,410,411],{},"median profit factor is 1.28"," and the ",[100,414,415,419],{},[47,416,418],{"href":417},"\u002Fguides\u002Fwin-rate-is-not-an-edge","median win rate"," is 68.8%",". Both are calculated after costs here: swap and commission are folded into each trade before it is classed as a winner or a loser, so 1.28 is net, not gross.",[10,422,423],{},[63,424],{"alt":425,"src":426},"Medians across public ShowMyTrades accounts: a 68.8% win rate beside a 1.28 profit factor","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fwin-rate-vs-payoff.svg",[10,428,429],{},[42,430,431],{},"Two medians from the same set: the win rate looks strong, the edge behind it is thin.",[10,433,434,435,438],{},"That pairing is the point. Nearly seven trades in ten close green on the median account, and the whole edge still amounts to $1.28 earned for every $1.00 lost. Take an account sitting on both medians and invert the formula: its average winner is worth roughly ",[100,436,437],{},"0.58×"," its average loser. Winning often and earning well are separate achievements, and the first is far easier to manufacture — hold losers, cut winners, and the win rate climbs while the profit factor falls.",[10,440,441,442,445,446,449],{},"The median Sharpe ratio on the same set is ",[100,443,444],{},"0.05",", and the median account has ",[100,447,448],{},"171 closed trades",". At that sample size a profit factor above 3.00 is not evidence of a superior system; it is evidence that the sample is too small to have met its worst trade yet.",[14,451,138],{"id":137},[10,453,454,457,458,460,461,156,464,156,467,156,470,156,473,163,475,478],{},[100,455,456],{},"Profit Factor"," sits in the ",[100,459,147],{}," module on every published account page, alongside the numbers that explain it: ",[100,462,463],{},"Win Rate",[100,465,466],{},"Avg. Win",[100,468,469],{},"Avg. Loss",[100,471,472],{},"Expectancy",[100,474,166],{},[100,476,477],{},"Sharpe Ratio",". The six together say what the single ratio cannot.",[10,480,481,482,484,485,163,487,489,490,163,492,494,495,501],{},"Two product details matter. First, the costs already inside the ratio are itemised separately: the trades table carries ",[100,483,189],{}," with ",[100,486,192],{},[100,488,195],{}," as their own columns, and Advanced Statistics totals ",[100,491,155],{},[100,493,159],{},", so you can see how much the net figure absorbed. Across published accounts those totals stand at $4,782,670 in commissions and $862,547 in swap. Second, ",[47,496,498],{"href":497},"\u002Fguides\u002Fcustom-analysis-and-filter-presets",[100,499,500],{},"Custom Analysis"," recomputes the whole statistics block on a filtered subset — by date range, symbol, magic number, direction or lot size — which is how you check whether a profit factor holds up outside its best quarter or without its best symbol.",[14,503,223],{"id":222},[225,505,506,515,526,532],{},[228,507,508,511,512,51],{},[100,509,510],{},"\"Profit factor above 1 means I am profitable.\""," Only if costs are inside the ratio. Where they are not, a high-frequency system at 1.05 gross can be flat or negative ",[47,513,514],{"href":273},"once commission and swap are applied",[228,516,517,520,521,525],{},[100,518,519],{},"\"A high profit factor means low risk.\""," It says nothing about drawdown, position size or sequence. A martingale ",[47,522,524],{"href":523},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","position-sizing"," progression can post 4.00 right up to the day it does not.",[228,527,528,531],{},[100,529,530],{},"\"It is comparable across timeframes.\""," It is not annualised. A scalper's 1.20 over 20,000 trades and a swing trader's 1.20 over 60 are not the same statement.",[228,533,534,537],{},[100,535,536],{},"\"Open trades do not affect it.\""," They do, by absence. Floating losses left open are excluded from gross loss entirely, which inflates the ratio until the position is closed.",[10,539,540,541,51],{},"For which metrics to track over time and in what order, see ",[47,542,544],{"href":543},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-trading-performance","the guide to tracking trading performance",{"title":31,"searchDepth":260,"depth":260,"links":546},[547,548,549,550,551],{"id":16,"depth":260,"text":17},{"id":74,"depth":260,"text":75},{"id":94,"depth":260,"text":95},{"id":137,"depth":260,"text":138},{"id":222,"depth":260,"text":223},"Metrics","Profit factor is gross profit divided by gross loss. Below 1.0 an account loses by construction. Here are the bands and the 1.28 median across thousands of accounts.",false,{},[557,558,559,560],"what-is-drawdown","what-is-maximum-drawdown","what-is-position-sizing","what-is-backtesting",{"title":286,"description":553},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-profit-factor","0loLRuqRU0mx9nEOfjdEFW6U1Fb_JAC1jN2JQSkIjuE",{"id":565,"title":566,"body":567,"category":267,"date":268,"description":769,"draft":554,"extension":271,"meta":770,"navigation":270,"path":57,"related":771,"seo":774,"stem":775,"term":776,"updated":268,"__hash__":777},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread.md","What Is a Spread in Forex? Definition and Real Costs",{"type":7,"value":568,"toc":762},[569,572,574,577,583,591,602,618,620,627,630,632,639,645,650,657,664,666,719,721,755],[10,570,571],{},"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.",[14,573,17],{"id":16},[10,575,576],{},"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.",[22,578,581],{"className":579,"code":580,"language":27},[25],"Spread (pips)   = (Ask − Bid) \u002F Pip size\nCost per trade  = Spread (pips) × Pip value × Lots\n",[29,582,580],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,584,585,586,590],{},"On a standard lot of EUR\u002FUSD the ",[47,587,589],{"href":588},"\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.",[10,592,593,594,597,598,601],{},"There are two ways brokers price it. ",[100,595,596],{},"Spread-only"," accounts widen the quote and charge nothing else — the cost is buried in your fill price. ",[100,599,600],{},"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.",[10,603,604,605,608,609,612,613,617],{},"Spreads are either ",[100,606,607],{},"fixed"," (constant, usually wider, quoted by a dealing desk) or ",[100,610,611],{},"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 ",[47,614,616],{"href":615},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-stop-loss","stop loss"," is most likely to be hit.",[14,619,75],{"id":74},[10,621,622,623,626],{},"Spread scales with turnover, not with skill. A system targeting 5 pips per trade gives away ",[47,624,625],{"href":273},"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.",[10,628,629],{},"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.",[14,631,95],{"id":94},[10,633,634,635,638],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), traders have paid ",[100,636,637],{},"$4,782,670 in commissions",". 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.",[10,640,641],{},[63,642],{"alt":643,"src":644},"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",[10,646,647],{},[42,648,649],{},"Only one of the three arrives with a number attached to it.",[10,651,652,653,656],{},"The scale of that hidden half is easy to bound. Those accounts have traded ",[100,654,655],{},"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.",[10,658,659,660,663],{},"And the conditions genuinely differ: those accounts connect through ",[100,661,662],{},"703 distinct broker servers",", and 429 users run accounts at more than one broker precisely to compare them.",[14,665,138],{"id":137},[225,667,668,685,694,713],{},[228,669,670,672,673,156,675,163,677,680,681,684],{},[100,671,147],{}," shows ",[100,674,155],{},[100,676,162],{},[100,678,679],{},"Total Pips",". Divide the first by the second and you have ",[47,682,683],{"href":49},"that account's real commission per lot"," — a number brokers rarely publish in a comparable form.",[228,686,687,688,690,691,51],{},"The most useful check is ",[100,689,679],{}," against net profit. When an account is positive in pips but flat or negative in money, execution cost is consuming the edge. ",[47,692,693],{"href":257},"That gap is the spread and commission bill",[228,695,144,696,699,700,702,703,705,706,163,709,712],{},[100,697,698],{},"Closed Trades"," table under ",[100,701,181],{}," carries a ",[100,704,195],{}," column per ticket, alongside ",[100,707,708],{},"Open Price",[100,710,711],{},"Close Price",", so you can see what an individual fill actually cost.",[228,714,144,715,718],{},[100,716,717],{},"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.",[14,720,223],{"id":222},[722,723,724,730,736,742],"ol",{},[228,725,726,729],{},[100,727,728],{},"\"Zero spread\" does not mean free."," Zero- or raw-spread accounts move the cost into commission. Compare the total, not the headline.",[228,731,732,735],{},[100,733,734],{},"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.",[228,737,738,741],{},[100,739,740],{},"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.",[228,743,744,747,748,163,750,754],{},[100,745,746],{},"Spread alone does not rank a broker."," ",[47,749,192],{"href":86},[47,751,753],{"href":752},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-slippage","slippage"," belong in the same comparison, and a tight spread with poor execution is the more expensive deal.",[10,756,757,758,51],{},"To put real numbers on your own instrument and lot size, see the ",[47,759,761],{"href":760},"\u002Fguides\u002Fforex-calculators-guide","guide to forex calculators",{"title":31,"searchDepth":260,"depth":260,"links":763},[764,765,766,767,768],{"id":16,"depth":260,"text":17},{"id":74,"depth":260,"text":75},{"id":94,"depth":260,"text":95},{"id":137,"depth":260,"text":138},{"id":222,"depth":260,"text":223},"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.",{},[276,772,773,277],"what-is-slippage","what-is-a-regulated-broker",{"title":566,"description":769},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","Spread","_HiS3N0q5xG6kWJPv01Kjk02mu226hR7wa-SzSCJ0_U",{"id":779,"title":780,"body":781,"category":267,"date":268,"description":972,"draft":270,"extension":271,"meta":973,"navigation":270,"path":86,"related":974,"seo":977,"stem":978,"term":192,"updated":268,"__hash__":979},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex.md","What Is a Swap in Forex? Overnight Costs Explained",{"type":7,"value":782,"toc":965},[783,786,788,796,802,813,819,830,832,840,843,845,855,861,866,877,879,923,925,956],[10,784,785],{},"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.",[14,787,17],{"id":16},[10,789,790,791,795],{},"The raw driver is the difference between the ",[47,792,794],{"href":793},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-are-interest-rates","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.",[22,797,800],{"className":798,"code":799,"language":27},[25],"Nightly swap ≈ Position size × (Rate differential − Broker markup) \u002F 365\n",[29,801,799],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,803,804,805,808,809,812],{},"In practice brokers do not publish it as a rate. They publish a ",[100,806,807],{},"swap long"," and a ",[100,810,811],{},"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.",[10,814,815,818],{},[100,816,817],{},"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.",[10,820,821,824,825,829],{},[100,822,823],{},"Positive carry"," is real but narrow. Being long the higher-yielding currency can earn swap rather than pay it, which is the mechanism behind ",[47,826,828],{"href":827},"\u002Fguides\u002Fswap-and-carry-trade","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.",[14,831,75],{"id":74},[10,833,834,835,839],{},"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 ",[47,836,838],{"href":837},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-equity-curve","equity curve"," looks flat while the account bleeds.",[10,841,842],{},"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.",[14,844,95],{"id":94},[10,846,847,848,850,851,854],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), ",[100,849,106],{}," has been paid in swap. Of the accounts with any swap activity at all, ",[100,852,853],{},"86.3% pay net negative swap"," — earning carry is the exception, not a plan.",[10,856,857],{},[63,858],{"alt":859,"src":860},"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",[10,862,863],{},[42,864,865],{},"Financing accrues on time held, not on trades taken — the chart can stay flat while the balance sinks.",[10,867,868,869,445,871,873,874,876],{},"What makes that total striking is how short the typical holding period is. The median trade on those accounts lasts ",[100,870,133],{},[100,872,448],{},". Most accounts here barely touch rollover, and swap still amounts to roughly 18% of the ",[100,875,102],{}," paid in commissions, which suggests the bill is concentrated on the minority of accounts that hold.",[14,878,138],{"id":137},[225,880,881,891,906,915],{},[228,882,883,457,885,887,888,890],{},[100,884,159],{},[100,886,147],{}," panel, next to ",[100,889,155],{},". 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.",[228,892,144,893,699,895,897,898,705,900,902,903,905],{},[100,894,698],{},[100,896,181],{}," has a ",[100,899,192],{},[100,901,195],{},". Note that the profit column is labelled ",[100,904,189],{}," — the financing is shown separately, not folded in.",[228,907,908,910,911,914],{},[100,909,500],{}," carries a toggle, ",[42,912,913],{},"Include swaps in profit calculations",". Switch it on and off and the difference in the resulting statistics is exactly what the broker's financing did to the record.",[228,916,917,922],{},[47,918,919],{"href":128},[100,920,921],{},"Avg. Trade Length"," 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.",[14,924,223],{"id":222},[722,926,927,933,939,950],{},[228,928,929,932],{},[100,930,931],{},"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.",[228,934,935,938],{},[100,936,937],{},"Triple swap is a settlement convention, not a charge for trading on Wednesday."," Closing before rollover avoids it entirely.",[228,940,941,944,945,949],{},[100,942,943],{},"Carry is not free money."," The interest differential is small relative to the currency move that typically erases it, and ",[47,946,948],{"href":947},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage","leverage"," magnifies the move far more than the carry.",[228,951,952,955],{},[100,953,954],{},"A flat chart is not a costless month."," Financing on open positions accrues whether or not any trade closes.",[10,957,958,959,961,962,51],{},"For how swap fits alongside ",[47,960,58],{"href":57}," and the rest of the metrics on a public account, read the ",[47,963,964],{"href":543},"guide to tracking trading performance",{"title":31,"searchDepth":260,"depth":260,"links":966},[967,968,969,970,971],{"id":16,"depth":260,"text":17},{"id":74,"depth":260,"text":75},{"id":94,"depth":260,"text":95},{"id":137,"depth":260,"text":138},{"id":222,"depth":260,"text":223},"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.",{},[275,975,976,772],"what-are-interest-rates","what-is-leverage",{"title":780,"description":972},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex","yHH22IHFSk2H-v9OC6elWwuiadT_ry9LGlqsLULYmM8",{"id":981,"title":982,"body":983,"category":1241,"date":268,"description":1242,"draft":270,"extension":271,"meta":1243,"navigation":270,"path":1244,"related":1245,"seo":1248,"stem":1249,"term":1250,"updated":268,"__hash__":1251},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record.md","What Is a Track Record in Trading?",{"type":7,"value":984,"toc":1234},[985,992,994,997,1036,1039,1045,1048,1050,1053,1059,1061,1074,1077,1083,1088,1111,1126,1128,1148,1160,1194,1196,1227],[10,986,987,988,51],{},"A track record is the documented history of a trading account: every closed trade, the equity path those trades produced, and the periods in between. It records what happened; it is not a claim about what will. This entry covers what a record must contain and how long it has to run before it means anything. Whether the data can be trusted at all is answered by a ",[47,989,991],{"href":990},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record","verified track record",[14,993,17],{"id":16},[10,995,996],{},"A record that carries evidence is trade-level, not summary-level. The minimum contents:",[225,998,999,1005,1015,1021,1027],{},[228,1000,1001,1004],{},[100,1002,1003],{},"Every closed trade",", with open and close time, instrument, direction, volume, both prices and the result.",[228,1006,1007,1010,1011,1014],{},[100,1008,1009],{},"The cost of each trade"," — ",[47,1012,1013],{"href":273},"commission and swap"," kept separate from gross profit — because a summary that nets them together hides where the money went.",[228,1016,1017,1020],{},[100,1018,1019],{},"The equity path",", so the order of results is visible. A profit factor reads the same whether the losses came first or last; the curve does not.",[228,1022,1023,1026],{},[100,1024,1025],{},"The gaps."," Months without trading are information, as are deposits and withdrawals, which change what a percentage means.",[228,1028,1029,1032,1033,1035],{},[100,1030,1031],{},"The cost that cannot be shown",", acknowledged: the ",[47,1034,58],{"href":57}," sits inside every fill price and appears in no field.",[10,1037,1038],{},"Length runs on two independent clocks, and they do not convert into each other.",[22,1040,1043],{"className":1041,"code":1042,"language":27},[25],"Trade count    -> how much evidence there is about the edge\nCalendar time  -> how many market conditions the edge has met\n",[29,1044,1042],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,1046,1047],{},"A high-frequency system can print 500 trades in a month and still have seen one month of one market. A swing trader reaching 500 trades has lived through years. Read both clocks; the shorter one governs.",[14,1049,75],{"id":74},[10,1051,1052],{},"A track record can prove a strategy loses money long before it can prove one makes money. Profits accumulate slowly and are easily produced by luck; the failure mode arrives all at once.",[10,1054,1055,1056,1058],{},"This is why ",[47,1057,394],{"href":393}," is the figure that ages worst. It can only grow. A record showing 4% is not a record of a low-risk strategy but of a strategy whose worst day has not happened yet, and every additional month can only enlarge that number or leave it alone.",[14,1060,95],{"id":94},[10,1062,1063,1064,1067,1068,1070,1071,1073],{},"Across the published accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history — drawn from 10,000+ connected accounts and ",[100,1065,1066],{},"15,436,464"," synchronised trades — the median account has ",[100,1069,124],{}," closed trades and a median trade length of ",[100,1072,133],{},". These figures describe accounts published here, not traders in general.",[10,1075,1076],{},"Read those together. At 2.4 hours per position, 171 trades is not years of history; for an active system it can be weeks of calendar time. The median public record is thin on both clocks at once, which is the normal condition of a track record rather than an unusual one.",[10,1078,1079],{},[63,1080],{"alt":1081,"src":1082},"Three months is a sample, six a hint, twelve an argument, twenty-four months a track record; the median account here holds 171 closed trades of 2.4 hours each","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fsample-size.svg",[10,1084,1085],{},[42,1086,1087],{},"Count the trades, not the calendar, and let the shorter clock govern.",[10,1089,1090,1091,1094,1095,1098,1099,1102,1103,1106,1107,1110],{},"The consequence shows in the risk figures. Median deepest drawdown is ",[100,1092,1093],{},"9.7%",", yet ",[100,1096,1097],{},"38.2%"," of accounts have been more than 20% below their peak and ",[100,1100,1101],{},"17.6%"," more than 50%. Median time-weighted return is ",[100,1104,1105],{},"+3.2%",", with ",[100,1108,1109],{},"63.0%"," positive. Those tails belong to the longer records; short ones have not had the chance to produce them.",[10,1112,1113,1114,1117,1118,1121,1122,1125],{},"One pair is worth reading side by side: median win rate ",[100,1115,1116],{},"68.8%",", median profit factor ",[100,1119,1120],{},"1.28",". ",[47,1123,1124],{"href":417},"Most published accounts win most of their trades and still clear almost nothing"," — what a record measures and a headline never does.",[14,1127,138],{"id":137},[10,1129,1130,1131,1133,1134,1136,1137,1139,1140,1143,1144,1147],{},"The account page is the track record. The trade clock sits in the ",[100,1132,147],{}," module as ",[100,1135,166],{},", beside ",[100,1138,921],{},"; multiply the two and you have the time the account actually spent holding positions. The calendar clock is read from the ",[100,1141,1142],{},"Monthly Returns"," table, which shows the record month by month with empty cells left empty, so a pause in trading stays visible instead of being averaged away; its ",[100,1145,1146],{},"Calendar"," view drills into a single month day by day.",[10,1149,1150,1151,672,1153,163,1156,1159],{},"The information icon beside ",[100,1152,174],{},[100,1154,1155],{},"Created",[100,1157,1158],{},"Public views",". Created is the date the account was connected to ShowMyTrades, not the date its trading began — imported broker history routinely starts years earlier, so take the span from the monthly table rather than from that date.",[10,1161,1162,1163,1165,1166,1168,1169,156,1171,163,1173,1175,1176,1178,1179,156,1182,156,1185,156,1187,163,1190,1193],{},"Trade-level detail sits in the ",[100,1164,181],{}," table, one row per position, with ",[100,1167,185],{}," always shown and ",[100,1170,189],{},[100,1172,192],{},[100,1174,195],{}," available as separate columns from the ",[100,1177,199],{}," menu. The charts panel switches between ",[100,1180,1181],{},"Growth",[100,1183,1184],{},"Balance",[100,1186,170],{},[100,1188,1189],{},"Growth by Trade",[100,1191,1192],{},"Drawdown","; Growth by Trade replaces the calendar clock with the trade clock on the same data. Owners can hide individual modules from the public view.",[14,1195,223],{"id":222},[225,1197,1198,1204,1210,1221],{},[228,1199,1200,1203],{},[100,1201,1202],{},"\"It has been running two years, so it is a long record.\""," Two years of nine trades is nine samples. Check the trade count before the start date.",[228,1205,1206,1209],{},[100,1207,1208],{},"\"A track record proves the strategy works.\""," It documents an outcome. Whether that outcome is edge or luck is a sample-size question, and most records are too short to answer it.",[228,1211,1212,1215,1216,1220],{},[100,1213,1214],{},"\"Published means verified.\""," They are different properties. A record can be complete, detailed and ",[47,1217,1219],{"href":1218},"\u002Fguides\u002Fspotting-fake-ea-results","entirely fabricated","; provenance is what the certification badges address.",[228,1222,1223,1226],{},[100,1224,1225],{},"\"The drawdown figure is settled.\""," It is a running maximum. It never falls, and on a young account it mostly describes what has not happened yet.",[10,1228,1229,1230,51],{},"For the arithmetic of sample size and the minimums worth applying: ",[47,1231,1233],{"href":1232},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-much-history-a-track-record-needs","how long before a track record means anything",{"title":31,"searchDepth":260,"depth":260,"links":1235},[1236,1237,1238,1239,1240],{"id":16,"depth":260,"text":17},{"id":74,"depth":260,"text":75},{"id":94,"depth":260,"text":95},{"id":137,"depth":260,"text":138},{"id":222,"depth":260,"text":223},"Verification","A track record is the documented history of a trading account. What it must contain, how long it has to run to carry evidence, and what real accounts show.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record",[1246,558,277,1247],"what-is-a-verified-track-record","what-is-cost-percentage",{"title":982,"description":1242},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record","Track Record","K1aCBd9ixIw5BopJGReJHccEjG4V66m99Stl3sOBbKM",1787415689313]