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Trading Math
What a Week-Long Trade Costs
A trade held from Monday to Friday pays the spread once, the commission twice and the swap at every midnight it crosses, with Wednesday's midnight charging three nights. This paper shows you the week's costs on one line, the bill for one real week line by line, why the same five days can cost six nights or three, and where each line is found on your platform.
A trade held for a week pays three costs, at different moments. The spread — the gap between the buying and the selling price — is paid once, at the open, inside the price: 0.9 of a pip here. The commission, on accounts that charge one, is paid twice, on the way in and on the way out: 0.35 of a pip each way at $3.50 a lot. The swap is paid at every midnight the trade crosses — one night each on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and three on Wednesday, because the weekend settles then — six nights at 0.7 of a pip. A Monday-to-Friday buy at one lot pays 5.8 pips, $58, before the price has done anything.
One real week, line by line
Here is the bill on a real week. One lot of the euro against the dollar was bought at the Monday open of 31 August 2026, 1.15811, and sold at the Friday close of 4 September, 1.16136 — a pip is the fourth decimal place, so 32.5 pips, $325. The spread took $9 at the open. The commission took $7. The swap took $42 over the four midnights, $21 of it at Wednesday's alone. The week closed with $267. Of the $58 of costs the swap was three quarters, which is what makes a week different from a day: a same-day trade pays none of it.
