When trading forex, understanding the costs involved is essential for managing your profits. MH Markets trading costs may include spreads, trading commissions, overnight financing fees, and applicable currency-conversion or other charges. These depend on the account, product, and funding channel. Spreads, commissions, and fees are the main charges traders encounter, and each affects your overall trading performance. When comparing accounts, convert all costs into the same account currency and calculate total costs using the same trade size and holding period. View the account fee structure for comprehensive details. This guide explains what these costs mean, how they work, and what new traders should know before placing their first trade.
What Are Spreads?
The spread is the difference between the bid price (what buyers are willing to pay) and the ask price (what sellers are asking for). In forex trading, this is how brokers earn money when offering commission-free accounts. For example, if EUR/USD has a bid price of 1.1000 and an ask price of 1.1002, the spread is 2 pips. A tighter spread means lower trading costs, which is beneficial for scalpers and high-frequency traders.
Note that terms like “zero spread” or “spreads from zero” describe spread conditions only. It does not mean there are no commissions, no overnight fees, or no spreads at all times.
What spread does MH Markets offer?
MH Markets offers floating spreads that vary by account type, with the tightest spreads available on ECN accounts. Please note that spreads fluctuate constantly based on market conditions, as well as global political and economic events. You can view the current spreads for all available instruments in Meta Trader. For guidance, check out this article on how to enable the spread column in Market Watch.
What Are Commissions?
Commissions are additional charges per trade. A commission is a trading charge under the applicable fee schedule. Depending on the instrument and account type, a commission fee can be charged by lot for each trade. These accounts often have very tight spreads but add a fixed commission per lot traded. While commissions add cost, they often come with lower spreads, which can be advantageous for large-volume traders.
What Commission structure does MH Markets offer?
MH Markets applies a commission on ECN account types. This commission is charged in addition to the spread and is part of the pricing model for ECN accounts. You can check the amount charged for each trade in the Meta Trader Trade menu. Right-click and select commission from the drop-down menu if you do not see it.
Swap or Overnight Fees
Swap is charged when holding positions overnight. Overnight financing fees relate to positions held across the settlement time. These depend on interest rate differentials between currencies. You can check the Swap for open positions in the contract Specifications page in your MetaTrader.
A swap in Forex, also known as a rollover, is essentially an interest adjustment that is applied for holding trading positions open overnight. Swap fees can be standard, triple, or not applied at all. This fee occurs at 23:59 Server Time. When you trade currencies, you are borrowing one currency to buy another. Each currency has an associated interest rate. The swap calculation is based on the difference between the interest rates of the two currencies in the pair you are trading.
Overnight interest rate (in points)
Swap = Swap Rate (in point value) × Lots × Number of Days
For example:
If you opened a long (buy) order of 1 lot of EURUSD on Tuesday at 15:00 and closed it on Wednesday at 15:00:
- Lots = 1
- Contract Size = 100,000 EUR
- Point Size = 0.00001
- Point Value = 1×100,000×0.00001=1
- Swap Rate (in point) = 4.5243 (This is for demonstration purposes)
- Number of Days = 1 (since the position was held overnight)
Therefore, the swap would be:
Swap= 4.5243 × 1 × 1 = 4.52 USD
Overnight interest rate (in percentage)
Swap = (Lots × Long/Short Swap Rate (%) × Contract Size × Market Price ÷ 100 ÷ 360) * number of days * exchange rate to USD
For example:
If you opened a Short (Sell) order of 0.50 lot of BTCUST on Monday at 15:00 and closed it on Wednesday at 15:00:
- Lots = 0.50
- Contract Size = 1
- Market price = 64171.50 (This is for demonstration purposes)
- Swap Rate (in percentage) = -25 (This is for demonstration purposes)
- Number of Days = 2 (since the position was held overnight)
Therefore, the swap would be:
Swap = 0.50 x -25 x 1 x 64171.50/100/360 x 2
Swap = - 44.56 USD