Background & HOW do they calc "swap"?

[ElaineMDG]

I'm only Demo trading right now-I've only been studying Fx now for a month or so, and being this is all new to me; I'm not putting ANY real capital in until I know EXACTLY what I'm doing.
I've actually been doing really good, although last week I had my first 3 losing trades; I started keeping a "journal" and am trying to avoid the "trade because I feel I *should*"-impulsive trades, (which is hard for this "older" lady with a VERY ADD brain! , and the "revenge trades" I made in response to my first losing trade.
I tend to jump into things with both feet-and 10 fingers! Having spent 30 years in the medical field, research, and after my accident, I tried several other routes, (from counseling to website development-and even 1 stint working at an Oil research and discovery company!), before my health made things impossible-and I became house-bound. I'm REALLY loving learning all this new stuff, and can't thank the proprietors here at FPA enough for this website-especially the review and scam sections! While it can certainly get overwhelming at times;perhaps because it's so completely different from anything else I've done, combined with the opportunity it gives someone like myself-but I'm HOOKED!! (And loving every second!)
Anyways, to my question: I made a Long trade on EURUSD last week, profited, but had $23.40 deducted for "swap". I'm going to TRY & attach a jpg that shows the trade. The other 4 intraday trades I made last week (3 losses, 1 win) also incurred swap charges of $5.80-$8.80.
I don't understand exactly where this is coming from, or how I could average it in when doing risk-reward?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!
elaine
PS This is a Demo account on MT4 through PipIndex (I took a VERY basic trading course back in January & this was the acct assigned to me. Unfortunately, we really didn't start doing the Demos until the end and they don't provide ongoing support-UNLESS you purchase their more expensive, advanced course. I'm getting ready to start a demo acct with the broker I'll be using)

 

[Pharaoh]

First, be aware that in Fx, Wednesday is "triple swap" day. This is great, if you are getting positive swap.

Technically, it's supposed to be the difference between the interest rates on the sold currency vs the bought currency times the amount. Unfortunately, quite a few brokers get VERY greedy with swaps and change large negative swap in both directions. If you are a scalper, just avoid rollover time and this doesn't affect you. If you do swing trading or carry trading, then you want a broker that charges/pays rational swap rates.

 

[ElaineMDG]

THANKS Pharaoh!! But there's no real way of calculating it in risk/reward? I thought I'd read somewhere that it was normally "lower" with the more common currencies-BUT, this was EurUsd and I just noticed I got another -$28.32 on a EURUSD win I had last night. This broker seems to be applying this willy-nilly-with no rhyme or reason. (I just checked & an oil & gold trade from last week incurred swaps of -$5.08 on a Wed-Thurs trade) Is that "triple swap" Tues-Wed" or "Wed-Thurs"? Do ALL instruments (currency, oil, gold, stocks), incur the same amount in swaps-or are they different?

I just downloaded the mt4 platform that is going to be used with the broker I've chosen on my desktop. (Tallinex) I haven't started doing Demo trades on it yet as I'm in the process of moving, (all the above trades were done on my iPad); but that's one question I'm going to ask them-how they calculate swaps...

 

[Pharaoh]

Triple swap on Wednesday afternoon (New York) is fairly standard for forex. Other items may handle it differently.

There's no easy way to predict swap rates. I spotted a trade done across several brokers. It was swap positive on one and swap negative on 2 others. In same cases, Broker A may give better swap rates on some pairs than Broker B, but worse on others. Swap rates are driven by underlying interest rates, but brokers make a habit of heavily "adjusting" these, always in their own favor. I suppose in some cases, the LPs may also be making their own adjustments before the brokers even get involved.

Good brokers should provide an up to date table of their swaps.

 

[ElaineMDG]

Thanks Pharaoh!! I've just installed the platform, (well, MT4 still, but a little different) for the broker I plan on using when I do go live-which will still be awhile yet. As I said, I had been using the mt4 platform through PipIndex-the folks that teach that basics course through the Academy of Financial Trading. (That was actually a really good, very basic introduction to trading) PipIndex had, with almost every trade-even intraday trades-charged a swap fee of no less than $5, and as large as $38. I had searched on their site and left messages with a gentleman I'd communicated with at AFT to TRY and find out where these came from as there seemed to be to rhyme or reason to most of the charges.
No one ever responded-although I'm sure if I was still a paying customer it would have been different.
So, yesterday I installed Tallinex's mt4 platform. I'd made 2 trades late yesterday, which ran overnight-both profitable. I was "charged" .01 cents in a swap charge for one of them; nothing for the other. Also, they sent me an email asking if a customer rep can call me later today to "introduce" me to Tallinex. I'm looking forward to talking to them, will ask about the swap charges as well as what I'll eventually need to set up a live account.

Thanks for your help, as always!! Have a Great Day!!

 

[ElaineMDG]

Huh, what a coincidence. Not sure if this link will work-I JUST received my "Investopedia Term of the Day"-something I signed-up for when my brother & nephew first contacted me, asking my opinion on a BioTech stock-about 4 months ago. That's what kind of got the wheels turning, motivating me to research the market, (something I had never even considered before-although I DO remember winning a Demo contest in high school..uhmm..a "few" years ago. AND, my ex wrote the code for eTrade's first software CD-but the closest we got to "playing" in the market was he made a cartoon run across their ticker- for Valentine's Day & it was a a BIT "explicit"...they never did catch him-as far as I know ) Anyways, most mornings I just delete it since I'm focusing on Fx right now and it's usually stock, options or futures related. But this morning? Everything you always wanted to know about "Swaps" but were afraid to ask...which obviously reveals my age bracket. ) Theres at least 5-6 articles in here-will read through the rest later-kitten woke me up & I need to get back to sleep!!

http://link.investopedia.com/view/563b5034a793287e748b45903qkry.5itb/6d718186
If this doesn't work, let me know!