Two Fee Sheets, One Real Winner
Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2026 6:50 pm
Two Fee Sheets, One Real Winner
Scenario: Broker X charges a 1.0-pip spread on EUR/USD, no commission, and a long swap of minus 7.00 dollars per lot per night. Broker Y charges a 0.2-pip spread, a 6-dollar commission per standard lot round trip, and a long swap of minus 9.00. You take 40 trades a month at 0.5 lots, and 12 of them are held overnight for an average of three nights.
Work out Broker X. Spread cost per trade: 1.0 pip times 10 dollars times 0.5 lots is 5 dollars. Over 40 trades: 200 dollars. Swap: 12 trades times 3 nights times 7.00 times 0.5 lots is 126 dollars. Total: 326 dollars.
Work out Broker Y. Spread: 0.2 times 10 times 0.5 is 1 dollar. Commission: 6 times 0.5 is 3 dollars. Cost per trade: 4 dollars. Over 40 trades: 160 dollars. Swap: 12 times 3 times 9.00 times 0.5 is 162 dollars. Total: 322 dollars.
The two come out nearly even. Y wins on trading costs by 40 dollars but loses on swap by 36.
Sensitivity matters. If you hold no trades overnight, Y wins by 40 dollars a month. If you hold all 40 trades for three nights, X's swap becomes 420 and Y's 540, and X wins clearly.
The cheapest broker depends on your behavior, not on a headline spread.
Exercise: plug your own trade count, size, and holding pattern into the same two-line formula.
Scenario: Broker X charges a 1.0-pip spread on EUR/USD, no commission, and a long swap of minus 7.00 dollars per lot per night. Broker Y charges a 0.2-pip spread, a 6-dollar commission per standard lot round trip, and a long swap of minus 9.00. You take 40 trades a month at 0.5 lots, and 12 of them are held overnight for an average of three nights.
Work out Broker X. Spread cost per trade: 1.0 pip times 10 dollars times 0.5 lots is 5 dollars. Over 40 trades: 200 dollars. Swap: 12 trades times 3 nights times 7.00 times 0.5 lots is 126 dollars. Total: 326 dollars.
Work out Broker Y. Spread: 0.2 times 10 times 0.5 is 1 dollar. Commission: 6 times 0.5 is 3 dollars. Cost per trade: 4 dollars. Over 40 trades: 160 dollars. Swap: 12 times 3 times 9.00 times 0.5 is 162 dollars. Total: 322 dollars.
The two come out nearly even. Y wins on trading costs by 40 dollars but loses on swap by 36.
Sensitivity matters. If you hold no trades overnight, Y wins by 40 dollars a month. If you hold all 40 trades for three nights, X's swap becomes 420 and Y's 540, and X wins clearly.
The cheapest broker depends on your behavior, not on a headline spread.
Exercise: plug your own trade count, size, and holding pattern into the same two-line formula.