Holding a scalp through rollover: the swap is the small problem

[Amanhasnoname]

Every Wednesday the triple swap gets blamed for ruined scalps, yet for a trade held a few minutes the swap charge is usually trivial compared with what the rollover does to spread. A position left open across 5pm New York is exposed to the spread spike on the way out and, on some platforms, a stop that triggers against a quote nobody could have traded.

A concrete case: a short with a stop 6 pips above entry, spread normally 0.7. If the quoted ask jumps 3 pips at rollover, a short's stop is executed on the ask, so the stop can fire even though the bid chart never came close. Longs close on the bid and get hit by the same widening in the other direction.

Swap itself matters more for the different crowd, the people who let scalps turn into overnight holds because they were "nearly at target". On Wednesday, with three days charged at once, a position held against a negative-swap direction can cost several times what a normal day does. Check the swap table for your specific pair and side, since long and short are rarely symmetrical.

The simple rule: flat before 16:55 New York, or widen the stop well beyond the spike. Never leave it half-managed.

Do you flatten before rollover on every trade, or have you found a pair where holding through is actually fine?