What are Swap Fees?

What are Swap Fees and how are they calculated?

 Swaps are the interest (fee/commission) you either receive or pay for a trade that is held open overnight. Swap fees are different depending on the direction of your trade: long swaps and short swaps.

 Please be aware that the swap on Wednesday or Friday (depending on the symbol) is three times as much, as it charges for the following weekend.

 How can I look up the Swap specifications?

 In the Watchlist section, right-click on the chosen symbol.

 Choose 'Instrument Info'

 To check values for a long/short swap, see 'Overnight Rate' displayed on the right-hand side.

What distinguishes a swap short from a swap long?

Swap Short is used to calculate the Swap Fee for leaving open short positions overnight, while Swap Long is used to calculate the fee for keeping long positions open overnight.

 How do I determine swaps?

Lot Size * Swap Rate is the formula for the swap fees charged.

 An example of a 2 lot long trade on EURUSD with a Swap Rate value of -0.68600 on EURUSD:

2 * -0.68600 = -1.372 USD

This means that if you kept a 2 lot long on EURUSD overnight, you would pay $1.372 USD in swaps.

 An example of a 2 lot trade on EURUSD with a Swap Short value of 0.17600:

2 * 0.17600 = $0.352 USD 

This means that if you kept a 2 lot long on EURUSD overnight, you would receive $0.352 USD in swaps.