Overnight Cost Meter: Understand and Monitor Swap Costs

Related: Gold Hour Profile: Analyzing Trading Session Volatility and Spread Costs - another powerful script for MetaTrader 5 traders.

Most traders check the spread and forget the swap. Meanwhile, a single night of holding a position can accumulate costs greater than the initial spread, and for many instruments, the swap costs for long and short positions can differ significantly.

Also recommended: Edge Meter: Does Your Entry Signal Profit After Costs? - similar script with strong performance on MetaTrader 5.

This script provides clear visibility into these costs within seconds.

Key Information Provided:

For each open position:
- The cost to hold the position overnight, displayed in your account currency.
- The total swap already paid and the number of days the position has been held.

For each symbol (open positions first, then symbols from Market Watch):
- Overnight swap cost per 1.0 lot for both LONG and SHORT positions, converted to your account currency.
- Annualized swap cost (calculated as overnight percentage of notional value x 360). This provides a crucial percentage-based cost for holding positions, e.g., "holding this position long costs 6% annually".
- Broker's markup per side, calculated as (|swap long| + |swap short|) / 2. This value represents the broker's direct fee, independent of interest rate fluctuations.
- The date of the triple-swap day for each symbol.

Swap Mode Handling:

The script accurately converts swap values from points, deposit-currency, and interest-rate modes. In cases where precise conversion is not possible (e.g., exotic modes, foreign-currency swaps), the script displays the raw value with its currency, or "n/a", ensuring transparency rather than providing potentially inaccurate data.

Script Inputs:

- ScanMarketWatch: Enables scanning of visible Market Watch symbols (default: true).
- MaxSymbols: Sets a limit for the Market Watch scan to maintain report readability (default: 20).
- ShowChartSummary: Displays a concise summary on the chart in addition to the detailed report in the Experts log.

Important Notes:

The displayed values reflect your broker's reported swap rates at the time the script is run. For the most current information, re-run the script after rollover. Always verify critical trading decisions against your broker's contract specifications. Annualization uses the standard 360-day convention. This script operates solely by reading symbol properties and does not execute any trades.

Last updated 2026.

You may also like: Cost and Slippage Sensitivity Analyzer - excellent alternative for script users on MetaTrader 5.

#property copyright "RobotFX"
#property link "https://robotfx.org"
#property version     "1.00"
#property description "This code is educational. Feel free to use, modify and upgrade as you wish. Visit ROBOTFX.ORG for professional trading tools"
#property script_show_inputs
#property strict
input bool ScanMarketWatch   = true;
input int  MaxSymbols        = 20;
input bool ShowChartSummary  = true;
double SwapPerNight(const string sym, const bool isLong, string &note)

.......

• This tool is provided for educational and testing purposes only.
• Past performance does not guarantee future results.
• Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Use on a demo account first.
• Results may vary depending on market conditions, broker, and settings.
• We recommend thorough backtesting and forward testing before using with real funds.