I have a question about overnight swaps, it comes with a story but please bear it with me.
Last night, my broker charged me an overnight swap of more than 500€ (the size of my account is about 200€) for a combined position of 2 micro lots on gold. Based on the specifications on MT4 swaps, I should be charged less than 15 cents of an euro because of Wednesday 3-day swap.
This was not the first time that a thing like this happened with this broker, but last time was less than an euro but higher than what I expected the swap to be.
They just balanced my account with the same amount some hours ago and I didn’t received the doomed margin call, which would happen if my positions closed.
My question: Is this an event that happens often? Should I be worried?
This sounds screwy. That is extreme in my opinion and I would think it is a broker issue. Gold does not carry a typical swap as you see in forex as there in not a interest differential. However how most brokers I have dealt with in these situations typically close your trade at the close of market and reenter you at market causing you to pay the spread again. Not sure what your spread was at the time of this but 2 micro lots should have never been close to that. I would contact the broker to see what happened and also look for a different broker
Exactly, It doesn’t have an interest rate differential, although I can consider that I have to buy with gold against some currency (XAUUSD, XAUAUD, etc) and in that sense I think they could charge me something.
I also checked if it was due to market reaching expiration (as I think you suggested) but I don’t think gold has one and there were no news on their website.
I contacted my broker before they corrected the situation but they didn’t wrote me a reply.
I was not referring to to contract expiration but it is a similar concept. Most broker do not like to hold trades overnight so they will charge for it. Typically the way they charge is to close the position (charge spread) then reopen the position (charge spread). I have seen some broker that charge a flat rate fee but most close and reopen the position. Could be wrong in this case but thats what it sounds like to me. Sounds like they made a mistake and charged you for 2 full lots instead of 2 micro lots but I dont see how that is even possible unless the broker is extremely incompetent.
If they credited back the extra amount what they charged then it is definitely a broker issue and Is strongly recommend to avoid trading with them. You can check their swaps on their website (it should be available) and calculate the amount to charge yourself.