Rollover

Rollover is the process of extending the settlement date of an open forex position to the next trading day. In forex, spot trades technically settle T+2, meaning two business days after the trade date. However, retail positions are automatically rolled over indefinitely so traders do not have to take physical delivery of the currencies. The rollover adjustment includes swap points based on the interest rate differential between the two currencies in the pair.

Rollover happens every trading day at the broker's designated cutoff time, typically 5 PM Eastern time. Positions open at that moment have their settlement extended by one day, and the swap adjustment appears as a credit or debit in the account. Because weekends are not trading days but interest still accrues, rollover on Wednesday night triples the normal swap to cover the upcoming Saturday and Sunday. Some brokers apply the triple on Friday night instead, but Wednesday is most common.

For example, if you hold 1 standard lot of EUR/USD through the 5 PM cutoff on a Tuesday, your position is rolled from T+2 (Thursday settlement) to T+3 (Friday settlement). The swap adjustment posts based on the difference between eurozone and US interest rates. If rates favor holding the position, you receive a small credit. If rates work against you, you pay a debit. The following night the process repeats for another single-day rollover.

In copy trading, rollover mechanics apply identically to copied positions. SteadyFlowFX's 9 algorithms include positions that may stay open across multiple cutoffs on the 8 currency pairs traded. The verified Myfxbook 12 percent average monthly net return over 3 years reflects results after rollover effects. Subscribers benefit from knowing the Wednesday triple-swap rule and checking their broker's swap policy, which can differ slightly from the master's broker and produce small performance variations even with identical trades.