Posted by forex at 8:46 AM
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1. Review the definition of a rollover. All forex spot trades must be settled within two business days. If you would like to extend your position without settling at the end of each trade day you can close your position by 5 p.m. (EST) on the settlement day and reopen the following trading day. This is referred to as a rollover. Traders do this by using a swap agreement.
2. Review how currency is quoted. Currency is quoted in pairs. The first currency is referred to as the base currency, and the second is referred to as the counter currency. The trader borrows money to purchase another currency. Interest is paid on the borrowed currency and earned on the purchased currency. The net is the rollover interest.
3. Obtain the short-term rate of interest for both the base and counter currency. Go to the treasury department of the issuing nation for current short-term rates. It is usually listed on the home page of the website for the treasury.
4. Work through an example. Let's say you purchase 100,000 CAD/USD at a rate of .9155. The short-term interest rate on the Canadian dollar (base currency) is 4.25 percent, and the short term interest rate on the U.S. dollar (counter currency) is 3.5 percent.
5. Set up the calculation. For the rollover rate, subtract the base currency short- term interest rate from the counter currency interest rate.
6. Find the dollar of the interest. Multiply the number of CAD/USD held by the difference between the CAD short-term interest rate and the USD short-term interest rate. Divide this by the product of the rate at which you purchased CAD/USD and 365. The calculation looks like this: {100,000 x (4.25% - 3.5%)}/(365 x 0.9155) and the answer is $224.40.