Spread costs in MQL5

[niceno]

Dear all,

I am new to trading and am developing my first strategies in MQL5. Up to now, I am only testing different strategies in Strategy Tester. Whenever I open a position, I am essentially buying, I only "go long", because "going short" is still a bit nebulous in my mind.

Imagine I start with 10'000. I open a position (buy it) and use these functions to check the account status in a log file:

FileWrite(LogFile, " - balance:                 ", AccountInfoDouble(ACCOUNT_BALANCE));
FileWrite(LogFile, " - equity:                  ", AccountInfoDouble(ACCOUNT_EQUITY));
FileWrite(LogFile, " - profit:                  ", AccountInfoDouble(ACCOUNT_PROFIT));
double spreadCost = SymbolInfoInteger(_Symbol, SYMBOL_SPREAD) * _Point * Lots * CONTRACT_SIZE;
FileWrite(LogFile, " - spread cost:             ", NormalizeDouble(spreadCost, _Digits));

After that purchase I see the following lines in the log file:

- balance:     10000.0
- equity:       9988.9
- profit:        -11.1
- spread cost:    11.1

Equity is balance plus profit, 10000 - 11.1 = 9988.9, all is fine and logical. The profit (-11.1) is due to spread cost, which I double check with last two lines of the code snippet above and third and fourth line in the log file. So far all is still clear.

However, when I close the position (sell it in my case), which I sold for mere 2.7 more than I bough it, I get the following output in my log file:

- balance:      9996.02
- equity:       9996.02
- profit:          0.0
- spread cost:    11.4

Although I earned 2.7, I also had to pay for keeping the position over one night. I checked it with a call to: HistoryDealGetDouble(closeTicket, DEAL_SWAP); and it amounts to 6.68. So, I started with 10000, earned 2.7, but spent 6.68 for deal swap, so balance is 10000 - 6.68 + 2.7 = 9996.02, but I don't see the spread costs ever accounted for? Where did all the spread costs go?

I am trying to be cautions / conservative in the assessment of my strategies, but I can't see how did spread costs dissapear from the MQL5's AccountInfoDouble functions?

Could anyone please shed light on that?

Cheers

 

[Enivid]

The spread cost didn't go anywhere. When you opened the trade you had a floating loss of -11.10 in terms of spread cost. Since you closed the trade at +2.70 profit, it means that the price went up by 13.80 from the level it had been when you opened the trade. So, it's basically:
10,000.00 - 11.10 + 13.80 - 6.68 = 9,996.02.

 

[niceno]

The spread cost didn't go anywhere. When you opened the trade you had a floating loss of -11.10 in terms of spread cost. Since you closed the trade at +2.70 profit, it means that the price went up by 13.80 from the level it had been when you opened the trade. So, it's basically:
10,000.00 - 11.10 + 13.80 - 6.68 = 9,996.02.

Thanks Enivid. So, if you allow me to put it different words, at the moment I opened a trade I immediately lose on the spread, because if I sold it at the same moment, that's how much I would lost. However, at the time I close the position it doesn't matter any more, because I sold it at the price I sold it, and that's all. If you allow me to draw an analogy, as if I walked into a car dealer and bough a car for 35'000$, I would immediately lose (say) 3'000.$ But that doesn't matter at all when I sell the car. When I sell it, I get what a buyer is ready to pay for?

 

[Enivid]

Thanks Enivid. So, if you allow me to put it different words, at the moment I opened a trade I immediately lose on the spread, because if I sold it at the same moment, that's how much I would lost. However, at the time I close the position it doesn't matter any more, because I sold it at the price I sold it, and that's all. If you allow me to draw an analogy, as if I walked into a car dealer and bough a car for 35'000$, I would immediately lose (say) 3'000.$ But that doesn't matter at all when I sell the car. When I sell it, I get what a buyer is ready to pay for?

Yes, that's right. Your analogy is spot on!