Broker comissions/spread, how much I've paid? Discussion

I think this feature is important because in the long run spreads and commissions could be the difference between being profitable or not, overall with High Frequency Traders, I don't know how much I've paid in total in my account.

Thanks

I agree that this would be a good feature, however it is quite impossible to get any sensible information out of this.

You can of course compare brokers that only take commission and compare these, but how about comparing the other two main type of brokers, the fixed spread and the ones that take comission in the form of wider spreads. How are you suppose to compare these as the spreads constantly change? What do you compare these against? There are no reference out there, so the 'real' cost of these brokers are nearly impossible to figure out. The 'real' question should probably be what kind of broker best fits high frequency trading, and that is a totally different story😉

I don't really get you, I'm not looking to compare broker commission or spreads but how much I've paid per trade, then sum all costs.

For example I think I've paid almost 2% of my account in form of spreads for all my trades, but I don't know precisely how much is it.

Thanks for comment

Sorry, dont mean to be difficult here. I get your question, and it is a very relevant one, my point is only that it is very hard to calculate if I have understood you correctly.

If you have an ECN or other type of raw spread broker, you will only pay commission and this could be summed up as you describe, and one could figure out how much these cost are compared to your results or equity of course. This is a very good idea!

If you have a broker that takes no commission, but charges you either by fixed spread or a fixed addon on the spread, how are you going to find your cost mathematically? If you have a fixed spread, your 'cost' will be this spread and MyFxBook will need to know this spread at all times (may be possible, but is not something one can get out of the logs in MT4 as far as I know. If the broker charges by a wider spread, this spread will vary continously, so your 'cost' will also vary continously. Which spread are you going to use to find your cost, when you buy or when you sell or an average of the two? These spreads are also not available in any logs to find for MyFxBook.

I believe you adress an important aspect of high frequency trading, I just dont see how one can find this cost historically with non ECN brokers.