i’m trying to compare brokers fairly, so i want a simple way to convert deriv costs into pips on eurusd.
my rough method: effective cost per round trip in pips = average spread in pips + commission converted to pips minus rebate converted to pips. then i add expected swap if i hold and any currency conversion cost if my account is not usd.
example numbers are helpful, but i mostly need the structure. am i missing any fees on deriv that should be in the formula? how do you log this across brokers to keep it apples to apples? anyone have a spreadsheet template they like?
Spread plus commission minus rebate equals round trip cost.
Convert everything to pips first, then compare. For EURUSD, pip value is 10 dollars per standard lot. Commission per lot divided by 10 gives commission in pips. Rebate per lot divided by 10 gives rebate in pips. Cost per round trip equals average spread plus commission in pips minus rebate in pips. Add average swap if you hold. Include conversion if your account is not USD by applying the daily rate. Track a month of trades and compute the volume weighted average cost.
I keep one sheet per symbol and convert all fees to pips.
It makes the comparison quick, and I can see weekly averages without guesswork.
I track per lot cost in pips and add swap. Then compare to another broker over the same days.
I built a simple sheet with these columns: date, session, spread, commission in pips, rebate in pips, swap, final cost. I average by week and by session.
Biggest miss I see is ignoring conversion when the account is not USD. That can change your result more than the rebate on slow weeks.