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Single-Pair Swap Harvestthe retail version, and what it really pays

Evidence: WeakBeginnerCarry · Single instrument

The version almost every retail trader actually runs: pick one pair with a positive swap, hold it, collect the nightly credit. It is in the library because people trade it, and the page exists mostly to be honest about what it is.

Two things separate it from the basket version, and both are bad. There is no diversification, so one currency's bad month is the whole result. And the swap you receive is set by your broker, not by the market — the same position can pay at one broker and cost at another.

The return here comes from holding, not from being right about direction. That reverses the usual trade-off: time is on your side and volatility is against you, which is the opposite of everything else in this library.

Category
Carry · Single instrument
Timeframe
D1 · held weeks to months
Suitable pairs
Whichever pair your broker's swap table actually rewards — this is broker-specific, not market-specific
Session
Swap is credited at the broker's rollover, usually 22:00 or 23:00 server time
Indicators / tools
Your broker's live swap table · ATR(20) for sizing · a 200-day price trend check

Valid setup

CY-03 · SINGLE-PAIR SWAP HARVEST — VALID SETUP held for months · the price path matters far less than the nightly credit and the broker's spread on it LONG 147.49 148.26 149.03 149.80 150.56 151.33 152.10 SWAP CREDITED NIGHTLY — triple on Wednesdays price drift over the hold EMA(50) — the trend must not be against the carry ENTRY — scaled in over several days STOP = 3 × ATR(20), reviewed monthly, not trailed 1 2 3 148.60 147.94 ① Swap table read BEFORE the chart — that is the order ② Trend not against the position, or there is no trade ③ One pair, one central bank, no diversification at all ④ A real stop, because nothing else is protecting this ⑤ Out if the differential narrows or the broker changes swap ⑥ Check the credit actually arrives each night

Exact rules

Entry

  • Read the swap table first, in account currency per lot per night. Everything else on this page is secondary to that number.
  • Compute the annualised swap return at your intended size, then compare it to the pair's annual volatility. If the swap is a small fraction of the volatility, you are not running a carry trade — you are running a directional position with a small rebate.
  • Only take the position if the price trend is not against it: the daily close should be on the correct side of a long moving average. Carry into a falling currency is the classic way this loses.
  • Enter in parts, over several days. There is no timing edge here, and averaging the entry reduces the chance of a single bad fill defining the trade.

Stop loss

  • A real one, unlike the basket version — a single pair has no diversification to protect it.
  • 3 × ATR(20) below entry, and reviewed monthly rather than trailed.
  • Risk 0.5%. Held for months, this position will see drawdowns that a day trader would find alarming, and the size has to make that survivable.

Take profit / exit

  • No price target. Exit when the rate differential narrows enough that the swap no longer justifies the exposure.
  • Exit immediately if the broker changes the swap against you — they can and do, sometimes with little notice.
  • Wednesday rollover is usually charged triple to cover the weekend. Include that in the arithmetic; it is roughly a fifth of the annual total.

Build Single-Pair Swap Harvest

Reading this page is free and always will be. Taking it is what costs — the complete MQL5 for the rules above, yours to keep, permanently. Five of them cost $10 and they never expire.

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Classic Currency Carrylong the high rate, short the low oneVolatility-Filtered Carryswitch it off when the market gets loudRate Expectation Repricingtrade the change in the forecast, not the rate

Trading carries risk and most retail accounts lose money. Nothing on this page is financial advice or a recommendation to trade. The chart is an illustration of the rules on constructed candles — it is not a record of a trade and not a backtest.