Spreads and commissions

Each market is priced from several real exchanges. Four times a second, Runtiler takes each exchange's latest price, drops any that sit far from the others, and uses the median of the rest: the median bid and the median ask. Prices are never averaged over time or delayed. Where one exchange has by far the deepest market, its price is used and the others check it.

When there is no price to trust, because too few exchanges are answering or they disagree, the market shows no price. Nothing fills or triggers there until a good price is back.

Your challenge sets the account type. See Standard and Raw accounts.

• Standard: the real spread plus a markup, half on the bid and half on the ask. No commission.
• Raw: the real spread (on indices, plus a small markup) and a commission on each side of every trade: once when it opens and once when it closes.

Each rate is a share of the trade's value: its size × what 1 lot is × the price.

A commission of 0.0035% is $3.50 per $100K traded. The real spread comes on top on both account types, and it moves with the market.

You trade 1 lot of gold at $4,000 and close it at the same price. Its value is 100 oz × $4,000 = $400,000.

• Standard: the markup is 0.01% of $400,000 = $40, inside the spread: $20 when you open and $20 when you close.
• Raw: the commission is 0.0035% of $400,000 = $14 when you open and $14 when you close, $28 in all.

Both pay the real spread too, so on gold today a Raw account pays $12 less per lot. On indices the two cost the same today.

Spreads are in the prices you trade at. Commissions come out of your balance at each fill, including a partial close. Your history shows each trade's Fees, and its profit or loss is after them. Like every cost, they count for every rule. Overnight fees are on their own page.