Carry Trade Interest
You remember from the third article of our comprehensive guide that when you buy or sell a currency pair, you’re essentially moving money from one currency denominated bank account to another. And the crazy thing about borrowing and lending money, is that you receive interest for it!
How Carry Trade Interest Works
Carry trade interest works by borrowing in one currency to buy another currency. Back to the original example, when you buy the GBP/USD at 1.6000, you are trading $160,000 for 100,000 British Pounds. In effect, you debited $160,000 from one account, in which you owe interest, and credited another with 100,000 British Pounds, in which you gain interest.
Let’s assume that the bid and ask interest rates for US Dollars and Great British Pounds are as follows:
GBP Bid 2.5% Ask 3%
USD Bid 1% Ask 1.25%
Just like the spreads, the bid price is the price you get paid for depositing. The ask price, is the price the lender asks in interest.
Calculating Your Profit/Loss
Each year, you will pay $2,000 in interest to borrow the US Dollars, and you will gain 2,500 Pounds ($4000) in interest for depositing. Your net gain, even if the currency prices go absolutely nowhere, will be $2000 each and every year. Per day, it equates to $5.48, or about ½ pip per day.
It Really Adds Up
The cost of carry, or in some cases, the gain of carrying, really adds up over time. In the example above, an investor would have made $2000 with a leveraged investment of $160,000. In real terms, at 50:1 leverage, the profit would have been $2000 on a $3200 investment, not too shabby! Many investors have started trading forex just to make money from carry trades, but we’ll get to that later.