Moving a stop loss to your raw entry price is commonly called "break-even." On ECN and raw-spread MT5 accounts, however, closing at entry leaves you down round-turn commission plus overnight swap. Here is the exact math and chart checklist.
1. Raw entry price vs. true net break-even
Suppose you buy 1.00 lot of XAUUSD at 2650.00 on an ECN account charging $7.00 round-turn commission and -$2.40 overnight swap. If price retraces to 2650.00 and stops you out at raw entry, your realized net P&L is -$9.40 before any slippage.
2. Multi-position weighted average cost line
When scaling in across two or three tickets on the same symbol, moving stops ticket-by-ticket creates fragmented risk. Calculating the volume-weighted average entry plus cumulative fees gives a single consolidated net cost level on the chart.
3. Check broker stop-level & freeze constraints
Before modifying stops in MT5, verify current Bid/Ask against the symbol Stops Level and Freeze Level. A net break-even stop sits slightly inside profit territory relative to entry, so price must clear both the fee offset and the broker minimum stop distance before MT5 accepts the modification.
4. Step-by-step verification in an MT5 demo account
- Open Symbol Specification in MT5 and note Contract Size, Tick Size, Commission schedule, and Stops Level.
- Open a small 0.10 lot test trade on a demo ECN account and inspect Commission and Swap in the Trade tab.
- Compute the exact price offset required to cover round-turn commission and place your stop at that net level (or use OrderCanvas purple Cost Line one-click Break-Even).
- After stop execution, inspect the History tab to verify Net Profit equals >= $0.00 barring volatile gap slippage.