What exactly constitutes scalping?
most of my trades close within 10 minutes and if it goes in my direction i usually get 15 pips.
is this scalping?
I dont know that there is a strict definition of scalping, some people would consider what your doing is scalping, brokers usually define it as trading over an even shorter time period than that. Some say if you close a trade in less than 90 seconds they consider it scalping.
Trading very large lot sizes over a very short time period. Ie 5 full lots opened & closed within 2 mins, so that the broker has no time to hedge their loss.
The broker would quickly put you on dealer desk trading so that your trades were monitored, & slowed down to the point where scalping was impossible.
Open & close a trade within a very short period of time…
or even going for 1 pip profits…
All good replies… I would also add… the very hardest to consistantly remain profitable. I no of not one scalper (besides interbank) that does this well.
There is a lot of brokers withouty dealing desk who hedges your positions directly on the interbank. So, such brokers has no any restrictions for scalping, even scalping robots.
Any position open for more than 2 minutes should not have any problem, and would not be considered scalping.
If you brokers condemns trades over 2 mins, just trash them.
I’m curious to know the shortest time frame that you know some traders ARE consistently profitable with. (Anyone else reading feel free to chime in on this.)
I want to day trade, not necessarily scalp, and I’m aware that it is harder in many ways than longer term trading, but I need very high returns or I can’t do this and will have to quit (and get a “job”:mad:).
Seems to me that overcoming the effect of paying the spread is the main concern. My strategy is to have my targets at least 4 times the spread. The 5 min chart of EURUSD seems to give reasonable shots at 12 pips very regularly during London and New York sessions.
I’m curious to know the shortest time frame that you know some traders ARE consistently profitable with. (Anyone else reading feel free to chime in on this.)
I want to day trade, not necessarily scalp, and I’m aware that it is harder in many ways than longer term trading, but I need very high returns or I can’t do this and will have to quit (and get a “job”).
I trade the 1m and 15min mostly. This is where good knowledge of candlesticks and price action come in handy. It’s not harder, it just takes some getting used to the movement of it. But you should still follow proper MM and not expect very high returns at first. Scalping is the fastest way to blow your account not following MM. You don’t have to wait days for your daily setup, you can blow it right off the gate! LOL.
To the original question, I wouldn’t put a time on it but short (time) trades focusing on 1min and 5min for entries.
The broker hedges their clients position in accordance with law and they use computers to do it, which can action the request in a very small amount of time quicker than you can say the sentence “Where did you get this gem of rubbish from?”
LOL
I call what I do scalping. Some times my trades last a few minutes some times a few hours. I look for set ups on higher time frames then on a shorter time frame I try to catch a few high probability pips with a larger trade size and a smaller target. Basically catching a small part of a move. MM is very important any flaws in your plan or bad habits become apparent very quickly.
I have never had any broker problems. I think most brokers would like high frequency traders.
5m and 15m tf on GU seems a favourite with shorter tf traders.
for scalping, id consider the 1m charts very dangerous, ive found that the 5min chart isnt easier, but theres less risk
ive even heard 1 min scalping been called “suicide”, but thats my opinion
forex wales
Its not dangerous. You just have to get used to the movement. Think about it. In order for these setups to happen on the TFs, where do you think they get all their information from? 
EnPoint, thanks for your input. Yes, I am VERY disciplined with money management and risk management. I know it can all be gone very quickly!!
What is the smallest target you will plan on for a trade. I mentioned 12 pips for a pair with a 3 pip spread. Do you ever target smaller than that? Seems like it would be really hard to overcome that big a spread over time. Maybe I’m just not good enough at it yet to imagine it working consistently!!
Excerpt:
[I]Let’s assume for the purpose of this example that we are trading a currency pair that has a 3-pip spread, since a spread of that size is very common in the forex market. Our trader just wants to gain 10 pips. That should be easy, right? It’s understood that the trader will lose the spread (3 pips) upon entering the trade. So, in order to turn a profit of 10 pips, the trader actually needs the exchange rate to move 13 pips in his or her favor:
10 + 3 = 13
Now that we know what is required to create a winning trade, let’s see what would have to happen to create an equivalent loss. This is how we will determine the odds of success or failure. In order to generate a loss of 10 pips, the trader would only need an adverse move of 7 pips. This is because a loss of 3 pips is incurred immediately upon entering the trade, again due to the 3-pip spread.
10 − 3 = 7
We’ve determined that our trader needs a positive move of 13 pips to gain 10 pips, but an adverse move of just 7 pips will result in an equivalent loss of 10 pips. The “raw odds” of 10-pip win versus a 10-pip loss for this
trade can be expressed as:
13/7 = 1.857 : 1
The odds of success in this case are 1.857:1, or nearly 2:1 against.
[/I]
Now work out what your win ratio has to be to overcome that effect.
You might also like to ask yourself why most of the people on a non professional site scalp.
Win ration only needs to be greater than 50%.
and why is that?
Because the winning ratio already has the spread taken into account.
I am a little confused about some of the comments made with regard to a broker on the Forex market. There has been mentioned in this thread that the broker will take certain actions to ensure that, for instance, scalping becomes difficult.
My understanding of the role of a broker is one who matches a buyer and a seller. For this service he charges commission. If that is the case he is not concerned about whether you win or lose. He has made his money from his commission.
This is important for me to understand if this is how the Forex market works. In other words I am attempting to make a profit at the expense of of another individual, at the opposite side of my trade, with the broker having his commission.
This may be a little simplistic as the actual mechanism of buying and selling has to work in such a way that entry and exit from the market takes place and obviously no two individuals would be entering and exiting for the same amount at the same time. But it is this principle that I wish to be able to understand.
Please correct me if this is not the situation.
It’s different strokes for different folks. A broker might regulate “scalping,” a discrete category with characteristics x, y, and z. It really doesn’t matter what “we,” retail traders believe scalping is. The broker holds the power to limit or halt your trades if they view you to be a scalper.
My understanding of the role of a broker is one who matches a buyer and a seller. For this service he charges commission. If that is the case he is not concerned about whether you win or lose. He has made his money from his commission.
You need to understand that markets are not always two-sided. It may be very difficult for a broker to cover your position within the time you open and close a trade. The market does not move at the speed of the internet.