What's your preferred trading style?

What’s your preferred trading style scalping, day trading, swing trading, position trading?

Swing.

But are scalps really held for weeks?

Holding a scalp trade for weeks is no longer considered scalping. You’re now considered a position trader

Hi @USAfx, the description is wrong.

Scalper keeps position only in minutes. It’s a hit and run strategies. Less likely scalpers hold position for hours. Scalper is a day trading.

Swing may held positions for days, weeks or even months. Depend on which time frames they trade on. Swing trader who uses daily or weekly chart, most likely identified as position trading. So the term or swing and position trading are sometimes interchangeable depend on time frame.

So the criteria should be:

  • Day trading
    • Scalper, usually profit less than 10 pips (around 5-7).
    • Non Scalper, profit more than 10 pips.
  • Swing Trading
    • Short term, usually on 4H and below.
    • Long term ( Positional Trading ), usually on 4H and above.

Btw, I’m Day Trader and also Short Term Swing Trader. :grin:

London session for Eur pairs

I have no idea where you got that image above from, but actually three of the four definitions stated in it are mistaken. :roll_eyes:

“Swing trading,” in particular, has no relation to time-frames at all. It can be anything from fast intraday to months. When someone imagines that “swing trading” means “trades of longer duration than intraday” you can tell immediately that they learned to trade (or thought they did!) from online “information” and have never read a proper textbook in their lives. Page 1 of almost any swing trading textbook clarifies this point for readers who know no better.

Sadly, people keep perpetuating this misinformation online, too. Not only does it not help anyone, but it just adds to the confusion of people who are trying to learn. :thinking:

This is actually a “trading discussion,” not a “trading system.” I’m moving the thread to “Trading Discussions” for you. :slightly_smiling_face:

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If you read my comment, i stated "leaving a trade to run for weeks is not considered scalping " because scalpers usually leave trades to run for minutes.

Thanks for that. I’m still new to the platform :blush:

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You actually said “is no longer considered scalping,” which is also wrong: it never was. It’s just a mistake (along with others) in the image you posted.

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Hi @USAfx, I am strongly agree with @Heteroskedasticity. I have been trading since 1999. Scalping is scalping. It has never been done for over than a day. Unless you open it at 23:59 then close it at next day 01:00. :smile:

Btw, I don’t want to argue with you about what is what. :innocent: Trading style has been developed so complex. It’s not only scalping, swing and position. You can categorized trading style then base on certain point of view, for example:

  • base on method of analysis: quantitative and qualitative
  • base on analysis: technical and fundamental
  • base on frequency: high frequency trade (HFT), MTF and LTF.
  • base on execution: algorithmic trade and discretionary
  • base on style: intra-day, medium term and long term.
  • … more and more

By putting scalping and day trading will get confused. Swing and position trading are also another bias.

Scalping is done very fast. The target profit is usually less then 10 pips. It takes less than minute during volatile period. But it can take hours during slow period. Example: I do scalping USDJPY, it takes 1-5 hours to close at asian session for 5-10 pips. XAUUSD during London time, i can have 10-15 pips in within 1 minute. mostly under 1 hour during London and NY time.

Day trading is whatever trade that happens in within a day. Scalping is happened in within a day. So scalping is one of Day Trading style.

Swing Trade is trading base on trend swing, either sideways to trending or reversal during trending market. When you are doing swing base on chart analysis, you will bind with timeframe (TF). if the TF is lower than 1H, it will be looked as Day trading. When you use 4H or even Weekly chart, you will be seen as Position Trading.

Position Trading is a long term strategy. You trade on current market fundamental. It’s more common in Stock Market than CFD. Example you can see XAU is reaching ATH. Most position trading will short XAU with assumption market will be going down to consolidate. And when the market has consolidate, the position trader will do long because the XAU fundamental shows it will climb to 2700 no matter what. Remember since there is swap in CFD, Position Trading is not really attractive. It’s different with stock market, when you are spotting cheap stock with good fundamental, you will immediately buy them for long term gain. It’s almost similar with value investing by Benjamin Graham.

I just wanna give you a clear explanation. I was trading mentor in the past. As a mentor, definition is important. But as a trader, all of these are not important. Profit is what we are pursuing. :rofl:

Have a good day @USAfx :slight_smile:

Say profit us what we are pursuing :joy:, that killed me.
Anyways, thank you for the oversight. I’m always welcome to getting corrections. We learn everyday.

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Day trading

What is recommended for new traders?