Scalping! Can it really be profitable in the long term?

Yes. (I kind of like these yes/no questions)

Scalping is hard work and I genuinely have no idea how people are successful doing it, those guys are beasts. Maybe they have good sized accounts and pain tolerance but holy crap that stress pierces my gut.

I do respect scalpers but I don’t understand how they do this. I tried scalping. I know it’s possible to scalp for several hours successfully but then I usually go in the red. I feel more confident when use higher timeframes. Maybe it’s really possible to scalp profitably in the long-term but it requires being very smart and having a unique reaction.

in the longterm begins from day by day, by each winning day.

Scalping is a popular trading strategy that involves holding positions for a short period of time, like seconds or minutes, and hoping for a small profit. It can be profitable for experienced traders who have developed a solid trading plan and know how to manage risk effectively.

What is a swing trader?

Scalping is a trading strategy in which frequent trades are made in order to profit from small price movements in a security. While it can be profitable in the short term, long-term profitability is often difficult to maintain due to high transaction costs and the potential for significant losses when a trade goes wrong. Scalping successfully necessitates discipline, a thorough understanding of market dynamics, and a willingness to take risks.

Scalping may be profitable in the long run if the trader has a solid understanding of the market and is able to consistently make accurate trades. However, this requires a significant amount of time and effort to develop the necessary skills.

With scalping you will understand faster whether your system has an edge or not as sample of returns will grow faster.

Mindset is at first, for which one you have to deal with stress for the momentum, the action of the market and the " news feed " that interact with the trade it self.
All the above can be minimized by the account type/volume, as you go with a small balance in every trade, you need all the time to take as many trades to get to that % you want. On the other side, with a big balance you can focus on only one/two/three trades on o daily basis so that you have enough to be profitable.
If you are not greedy, you can do very good ( I'm trying day by day to get rid of the " greedy " thing, as it brings me always into the red zone of the account )

No.

Scalping will not be profitable or will be extremely difficult to be profitable in the long-term for the following reason.

- Broker fees, such as commission and spread.

I am going to keep this basic, since this is a rookie forum.

If your spread is 2 pip and you're attempting to achieve 4 pips. You are paying 2/4, 50% in commission on every trade.


Broker fees eat into your edge - in a big way. Don't underestimate or ignore this.

Assuming a 1:1 RR. All random entries in FX have a 50% chance of winning, if there are no broker fees, i.e. no spreads, commissions etc.

Since you can not get rid of broker fees completely, the most you can do is minimize the impact of broker fees by achieving higher profit targets per trade.

For example: Achieving a 50 pip target, with a 2 pip spread is 2/50 = 4% in fees.

4% in fees per trade will have much less of a negative impact on your edge than 50% in fees per trade.


To make money in FX for the long term, you must at minimum:

- Reduce the impact of the house edge (commissions, spread, negative swap, all fees).

Even with a poor strategy, you could come out with at least near break-even (an expectancy of near zero) if you reduce the impact of fees down to near zero.

By reducing the house-edge significantly, you will have an initial 50% probability of winning a trade, even if you entered randomly with blindfolds on.

From there, you can then develop a strategy that tilts this 50% probability of winning in your favour.

It would only make sense then, because the simplest thing you can do to improve your strategy edge is by reducing the impact of fees - first.

When you scalp, your probability of winning is way lower than 50% on a random entry.

Even if you had a good scalping strategy, the edge would need to be significantly large just overcome the impact of broker fees. Even if you managed to do that, you may still end up just at break-even at best. That is a pretty sad use of what may be an excellent edge.

When you go for larger pips:

Overcoming 4% house edge is more feasible than overcoming a 50% house edge (in the example).

When I define a profit target, the fees only make up a small percentage (<1%) of the profit target.

This ensures, I could achieve near 50% probability of winning a trade even with blindfolds on.

The larger pips you go for, the more you minimize the house edge, so that you get close to the initial win probability of 50% for a random entry.

From that initial 50% probability of winning, your analysis, strategy, algorithms can tilt that probability into your favour more efficiently and effectively.

Scalping can be profitable in the long term if it's done correctly and with discipline. Scalping is a short-term trading strategy that involves taking small profits from small price movements throughout the day. The key to success in scalping is to have a solid trading plan, strict risk management rules, and a disciplined approach to trading.

Scalping will not be profitable long-term whatsoever. It's a mathematical impossibility. The fees destroy any long-term edge in scalping.

Scalping is fun, exciting and gives a rush. It's like pulling the lever on a slot machine. However, don't be fooled into thinking it is profitable. You will have wins here and there, but you will come out negative in the long-term. Wins are not sustainable and overall scalping, regardless of strategy becomes a negative expectancy game, not because of the strategy itself, but the major negative impact of fees.

major negative impact of fees sorry but fees mentioned on level of 50% is a BS. Expentancy is what matters.
You have to have different set of skills then skills on H1, H4, D1 and higher...
You do not have sit long hours watching 6 screens... you do not have strictly closing trade with 4 pips only... if is running why close it? But close it at once when is getting exhausted.
There are number of guys doing this every single day for last 10 years, and live good lives, but they are not selling strategies for 299 USD (or when you are leaving their webpages only 89 USD as a last chance), because they know, you can not buy skill. Some serious TA masters will do not like what I say but scalping skills is like video game, you are not thinking you are taking actions on subconscious level, automatically. You just read the chart, like a book. Do you analyze letters when reading? You see complete words, phrases.
It is not impossible it, is difficult and not many reach the proper skill level to do it without even sign of emotions.They are Masters.

after reading i saw through all the writers bullshit sprouting the brokers narrative , all trading has spread fees swaps and if you worried about spread fess etc etc you will never trade the canadian government dont want traders to be profitable and thats a fact , because if you have money they cant convince you its all a lie and only the government can help you , i have been a scalper for decades and reading this stupid statement was an affront to all traders
edit,
there is many ways to make money from forex once learnt , scalping in my books is the safest way to trade in the out and get the cash

1. https://assets.faireconomy.media/nfs...ar445262_1.gif BlackNapkins
2. Joined Feb 2016 | Status: Member | 952 Posts

Quoting franziska
Well I think they might be really useful for scalping and maybe I try them since I want to start scalping after managing my emotions! But without a self-awareness using these charts and scalping, can ruin everything I guess!
Try this... https://www.youtube.com/@imantradinglive
he trades 20 sec charts live ...

"I AM DOING WHAT OTHERS SAY CAN NOT BE DONE IN TRADING" — me (you)
and I have seen you doing it day yes day too

thanks mate , i also see you learning more every day , one day at a time consistency and confidence

Hi Aussie,

Crikey a post from months ago hahaaa, I had missed
Yes scalping, how the brokers (and LPs) would love it gone
(edit: well lol broker wouldn't care if the comms are paid up - they might get p!ssed if holding those trades in-house tho hahaa )

The reason the industry and brokers likely talk down scalping over & over & over
is that as soon as a scalper takes their required profit from the table it has immediately
reduced “liquidity” in the current aggregation process of those still open buys & sells
and they have to reset the equation.

Scalpers see this aggregation readjustment regularly, just “after” their trades are closed

There is no actual R:R trade logic at all imho, that seems just maths ideas based on distribution
but NOT how the mechanics of price movement occur intraday

Its long & tough to spend time & energy to work out what the market does on a regular basis especially I guess when a quant might come up with a “formula” that guarantees () a profit by just “leaving your money in the ring - LONGER”.

There is also no reason, imo, that a scalper cannot go into the market at their own preferred moment or session EACH DAY etc take what they require from the table, LEAVE and come back another day (session)

NO REASON

Unless of course you are on the wrong side of the order flow

Coz' then

It wont matter at all if you are a scalper or a month long trade holder

The WRONG side of the order flow is the WRONG side - end of story - no matter how you trade

but just imho

I think scalping could be very profitable, particularly if you are disciplined enough to pick your levels off higher timeframes.

I don't do it personally but I watch price action during the day and you can usually pick 1-2 good intraday trades off the majors, in and out in the same day. No need to go nuts and try to take 5+ trades on a single pair in a day as you are likely to get chopped up and have to spend too much time on screen to make it worthwhile.

Just my two-cents.

Back in the days, I tried scalping for a very short period, I mean I didn't scalp for years, just a couple of months, as it was wondering for me how rpfitable it could be.
It indeed turned out to be a good trading style which could bring profits, however, it seemed ot me that scalpers are more susccpetible to burning out, as it's an extremely dynamic style. The reaction should be extraterrestrial. That is why it's challenging to start scalping and make profits right away, as it seems to be more sophisticated than intraday trading, for instance.