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

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

  • #1
  • First Post: Dec 13, 2008 11:43pm Dec 13, 2008 11:43pm
A question if I may:

Is there anyone on here who makes a living scalping? Can it really be done?!

I ask this question as scalping suits me in many ways but I must confess that I am only breaking even (demo trading). I've read so much to the effect that one simply cannot profit in the long run trading what is essentially noise and I wonder if I'm wasting my time.

If someone is actually profiting it would encourage me to persevere!
  • #2
  • Dec 14, 2008 1:12am Dec 14, 2008 1:12am
Hey,

Profits banked are better than pips sought... This has been my policy since I started learning how to trade FXPimp Scalping methods.

I was actually a critic of scalping and loved long term trades. But let me tell u something I learned about trading. The longer you are on a trade the more vulnerable you become to price reversal.

If you want to be successful in scalping compound you profits in small bits don't seek too much also don't use too big lots it can hurt. The long runs of any trade is discipline if you loose this you will start loosing. If you get greedy you will start loosing.

Have your limits if it is 5 trade daily targets 10$ each so be it go for that.

Understand that any market is risky and no single person here has the holy grail. Each one of us is the holy grail of the trades they take if it goes positive replicate it. If it goes negative study your mistake and improve.

That's all...

Scalpers and Long term traders can equally become profitable....

Regards
  • #3
  • Dec 14, 2008 2:40am Dec 14, 2008 2:40am
Quoting cosmicjazzer
A question if I may:

Is there anyone on here who makes a living scalping? Can it really be done?!

I ask this question as scalping suits me in many ways but I must confess that I am only breaking even (demo trading). I've read so much to the effect that one simply cannot profit in the long run trading what is essentially noise and I wonder if I'm wasting my time.

If someone is actually profiting it would encourage me to persevere!
Scalping just like long term trading depends entirely on one's personality. The key factor that does not discriminate on trading method is patience. Choosing the right entry point as well as exit is crucial no matter what trading strategy you choose. You must also be aware that each currency pair has its own personality. For example on eur/usd a 1pip-50pip scalp is a good target considering the daily range usually is not that high compared to lets say gbp/jpy where a scalp can be as high as 200pips because of the much larger volatility. Timing is another great factor, when 2 market sessions overlap like euro session and ny session, volatility is increased meaning a scalp can last anywhere from a few minutes to 30minutes. Try trading the asian session, a similar scalp may last a few hours. I recommend choosing only one or two currency pairs to trade as well, as each pair has its own dinstinct personality and behaves differently from the other pairs (even though correlations are something to keep note of). Know those pairs like the back of your hand and scalping will come naturally after many many hours spent watching pa. I also recommend checking out some scalping strategies in the forum. One you should definetely visit is the thv thread by cobraforex. And to answer your final question, learn to read the noise correctly and perseverance will definetely pay off in the long run. Hope this helped and good luck pippin
Different opinions highly valued, ignorant to slander.
  • #4
  • Dec 14, 2008 8:19am Dec 14, 2008 8:19am
Many thanks for the replies. I'll keep at it!
  • #5
  • Dec 14, 2008 8:27am Dec 14, 2008 8:27am
I am as a longer term trader (4h and dailies) not too optimistic about scalping. I don't see how you want to make as many pips as when you are riding the entire trend on a higher TF. Though there are people who seem to know what they're doing as they scalp. My problem with scalping are the reality effects that occur only with real money, for instance order execution, reliability of platform and then the brokers themselves who mostly don't seem to like scalpers all that much
Anyhow I am sure you will find a successful trader with every trading style out there. It really only depends on you - what suits you, you have to find that out and then it's you and the perfect trading conditions.. that's eventually gonna lead to success
The Essentials of Trading: Emotions, Risk Mgt, Price.
  • #6
  • Edited 8:48am Dec 14, 2008 8:29am | Edited 8:48am
You need better charting than MT provides. I have posted elsewhere some indicators that will build tick and 10-seconds charts in MT, but these are a bit clunky. I hear Oanda offers 1-second charts - I don't know. But free Ninja has good x-tick and x-second charts with free real time data from Gain, usually tick for tick with MT. Look at the Cyrox Rainbow post. I don't use it but something similar.
ps: Scalping takes 100% focus. If you have a crying baby, barking dog, or nagging wife don't do it. ;=)
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  • #7
  • Dec 14, 2008 10:29am Dec 14, 2008 10:29am
Quoting Kenz987
You need better charting than MT provides. I have posted elsewhere some indicators that will build tick and 10-seconds charts in MT, but these are a bit clunky. I hear Oanda offers 1-second charts - I don't know. But free Ninja has good x-tick and x-second charts with free real time data from Gain, usually tick for tick with MT. Look at the Cyrox Rainbow post. I don't use it but something similar.
ps: Scalping takes 100% focus. If you have a crying baby, barking dog, or nagging wife don't do it. ;=)
2 things here, I agree with both:

1) It seems the de facto standard for so many start-up traders is MT4.
Granted it has a lot of built-in functions, indicators and capability that are quite useful,
but, without ready access to tick (yes, I know about the "clunky" tick scripts) it's not designed for tick traders.
Ninja, not something I'm very fond of but it is a better alternative, does have certain advantages over MT4 and
I'm surprised more people on the MT4 bandwagon don't give it more attention for it's x-tick and x-second charting.

2) I don't mind the barking dog.
The crying baby I can probably deal with (hose 'em off every 4 hours at the close of the candle).

The nagging wife is a different story. You cannot trade with a nagging wife jacking with your concentration.
It is more productive to simply not trade and do something else than to attempt to trade while being nagged.
Not only will you lose money, but you will put undue stress on nearly every other facet of your personal life.
Scalping under these conditions is completely out of the question. It cannot work. She won't let you win.

One solution is to open a mini account for her and have her trade it at $1/pip. It will be an eye opening experience.
Get her a cheap laptop and put her in the other room. Someday, you can let her in and sit with you and the dog while you trade.
You may learn something from it too. Just keep enough on the side to reload the account every now and then.
Who knows, she may be the one reloading your account.
  • #8
  • Dec 14, 2008 11:33am Dec 14, 2008 11:33am
in demotrading i double my account every 13 trades, but not in live account
  • #9
  • Jul 6, 2022 8:12am Jul 6, 2022 8:12am
Certainly, you can be a professional scalper, depending on your expectations vs Bankroll. Not an easy life though.
  • #10
  • Jul 8, 2022 5:34pm Jul 8, 2022 5:34pm
My experience as an ultra short term scalper (my ideal trade last no more than 10s):
The short answer is "yes"

The long answer:
I cannot overstate how hard it has been for me to become profitable.
Being break even is a huge deal already.
My advice: be obsessed about backtesting your strategy, be obsessed with finding even minute optimization on why you enter a trade, how you place target and stoploss. it took time, but eventually it worked for me
  • #11
  • Jul 27, 2022 10:30pm Jul 27, 2022 10:30pm
Quoting arthurb
in demotrading i double my account every 13 trades, but not in live account
I'm having this issue too, the only way I overcome this is to use EA.
  • #12
  • Jul 28, 2022 11:03am Jul 28, 2022 11:03am
Scalping is for People who spend most of their time glued to their charts. Other than that, its going to be a problem
  • #13
  • Sep 22, 2022 5:36am Sep 22, 2022 5:36am
Scalping is not suitable for all traders.
But I know that you can make good money with it.
  • #14
  • Sep 22, 2022 2:58pm Sep 22, 2022 2:58pm
Quoting arthurb
in demotrading i double my account every 13 trades, but not in live account
What's your secret? Is drawdown big?
1.02^200
  • #15
  • Sep 27, 2022 12:32am Sep 27, 2022 12:32am
Quoting cosmicjazzer
A question if I may: Is there anyone on here who makes a living scalping? Can it really be done?! I ask this question as scalping suits me in many ways but I must confess that I am only breaking even (demo trading). I've read so much to the effect that one simply cannot profit in the long run trading what is essentially noise and I wonder if I'm wasting my time. If someone is actually profiting it would encourage me to persevere!
Yes It Is. Just try to make 1 trade per day. In the right session. And thats It.
  • #16
  • Sep 27, 2022 10:53am Sep 27, 2022 10:53am
continuing this topic.

I'm recently new to forex but i'm already a successful trader, made lost of money, you can see my reply history for some of my trades. But it's all on higher time frames and going for days, i don't seem to be able to scalp to save my life.

i see people doing it so easily and i can't get into it. HELP! idl what to say, i get lost in the lower time frames, the constant choppiness, the lack of major sup and res levels.
  • #17
  • Nov 21, 2022 3:42pm Nov 21, 2022 3:42pm
Hi all

I'm not the guy that usually reply to posts, but thought I'll reply here for what its worth, I scalp mostly for a living.
I automated my system and only trade this one on EUR/USD 1 min timeframe, the system have been rewarding me between 13-15% a month
for the past 5 months, I have linked a small real acc to Myfxbook.com a couple of months ago feel free to check it out and follow it in real time.

https://www.myfxbook.com/members/Rua...g-time/9765101

Best of luck to all of you
  • #18
  • Nov 22, 2022 12:29am Nov 22, 2022 12:29am
I believe scalping can be lucrative but requires a sharp mind and the willingness to observe trade situations building up for a long time. I have found over my period as a trader that scalping is much better if you focus on fewer instruments such that you can focus on perfection within those portfolios. Purely due to the sheer volume of noise and trade situations, trading many instruments may be difficult but then again nothing is impossible.
  • #19
  • Nov 22, 2022 1:06am Nov 22, 2022 1:06am
If a trader is able to implement a strict exit strategy, one of the biggest advantages of scalping is that it can be very profitable
  • #20
  • Dec 16, 2022 2:40pm Dec 16, 2022 2:40pm
I think it probably could, but that's alot of screen time. Think effort vs. reward. I think some of the more profitable traders are swing traders, atleast that's my impression. It's also a lot of constant stress watching the ticks go up and down trying to get in, then get right out.
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