What's the definition of Scalping?

It's a term often used but what actually is the consensus definition?

Does it mainly depend on how long you hold on to the position or amount of profit you take, I'm guessing probably both but how long and how much?

Thanks,

WJ

I deem the term scalping although I call it "jobbing" as extremely short term for 3-5 points.
As pointed in another thread to be succesful you need to be part of the bid or offer and not paying the spread to maximise.
In other words a price maker.

Other explenation is:
first in, first out.
Like buying rumors, selling facts.

In my opinion scalping could be even 20 pips, but for sure lots are more higher then in position of normal, weekly trader.
It is the most agressive type of daytrading. Few trades daily.

I scalp.

When people refer to "scalping" it's usually one of two things.

a) Capturing the spread. For more information look at MB Tradings website about getting paid for limits. They have a great overview.

b) Entering/exiting a trade quickly. Usually the trade lasts anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. The goal is to capture a few pips then get out before price turns.

In the past I think most people who said "scalp" were referring to "a". These days, or maybe it's just the people on this forum and others of it's kind, most people tend to refer to "b" when talking about scalping.

Really? Awesome. I like to go for the significant intra-day oscillations, from a minimum of 20 pips upwards (how many of those 20 pips are caught is a matter of technique). Without at least that volatility, i don't trade.

I always thought (and have seen different literature) refer to these trades as scalping.. perhaps from the very short time frames its sometimes possible to get these moves in. My trades can range from minutes to hours.

.. Well, i like my method and cant imagine (at the moment) changing it to anything else, but i hate the word 'scalping'

scalping is basically extreme short-termism , no?

I think that 90% of traders, who talk about scalping, mean shortterm intraday trading. Hold positions for second or minutes. With profit target from 1 - 15 pips.

Max 15 pips? Why get out if you don't have to? Depending on your pair (and if any major new is occuring), more like 1-200 pips, with the average depending on what pair is your favourite.

Or i'd see 1-15 pip's as a minimum, unless your trade was incorrect. (Just my opinion)

EDIT: Actually.. nevermind. If you're trading the 1 min charts.. going for a firm 1-15 pips may be your safest option.. the higher timeframes (still in minutes) can let you catch more.

This is the simple way I scalp the markets (EURUSD is my favourite) and this is the only tool I use. I love Metatrader but this GUI makes scalping easy. I push green to buy, push red to sell, push black on green to close buy, push black on red to close sell, push yellow to close any trade in profit. I have no other bells or whistles beyond the bollinger band which helps me get a feel for direction. Since I commenced using this tool my trading has become profitable. I don't wait for any particular signal I just follow the movement of the market as best as I can and if I'm wrong on direction I close the trade and commence trading in the new direction. Scalping is the only way to trade these random moves.

scalping is trading small time frame for a very short amount of time with minimal profit, but i believe that it is the most aggressive way to earn fast/big in forex. and the fastest way to blow accounts as well

“Scalping is gambling “ , with little exceptions.

I'm particularly interested in scalping. I like this techniques because you should quickly open and close your orders. There's no need in waiting during weeks until your orders will be closed. Pluses: You can quickly take profit. Minuses: you can quickly loose money

In my opinion, combining scalping + follow the trend is profitable. One thing shall be considered is well money management.

Hi scalper007

Hope you don't mind me asking - how long have you been scalping? Do you use stop loss orders? I tried my hand at scalping some time back and I wasn't very successfully to say the least.

I consider scalping the best way to profit. I have already stated extensively elsewhere how its best done using two brokers. Buying through one and selling through another using high stakes. One can often lose, but the gains outweigh them.

Scalping
Scalping in the forex market consists of an extremely short-term trading strategy which attempts to take advantage of the bid offer spread. In doing so, scalpers act a bit like a market maker, while only holding positions briefly like a day trader.

The basic objective of scalping consists in getting in and out of the market as quickly as possible for a profit. One scalper summed it up well by describing their idea of a long-term investment as holding a position until noon.

Scalping the market can be quite lucrative, although the profits do not come without a pretty steep price in terms of personal time invested. Scalpers must be on alert and completely absorbed in the market throughout trading hours.

In addition, scalping requires the trader’s books to be extremely well organized, leaving no loose ends and keeping perfect track of every lot traded. Like day traders, scalpers typically do not hold overnight positions.

Scalper Trading Techniques

Scalpers rely primarily on liquid markets above all to give them opportunities to trade on both sides of the dealing spread. The possibility of entering and exiting a trade profitably with a minimum of effort and time elapsed is the ideal situation for a scalper.

Once the profit on a trade has been realized or the position stopped out, the scalper moves on to the next trade. They might then elect to reposition at a lower price or short at a higher level. Successful scalping involves the trader realizing profits on trades as continuously as possible.

Scalpers use technical analysis primarily to set levels to trade against. Nevertheless, the point of scalping consists of realizing profits quickly and holding positions for the least time possible.

Scalpers tend to make the most money in deep, liquid markets that offer the tightest spreads such as the EUR/USD or the USD/JPY currency pairs. Volatile markets with less liquidity are usually harder to scalp.

I have a free, good Scalping indicator for anyone who want to follow this strategy. Hope this can help

+1

Could you elaborate on this please?

buy low sell high relative to time

lol @ gambling

'Scalping' is a trading strategy that attempts to make many profits on small price changes. Traders who implement this strategy will place anywhere from 10 to a couple hundred trades in a single day in the belief that small moves in stock price are easier to catch than large ones.
Traders who implement this strategy are known as scalpers. The main goal is to buy (or sell) a number of shares at the bid (or ask) price and then quickly sell them a few cents higher (or lower) for a profit. Many small profits can easily compound into large gains if a strict exit strategy is used to prevent large losses.