Scalping: what's your honest reality check?

Scalping looks like fast money and behaves like slow bleed for most who try it: the spread and commission eat a large share of every win, and the speed punishes hesitation. A few make it work with ruthless discipline.

Scalping: what's your honest reality check? — bid-ask spread diagram
The bid-ask spread on a currency pair

Scalpers, share the truth:

  • your win rate and average win versus loss
  • what the costs do to your net per trade
  • the temperament that scalping actually demands
Scalping: what's your honest reality check? — risk-reward diagram
A risk-reward ratio of 1 to 2

The trading costs guide shows why costs dominate at this time frame.

Background: The real cost of a forex trade: spread, commission and swap

Every trade has costs, and they are easy to underestimate. Here is how to add up the spread, commission and overnight swap on a position.

What is a spread in forex?

The difference between the bid (sell) and ask (buy) price. You pay it every time you open a trade, and it widens when the market is less liquid.

Is a raw spread account cheaper?

Not automatically. Add the spread and the round-trip commission together and compare the total with a spread-only account's typical spread on the pairs you trade.

Read the full guide

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