Scalping is risky ?

Fonz said:
Yes scalping is risky:
To maximize few ticks, trading a larger size is essential: This is not forgiving.
I "give" +15% of my gross profits to my brokers.
Only 20% of my trades are limit orders, all others are market orders: I scalp the NQ future and I estimate that the slippage eats more than 15% of my gross profits.
Markets change all the time: To be able to adapt, discretionary is required.
The emotional impact is important (at least to me).
So, the odds are incredibly against scalpers.

No scalping is not risky:
Liquidity is your friend.
Don't fear or compete with HFTs, they actually amplify patterns (I am not talking about head and shoulders..)
I am in control and I always use a (large) stop, just in case: This stop is arbitrary at 1/2 of my daily loss limit and it is almost never touched.
Being in the market for few seconds or minutes removes all kind of black swan event.
No overnight positions, at least regarding my scalping activity.
My maximum daily net loss is not negotiable.
More...


1- Which pairs you find are the best for scalping?
2- Do you trade multiple pairs at the same time or do you exclusive work with one pair?
2- How do you wrap your mind around pairs that are not your local currency when trading? (serious questions) :)
 
Fonz said:
The average duration of my scalp trades is less than 1 minute. Bull or bear has nothing to do with scalping.
Liquidity and volatility on the other hand, help a lot.
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Which pair do you do that is less than 1 minute and how what is the minimum amount you play with?
 
Fonz said:
Hi Sun,
I scalp for few ticks, depending on the situation, and I can do that just once a day or a lot more.
So I need to have a high win rate %, which I think is always required for successful scalping.
More...

1- From patterns you see, what kind of days allow you to trade many times and what kind of days are only 1 or 2 trades?

2- What is your average win rate? Can you please give dollar amount and percentage example of frequently happening trade you win? (I am assuming you pretty much don't loose).
 
salamanderforex said:
1- Which pairs you find are the best for scalping?
2- Do you trade multiple pairs at the same time or do you exclusive work with one pair?
2- How do you wrap your mind around pairs that are not your local currency when trading? (serious questions) :)
More...

Hi Salamanderforex,
I only scalp the front month future contract of the Nasdaq.
I also always look at the EUR and GBP for an intraday trade when the momentum is very strong.
I think the best instrument for trading in general, is the one that you know the best. I like the Nasdaq future because of its "nervousness", its "intraday multi trends" and the way it moves from VWAP to pivots points.
 
salamanderforex said:
1- From patterns you see, what kind of days allow you to trade many times and what kind of days are only 1 or 2 trades?

2- What is your average win rate? Can you please give dollar amount and percentage example of frequently happening trade you win? (I am assuming you pretty much don't loose).
More...

1. I don't trade on Fed days and I am usually very bad on Fridays.
When I reach my maximum daily loss, I just stop trading. When the NQ is too fast and I see that on the DOM, I don't trade.

2. My average win rate is > 62%. So, yes I loose, like (almost) everybody. I tend to close losing trades to quickly.
 
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