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Forex Scalping Part I – What is it?

Forex scalping involves the trading of currencies with the objective of obtaining small, quick profits from the market.

It is possible to scalp on an ECN-type platform that gives a day trader the ability to play market maker; i.e., allowing him to buy at the BID and sell at the ASK or make the spread. Even though one of our platforms of preference has this capability, I’m not too much of a fan of this style of trading. Since currency prices are erratic, by the time a trader’s BID is hit, the ASK or offer might have moved in the wrong direction against him (or vice versa). I prefer scalping when the price is also likely to go up immediately after buying or down immediately after selling. A scalper that employs this method will also try to exit the market quickly (characteristic of a scalp), but will try to make more than the spread (whenever possible) from the move in price. This type of forex scalping is frequently used by experienced traders during very volatile market environments, like after certain important news or economic releases.