IM BACK:D! Started this thread to show everyone how i have been scalping for a living in the FX markets. I am going to start posting my trades/scalps that i make.
Table of contents
- Scalping for a Living
- Is Scalping a Suitable Style For You?
- Scalping: Small Quick Profits Can Add Up
- The Ultimate Forex Scalping Strategy Guide
All hype aside, I think that scalping is a useful skill for all traders to have for various reasons. Scalping is best used in conjunction with, as a supplement, to other styles of trading — so keep trading your primary methods and add scalping to your trading toolbox. The downside of scalping is that it is the most labor-intensive style of trading.
I always smile and shake my head once they inevitably ask this question. It is first of all incorrect and inappropriate to state what can be expected in terms of dollars earned. Dollars or whatever currency you are accustomed to is by no means a relevant measuring unit to make comparisons with. With whom would you now be more impressed with? Your answer should now be John. He score 10 times more pips than simple Simon. Pips, as you should now understand, are absolutely relative meaning that you can make comparisons but dollars are not because dollars are contingent upon how many lots you can afford to trade.
Scalping for a Living
So now here is the answer you are looking for. Ok, so how many dollars can this mean to you? Well here is where you write your own paycheck. It all depends on your account size. You get the idea. So when people initially ask you how much money one can earn trading Forex you can simply give them some dollar examples to spark their interest, then when you start teaching them you then explain that the dollars are irrelevant and that only pips really matter. Surely you would agree that the athletes have spent many hours actually years practicing and honing their athletic skills before they ran out onto the field for the big game the real game.
You really do need to practice to gain proficiency as a scalp trader. Once you are skilled at scalping you almost appear to be psychic to someone sitting next to you.
Is Scalping a Suitable Style For You?
This eBook will teach you the knowledge you need to know to be able to able to scalp trade the Forex market, but, as any athlete can tell you, you need to practice to develop proficiency. Reading this eBook will provide you with easy knowledge, but to develop the wisdom is completely up to you clue: practice practice practice. With most Forex trading techniques you can make do with a lame computer and slow Internet dial up , however with the fast paced world of Forex scalping you really do need a reliably quick computer.
As a Forex scalper you need your charts to display the most up to date price possible, and you need your brokerage software to execute a trade promptly. For a scalper lost seconds means lost pips which means lost profits. The first thing to do to ensure that your computer is running your trading tools smoothly is to NOT have other programs running on your computer while trading.
Chances are your computer itself is good enough to scalp trade with unless you are using something that is 10 years old , however you may find that it starts running slower over time. If you ever find that your computer is running like molasses, or much slower than you remember from the past then it may be time to reformat your computer. It is generally a good idea to reformat your computer every 6 months kind of like going to the dentist to keep it running smoothly.
If you think that your computer sucks then perhaps you should consider buying a new one. Your Internet connection is also important. Just the thought of surfing the web on dial-up stresses me out let alone trading with it.
These ideas are useful for you regardless of what style of Forex trading you do, however for a scalper these ideas can be of immense value due to the fact that you want to keep a more constant pulse on the market. Buy a laptop computer that is exclusively dedicated to trading. If you need to use a computer then use another one, but this laptop computer is your dedicated trading machine. The reason for having this laptop is that it is portable, so you can be lugging it.
What you want to do is to have it turned on and situated wherever you are so you can frequently glance at the charts to see what the market is doing, scanning regularly for potential scalp trading opportunities. If you are in the living room watching television then have it sitting on your coffee table, or on a pedestal next to the sofa, where you can just look at it from time to time.
If you are hanging out elsewhere like the kitchen, family room, bedroom provided that your spouse allows this distraction , backyard, or elsewhere then you can take it with you and place it somewhere you can glance at it periodically. Here are some useful accessories that you might want to consider getting.
Scalping: Small Quick Profits Can Add Up
You might want to get an optical wireless mouse. A wireless mouse is great because you can manipulate your computer without having to move the computer from the convenient place where it is resting, and if the mouse is optical not a track ball inside then you can use it on just about any surface, such as a coffee table, sofa, magazine, or anything no mouse pad required. I have found that for most purposes the wireless works great, but occasionally I lose the wireless connection.
I simply plug one of the devices you get two into the electrical outlet near my Internet router and plug in the network cable connecting it to the Internet router , and the other device I plug into the electrical outlet near where I intend to work next to my sofa in my living room.
The Ultimate Forex Scalping Strategy Guide
I then connect that device to my computer with a network cable. The advantage of using this is that you have a constant connection to the Internet, whereas using wireless is prone to loosing your connection which can be bad for your trading. A few more thoughts for you. If your laptop is plugged into your power outlet then remove the battery as the battery will get weaker over time of constant use.
Keep your battery fully charged and use it when you need to move the computer without turning it off to another location. Over hours and hours of being turned on your laptop will tend to get quite hot. When you are not paying attention to the markets then simply turn your computer off giving it a rest and a chance to cool off.
To save power and to reduce wear on your computer do the following: In the same place where you made the change to your screensaver you should see an option to change your power settings. Click on the button to get there and another window should pop up.
- Forex Scalping Strategies for Short Term Day Traders.
- 10 rules of how to earn money with scalping.
- forex map!
If you broke your computer following the above steps highly unlikely, but hey, I need to protect myself legally then too bad for you; I accept no responsibility for your actions. This computer should pay for itself. I have had numerous trading accounts with various brokers some real money and some just demo and at the time of this writing would recommend to my friends to use FXCM or RefcoFX. FXCM and RefcoFX that is pretty much similar has a very simple user interface the trading station software , so simple that even a child can be taught to use.
However other brokers, such as Forex. I have chosen against explaining the methodologies. When you become more advanced as a trader you can figure these out on your own it took me a while to wrap my brain around those concepts. Different brokers also offer different pip spreads on the various currency pairs. Some brokers have lower pip spreads than others i. FXCM is fixed good for you.
Unfortunately FXCM seems to me to be one of those. There are many brokers to choose from. Generally speaking, stick with the bigger, more popular brokers. Before dedicating your funds to any in particular it is wise to get demo accounts with several that you might use to give them a test drive. I have selected FXCM to be the broker that all the examples of this eBook use simply because it would be difficult and confusing to write this eBook trying to explain the examples with multiple broker variables. It is in my personal opinion the easiest and best choice for a novice trader to start trading with, and so that is also why I am using FXCM as the broker for all the examples of this eBook.
They are, for scalp trading techniques, one of the better, and easiest to work with brokers. If you are one of those people that insist on finding what you prefer then feel free to test out the demo versions of a bunch of brokers, but if you are willing to just take my recommendation then go with FXCM or RefcoFX to start with. It is important that you use charts using a live data feed from the same broker you trade with because there can be slight discrepancies between brokers than can negatively affect your trading.
For the purpose of scalping it is fine to use the free charts provided by your broker as the free charts should have everything you need to scalp with. Simply zoom in until you can clearly see the individual candles. You will be using other views such as hourly and five-minute candles for other purposes. After you have succeeded in a demo account next trade a small amount of real money in a mini account to continue practicing as your psychology will change as a result of trading real vs.