What is Scalping?

Very short-term trading that targets small moves in minutes — high frequency, high precision, and unforgiving of costs.

Scalping is the shortest-horizon trading style: positions held for seconds to minutes, targeting small moves of a few pips, taken many times per session on low timeframes like the 1-minute and 5-minute charts. Scalpers depend on deep liquidity and tight spreads, which confines serious scalping to major pairs and the busiest sessions — the London and New York opens — and makes a raw-spread account with commission almost mandatory for the style to work at all.

The style's math is brutal about costs: a scalper targeting 5 pips through a 1-pip spread surrenders 20% of every winner before slippage, so small frictions decide profitability more than analysis does. It also demands more from the trader than any other style — instant decisions, flawless execution, and dozens of emotional cycles compressed into hours, which is why fatigue and overtrading are occupational hazards. Beginners are usually better served starting on higher timeframes, where decisions can be deliberate, and earning their way down to speed.