Hello other traders,

I’m new here and looking for some views on scalping. I have been in and around the financial markets for nearly 10 years, working in various roles with a developing interest in active trading.

What I would like to know is: Can you scalp successfully in the retail market? As individuals, can we get the hardware, execution speeds and prices to make it profitable?

I know latency will be key and a DMA trading firm is probably the best route to go down, but any other tips, pitfalls or bright ideas that scalpers can share would be most appreciated. 😊

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[Christian HarrisParticipant]

You can be a successful scalper if you operate in a market with sufficient liquidity, low trading costs, and adequate volatility.

In my opinion, scalping is the most challenging type of trading to be consistently profitable because it requires quick decision-making, a reliable trading platform, and tight risk management.

It’s also a very emotional way to trade, and humans aren’t great at operating under stress.

While scalping can be profitable, especially in markets that experience frequent price movements, you must ensure that transaction costs stay within your small profits and be able to execute trades efficiently to take advantage of short-term market fluctuations.

Scalping is a high-risk, high-reward way of trading. But with a well-crafted and successful strategy, the rewards can be substantial.

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[Major Trader 35]

I wouldn’t go there. It’s bloody difficult and not worth the effort in my opinion.

– As a retail trader you won’t get the execution speeds of institutional investors (even with a fast internet connection and a VPS)

– The costs can eat all your profits unless your account is large enough to get favorable rates (think rebates for high order volumes)

– So many brokers and their platforms are not built for scalping or they don’t let you do it (Plus500 and eToro don’t)

– It’s hard to develop and use the advanced-level algos and hardware institutional investors have, especially without a significant investment in technology that many retail investors can’t manage.

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[H Navaoro]

It’s good to get a clear view on the challenges. My feeling is that I might still have a go.

What sort of speeds and spreads do you need? Because the firm I’ve been looking at is FxPro and they have speeds of 0.012 seconds, a VPS and allow scalping. I’m less clear how good their fees are for scalpers though.

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[Major Trader 35]

As fast as possible. I’m not an expert but 0.012 seconds is pretty fast from what I’ve seen.

And the same answer with spreads, ideally you want as near to zero as possible if you’re going to scalp highly liquid markets like major currencies. Then you also need to look at commission fees. How low are they and can you get rebates for dealing in high volumes? I’d ask FxPro this before you start.

But as I said, I wouldn’t go there – it’s an extremely difficult trading system to master.

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[Sebster4024]

Scalping is possible for retail traders, but it’s challenging.

Ensure your broker offers low spreads and minimal slippage. Use a VPS (Virtual Private Server) to minimize latency and improve speeds.

I would also stick to highly liquid assets like major currencies or blue chip stocks.

Good luck.

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[James BarraModerator DayTrading.com Team]

Hi H Navaoro,

Have a read of our guide to scalping trading. It explains the benefits and risks of this trading approach, as well as detailing what you’ll need for a potentially successful scalping journey.

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