Scalping is a trading style that specializes in profiting off small price changes, generally after a trade is executed and becomes profitable. With low barriers to entry in the trading world, the number of people trying their hands at day trading and other strategies such as scalping has increased. Newcomers to scalping need to make sure the trading style suits their personality because it requires a disciplined approach. Traders need to make quick decisions, spot opportunities and constantly monitor the screen. Those who are impatient and feel gratified by picking small successful trades are perfect for scalping.

The popularity of scalping is born of its perceived safety as a trading strategy. Many traders argue that since scalpers maintain their positions for a brief time period in comparison to regular traders, market exposure of a scalper is much shorter than that of a trend follower, or even a day trader, and consequently, the risk of large losses resulting from strong market moves is smaller. Indeed, it is possible to claim that the typical scalper cares only about the bid-ask spread, while concepts like a trend or range are not very significant to him. Although scalpers need to ignore these market phenomena, they are under no obligation to trade them, because they concern themselves only with the brief periods of volatility created by them.

Scalping is a trading strategy in which the trader makes dozens or even hundreds of trades daily, looking to capture a few pips per trade. Generally, scalpers stay in trades for less than a minute, bolting as soon as their position captures a few pips. Basically, scalping is profiting from small moves in the market. A scalper trader will only stay in the market for seconds to minutes at a time. Forex scalping is the art of using high leverage and a large number of short term trades to make a steady profit. Usually, only 1 to 10 pips are targeted for each trade. Trading is done on the major currency pairs. The majority of intraday scalpers tend to be futures players, meaning they profit from small moves in the market.

Scalping is not for everyone, as it requires access to real-time feeds, direct access to a broker (for instant execution of orders), and the stamina to be able to make a huge amount of trades per day. Scalpers make use of one-minute and five-minute charts to make sure they are updated as close to real-time as possible. They often trade in the most liquid pairs during the busiest times of the day to take advantage of the short term price fluctuations. Despite the very little amount of possible gains, scalping has proved to reduce the risk of losing a lot due to the limited time exposure involved.

Forex scalping is not a suitable strategy for every type of trader. The returns generated in each position opened by the scalper is usually small, but great profits are made as gains from each closed small position are combined. Scalpers do not like to take large risks, which means that they are willing to forgo great profit opportunities in return for the safety of small, but frequent gains. Consequently, the scalper needs to be a patient, diligent individual who is willing to wait as the fruits of his labors translate to great profits over time