Scalping is one of the most popular trading strategies employed by forex traders. This approach is based on making a large number of trades in a small-time frame, holding each trade for only a few minutes or less. The scalper aims for small but frequent profits that add up to substantial gains over time.

Advantages of forex scalping strategy

The main advantage of scalping is that it allows the traders to make money on virtually all kinds of trading instruments, including currency pairs without any trends or even flat markets. You do this by opening and closing positions very quickly, holding them open for only a few minutes at times, even seconds in case of some scalping strategies. This is achieved by placing many trades instead of large position sizes.

Scalpers take advantage of the fact that the market exhibits short-term trends and fluctuations that can be exploited to generate profit. Another advantage of scalping is that it allows you to enjoy the impact of large moves without having to use larger positions. This means, for example, if a particular currency pair suddenly experiences a strong move in a given direction due to unexpected fundamental news, scalpers will benefit from this by opening and closing their positions during these periods. That way the impact of large moves is "compressed" into a short period of time and can be exploited to gain more profit than would be possible through holding the position overnight.

Disadvantages of forex scalping strategy

One should understand that any trading system has its ups and downs

. In the case of scalping, there are two main disadvantages: high transaction costs and a fast-changing market environment. Because the scalper is in the market for such short periods, he or she usually incurs a lot of commissions. As a result, this approach might not be suitable for traders who only have small accounts to trade with.

Since the market is constantly changing, you have to constantly monitor it for opportunities. If you are not able to do this accurately and timely then you will lose money due to missed trading opportunities or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Thus, scalping requires a great deal of self-discipline and mental strength. If you are a scalper, you should avoid taking vacations as your attention will be divided. This is one of the main disadvantages of scalping as it can make traders under tremendous pressure.