Scalping for Beginners – Simple & Clear Guide

To earn on your stock market investments, you don't have to wait months or weeks. Thanks to scalping, you have the possibility of making money in a few minutes on your trading sessions.

In this beginner's guide, we offer you a complete review of the trading strategy. What is it about? How it works ? What is the best scalp trading broker?

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What is Scalping?

By definition, Scalping is a stock market investment strategy that involves opening and closing positions over a short period of time. It allows investors to profit from small price movements by making numerous trades with limited risk. It is a short-term trading approach based on the idea that:
it is easier to anticipate small fluctuations in the market than large movements.
Etymologically, scalping means detaching the skin from the skull with a sharp object. Once back to trading, you can find in its semantics the source of the method. We can therefore understand that scalping consists of recovering the gains on your investments once they arise.

Scalping is a fairly popular view of trading with traders. It allows between and others, to glimpse the profitability or not of its investments, over a few minutes in session. It can also be considered as a unit of time. It defines the maximum holding time for positions in a session. While advocating constant entries and exits over the hours, minutes or as soon as a profit is generated. This process makes it an intraday trading strategy.

Investors who practice scalp trading are commonly referred to as scalpers or scalp traders. They often have experience in the financial markets, which makes them better able to determine when and how to invest. However, scalp trading is not only reserved for this profile of traders, beginners can also use it.

Best Broker for Beginners June in 2026

logo.  vantage
  • Spread from 0€

  • Free Fx Signals

  • Leverage 500

  • TradingView

How To Trade In Scalp?

Getting started in scalp trading is quite simple. You just need to follow the following steps:

  • Choosing a broker: Start by choosing an online broker specializing in Forex and CFD scalping.
  • Opening a Trading Account: You need to have a live account on a brokerage platform.
  • Make a Deposit: You must deposit funds into your account to access the markets
  • Starting to Trade: Make your first trade on a reduced time unit of a few minutes or a few hours.

The Best Scalp Trading Broker: Our Top 6 2025

Although scalping is quite popular, unfortunately not all brokers support it. Certain conditions are often necessary for investors to indulge in the practice that not all brokers meet.

Here is our selection of the 6 best online brokers for the practice of scalp trading.

  • AvaTrade : High-performance platform for scalp trading
  • IG Markets: 17,000 financial instruments for scalping
  • Plus 500: Best CFD scalping broker
  • XM: Best spreads for scalping
  • XTB : Best fees and commissions for scalp trading

How to Open a Trading Account in June 2026

1. Go to the site Vantage

2. Complete the Registration Form

3. Make a First Deposit (€1000 recommended)

4. Start Trading!

Did you lose a transfer account?

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AvaTrade : High Performance Trading Platform

Regulated and secure online broker, AvaTrade has been rising for several years among the best brokers for all trader profiles. Particularly appreciated by short-term traders, you will have no problem understanding and multiplying your gains on the financial markets.

Founded in 2006, AvaTrade offers its online trading services in France and around the world.

In addition to its FCA, CySEC, NSE and ASIC regulations, the broker has just added a new one: that of the Banque de France. It is a multi-award winning broker for the quality of its regulated online trading services. It is also one of the brokers approved by the AMF (Financial Markets Authority) for its activities on French territory.

To negotiate on AvaTrade, you can use its MetraTrader platforms, software and trading applications. They are efficient, intuitive, responsive and fluid. You can use them via your smartphones or computers.

The trading software offered by the broker for scalp trading are as follows:

  • WebMetaTrader 4
  • MetaTrader4 (MT4)
  • MetaTrader5 (MT5)
  • Application AvaTrade GO
  • Ava Options app

If you do not know anything about trading and even less about scalping, the broker provides you with an important section of free training dedicated to the various trading subjects:

  • You can follow video training, which explains the outlines of intraday or short-term trading techniques and strategies.
  • The broker also provides e-books and written articles, which clearly explain how to behave on the financial markets according to the technique chosen for your financial investments.
  • You can learn at AvaTrade, how to manipulate economic indicators to your likingvantage in order to make short-term gains on your exchanges.

The online broker also offers a wide variety of derivative products that you can trade on. Its leverage effects vary depending on the instruments you have chosen.

Depending on the categories of derivative products, you can benefit from the following leverage effects:

  • Currency pairs: 400:1;
  • Actions: 10:1;
  • Raw materials: 100:1;
  • The indices: 200:1;
  • FX Options: 20:1;
  • EFTs: 20:1
  • Bonds: 20:1

AVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • Easy to use platform

  • Multiplicity of trading instruments

  • Significant leverage effects

  • Several trading platforms

  • Optimized demo account

  • Well-stocked free training component

  • Well-regulated broker

  • Low spread fees

  • Large minimum deposit

  • Significant inactivity fees

  • No negative balance protection

IG Markets: Multiplicity Of Financial Instruments

IG Markets is a broker suitable for short-term trading. It is serious, secure and offers excellent services for scalpers. The broker provides you with a complete platform that allows you to properly manage your high-frequency trades. Created in 1974, it is one of the oldest brokers that offers brokerage services to French traders. It guarantees the transparency of its activities thanks to the regulations of the FCA, BaFIN and the Banque de France.

IG Markets has to its credit, several awards for the quality of its brokerage services. By choosing this broker, you benefit from securing your investments.

On its platform, you also benefit from extended opening hours on no less than 70 US stocks and indices. With a minimum deposit of €300, you can trade on more than 17 financial instruments across different exchanges around the world.

Derivative products with the regulated broker fall into the following categories:

  • The clues
  • Currency pairs (Forex)
  • The actions
  • Raw materials
  • The obligations
  • ETFs

The broker is perfect for investments in markets with high volatility, and it is very popular with scalpers for this reason. It also allows you to optimize your money management to avoid any risk of losing all of your capital.

You benefit from relatively low spread fees compared to competing offers:

  • Forex: EUR/USD: 0.75 pips; GBP/USD: 1.23 pips; USD/JPY: 0.79 pips
  • Actions: Tesla: no spread but commission of 2 cents / share
  • Commodities: Gold: 0.3 pips
  • Indices: CAC40: 1.00 pips

To trade, IG Markets offers you solid and robust platforms. These are accompanied by excellent market analysis tools. One of the platforms available from the broker is the MetaTrader 4. It is perfect for short-term Forex trading. It also has an excellent technical signal analysis tool.

IG Markets also offers you privileged access to the ProReal Time platform, as well as its charts for analyzing the financial values ​​of investments in real time. The broker gives both holding traders and scalpers the opportunity to trade via APIs.

AVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • Reliable and secure regulated broker

  • Mobile Trading

  • Significant number of CFD financial instruments

  • Trading platform suitable for short-term trading

  • Complete training for beginners


  • Negative balance protection


  • High fees on CFD trades

  • Exorbitant minimum possible withdrawal

Plus 500: Best CFD Accounts for Scalp Trading

plus500 capital logoPlus500 is a British broker created in 2008, which offers its brokerage services all over the world. The broker is among the pioneers in contracts for difference trading. In particular, it introduced the possibility of making CFD trading with significant leverage effects, whatever your trader profile.

Moreover, in its policy of diversification, Plus 500 offers a multitude of financial instruments. These allow you to diversify your asset portfolio and trade on multiple products at once. You can buy and sell positions with the broker on no less than 2 instruments, with more than 000 share CFDs for your short, medium and long-term trades.

The different categories to which the financial products offered by the broker for short-term trading belong are as follows:

  • Indices: you can trade on indices by country and by sector
  • currency pairs
  • Raw materials
  • The actions
  • Options
  • ETFs

With the broker, whatever the financial instrument, you will not be subject to the payment of commissions on your trades. In addition, trading operations via scalping enjoy excellent leverage of up to 1:50.

Here are some spreads available at Plus 500:

  • Forex: EUR/USD: 0.6 pips; GBP/USD: 2 pips; USD/CHF: 2 pips
  • Commodities: Gold: 39 pips; Oil: 2 pips
  • Indices: DAX: 0.98 pips; CAC 40: 3.5 pips.

AVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • Trading platforms adapted to CFDs

  • Availability of the Limited Risk Account

  • Negative balance protection

  • Minimum deposit of €100

  • Islamic Account

  •  No trading applications other than the integrated platform

XTB : Innovative Platform

Created in 2002, the Polish broker offers its brokerage services in just over fifteen countries around the world. It is one of the most popular brokers for traders who want to do scalping.

It is a reliable and secure broker for your investments. It stands out from the other brokers presented so far by the fact that it has a French branch with premises in Paris.

It has many regulations: FCA, KNF, CySEC, IFCS. It is a broker controlled and validated by the AMF and it guarantees the transparency of its financial activities and the security of your investment funds.

The broker also offers you a demo account. This allows you to acclimatize yourself to the functionalities and management of a fictitious portfolio on the financial markets. Regarding financial assets, XTB offers a wide variety. You can trade around 4 products, divided into different categories:

  • Currency Pairs (Forex Fx)
  • The clues
  • Raw materials
  • The actions
  • ETFs

You can also trade Stock CFDs and Forex CFDs. For each of the financial markets, the broker allocates rather attractive trading conditions. He can thus boast of offering his clients some of the lowest fees for short-term trading in volatile markets.

For you trades, you will be entitled to XTB at :

  • Spreads reduced to the value of 0.1 pips in trading on currency pairs;
  • Leverages ranging from 1:30;

Some spreads you can have at XTB :

  • Forex: EUR/USD: 0.9 pips; USD/JPY 1.8 pips; AUD/USD: 1.9 pips;
  • Commodities: Gold: 35 pips; Oil: 4 pips;
  • Indices: DAX: 1 pip; CAC40: 1.2 pips.

As for trading platforms, the regulated broker offers several intuitive and fast platforms:

  • xStation Mobile;
  • xStation 5;
  • MetaTrader 4

AVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • Physical premises in France

  • Easy to use platforms

  • Properly configured demo account

  • Courses suitable for beginners

  • Availability of a mobile trading app

  • Limited Risk Account Availability

  • Negative balance protection

  • Low fees

  • Not enough external trading platforms

  • No ability to trade via APIs

XM: MetaTrader Platforms

In our shortlist of the best CFD and Forex (FX) brokers for beginners in scalping, XM is one of them. It offers the lowest brokerage fees. The broker also offers its clients a secure trading offer thanks to ASIC, CySEC and IFCS regulations.

It mainly stands out from the others by its small minimum deposit. You only need to deposit €5 to start trading at XM. Moreover, it is a broker validated by the AMF for its activities on French territory.

The broker offers its clients 4 types of accounts which vary according to the profiles of traders who wish to subscribe to it.

We can cite here:

  • The Micro account: designed for beginners. This account allows you to trade micro lots with leverage of 1:30.
  • The standard account: for trading standard lots with ease through the broker
  • The XM Zero: this is an optimal account for starting scalping. It offers you the possibility to trade standard lots with low margin and fees starting from 0 pips.
  • The XM Ultra Low account: the real account includes all the broker's trading offerings. You have the option to trade micro lots as well as standard lots and benefit from margins starting from 0.6 pips.

Commission fees at XM are €3,5 for every €100 traded in the financial markets. In addition, you are entitled to more than 000 financial instruments at XM.

Here are some spreads charged at XM:

  • Forex: EUR/USD: 1.7 pips; GBP/USD: 2.5 pips; USD/JPY: 1.8 pips
  • Indices: CAC40: 1.8 pips; DAX: 2 pips
  • Commodities: Gold: 35 pips; Oil: 5 pips

To trade on XM, you can use the intuitive MetaTrader trading platforms:

  • MetaTrade 4 software;
  • The Meta Trader 5 Platform;
  • WebTrader from XM.

You will be able to carry out your scalping operations forex, cfds and futures at XM with ease. They are fluid and supported by Expert Advisors (EA) trading robots.

AVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • Low spreads

  • Low minimum deposit

  • Several trading platforms

  • Multiplicity of CFDs

  • No demo account

Example of a Scalp Trading Strategy

To give you a precise overview of what scalping is, we will simulate an order placed on a chart in M1. The MetaTrader 5 platform was chosen for the example. This is about placing a buy order on the EUR/USD Forex pair and showing you how it works. Here are the steps to follow:

Setting the Chart to Scalp Trading Time Units

The preferred time units for scalping are:

  • 1 minute (M1)
  • 3 mins (M3)
  • 5 mins (M5)
  • 15 mins (M15)
  • 30 mins (M30)
  • 1 hour (H1)
  • 4 hour (H4)

You can choose the one that suits you according to your preferences and/or your trading plan. For the example, it was chosen to set the graph to 1 minute. Here's how to do it:

  • Go to the toolbar at the top of the page and select “Chart”
  • Then select “Frequency”
  • Choose “1 minute”

This process will change the display of your graph, and give you the historical evolution of the asset over the previous minutes according to the ask and bid price.

Analyzing The Market Via Indicators

Indicators are used to highlight the trend to find entry points. It is on the basis of historical curves that you will determine the scalping strategy that best suits the asset you intend to trade.

For our test, we chose the Ichimoku trend indicator. Here's how to insert it on your chart:

  • Go to the toolbar and click on insert.
  • Select “Indicator” then “Trend”
  • Choose “Ichimoku” and set the bottom Kumo cloud to “yellow” and the top to “blue.”

The above ichimoku trend indicator is for the EUR/USD EUR/USD forex pair. Now, it is a question of entering the trend once an entry gate emerges out of the kumo cloud (area covered in yellow). In other words, as soon as the asset's price curve breaks out of the historical coverage zone, you should take a bullish or bearish position.

Once your chart setting and technical analysis have been completed, you can place your scalping order. However, two automatic orders must be integrated into the previous one: the stop loss and the take profit. Aim for the minimum pip points per trade. In other words, play it safe to make your trade successful.

Avantages and Disadvantages of Trading in Scalp

Scalping, like all other trading techniques, has positive points and some negative points. To help you know if the strategy is right for you, here is a summary of its features.vantages and disadvantages.

 AVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

  • Significant leverage effects

  • Opportunity for quick wins

  • No overnight position holding fees

  • Low fees when trading

  • Entry and exit of positions over a few minutes

  • Gains and losses known in minutes

  • Low exposure to market variations

  • Trading strategy that requires a lot of availability

  • Stressful trading technique

  • Substantial capital required

  • Training in trading necessary to secure your investments

Types of Scalp Trading

There are different scalping strategies depending on the indicators you use for short term trading. The most popular are the trend indicators such as that Ichimoku, the MACD, the RSI and Heiken Ashi.

Other technical indicators can be beneficial in defining your scalping strategy.

  • Fibonacci;
  • The Renko chart;
  • The Bollinger Band;
  • The Fibonacci retracement;
  • Momentum;
  • The pivot points.

The Best Account For Trading Scalp

Scalpers generally turn to limited risk accounts. For the trading technique, these protect you from investments that can endanger your capital. They protect you from setbacks when using short-term trading tools like leverage. How ? By protecting you against the risk of a negative balance.
What you must remember is that brokers may apply certain fees when you do not make your investments profitable. This phenomenon often causes traders to become indebted to the broker. The limited risk account protects you against this.
Information about him is quite discreet on most brokerage sites. You must be vigilant if you plan to start scalping on the stock market.

The Best Market For Scalp Trading?

Forex is often considered the best market to trade via the scalping strategy. Scalpers are particularly attached to it because it is very flexible for short-term investors. Indeed, on the currency market, the volatility of assets is rather high, which increases the profitability of sales and purchases of positions in a few minutes.

example

For example, you want to open positions on a Forex currency pair in this case EUR/USD. On a 15-minute chart, you can observe entry gates in bullish or bearish positions. Even by reducing the time unit to 1 minute, an opening can be created in the following seconds.

The Best Strategy For Scalp Trading: How To Analyze The Market?

If you want to become a good scalper, there is a fairly simple solution. You need to learn some short term investing strategies. They were mostly designed by professional traders, and are based on their experiences, their personal investments and the technical indicators already available. Here are some of the most effective:

The News Tracking Strategy

News tracking is a scalp trading strategy that relies primarily on the economic calendar and financial news. These tend to create momentum moves that generate relevant entry points for scalpers.

This is a very popular strategy among novice traders because it This approach doesn't necessarily require the use of technical analysis tools. Most beginners find understanding signals quite difficult at first. With this approach, you can simply follow financial media regularly. This will make it easier to make investment decisions.

example

For example, the economic calendar offers two stop orders each day, one to buy and the other to sell. They are almost always fixed in the range of 5 à 10 pip points of the current price of the asset price. The difference between the two is generally a function of the impact caused by the news, and the volatility of the asset on which they are placed. For these same orders, you must define a stop loss of the same value, followed by a take profit of double value.

Under these conditions, you should get into the habit of taking advantage of the jolt or impulse movement generated to sell or buy. You should not rule out the possibility that the price of the asset will relapse and cause you to lose money. To improve the quality of your trades by monitoring news, we advise you to use simple indicators such as M1, M1 Extreme and M5.

The DAX Scalp Trading Strategy

Use the strategy of DAX scalping will help you to trade on volatility. It was specially designed for very short-term trading on the stock index, which is also very popular with scalpers. Like most strategies, it will allow through technical analysis tips, to determine when to invest.

To use the scalping analysis strategy for the dax, you must rely entirely on the use of a simple moving average. For it to be effective, you need to place it 3 times on your trading chart with different time settings. They must each vary by a few seconds or even a few minutes when over the defined periods. Thus, they will tell you when to take or sell positions on the index during your negotiations. More specifically, once you have set up and properly adjusted the 3 curves, they should tell you when and for how long the average calculation becomes the most effective for determining entry points.

It is recommended to use the following values ​​for the configuration of the 3 simple moving averages:

  • 7;
  • 20;
  • 200.

It is also important that you set your chart's trading time unit to 5 minutes in the extremes. This process will reduce the number of decisions you have to make in seconds, and give you an overview of more concrete signals.

However, some scalpers often choose to stall at 1 min for DAX scalping. We only recommend it to traders with a little more experience in the financial markets. For novices, a time unit of 15 minutes is already a good start.

You must take profit on your purchases and sales of lots. Try to set it at double the value of your stop loss. In establishing the strategy, there is no specific advice on this subject available so far. You will have to rely on your trading instinct to place them in the best places.

Scalp Trading From Moving Averages

Scalping moving averages are used to plot trends in markets and their derivatives. For this to work, you must have 3 averages, one of which is more or less short and two that are longer.

To better explain to you, we would like to go through an example. In this one, we want to analyze the market and forex trend, specifically of the GBP/USD currency pair. We therefore have our three moving averages, one of which is shorter and the other two closer to the variations in the price of the asset. The first is set to 7 periods and the other two are at 20. We have chosen to set the graph to 3 minutes. Now, we are waiting for the willing 1MA (moving average) at seven to cross below the 2 MA to find an entry in the direction of the trend.

This is valid for both taking and selling positions. The strategy doesn't specifically recommend a unit of time for the plot layout, so you'll choose the one that works best for you.

The Scalp Trading Strategy via Ichimoku

La scalping strategy signals Ichimoku is used for the A graphical visualization of market equilibrium using an image. Considered by many scalpers as the best short-term strategy for Forex and CFDs, it is based on the Ichimoku Kinko Hyo trend indicator. Thanks to this indicator, you can not only anticipate the trend of a market like Forex, but also its reversals. In other words, it allows you, firstly, to identify the best assets to invest in, and secondly, to anticipate potential price changes.

In this scalp trading strategy, it is not the moving averages that will help you determine strong and weak signals. Medians are the analysis tool used here, and they are recommended to highlight entry points depending on the situation.

Here, the principle is quite simple, everything will depend on your interpretation of the signals from the Ichimoku indicator. This process is functional even in the context of strong fluctuations, giving you an accurate history of the price according to your parameters. She also recommends taking positions when derivatives prices are outside the kumo cloud. In other words, if you decide to follow this strategy, you must buy or sell the lots on which you want to trade the financial instrument breaks out of the coverage area of ​​the chart.

example

For example, you are trading Forex through the GBP/JPY currency pair and you have set the chart to a fifteen minute time frame. The curves of the medians form what has been called higher the cloud of kumo. As you are in the forex market, the Ichimoku indicator will tell you if the market is in a balanced trend. It is recommended to enter when an entry door on a bullish or bearish position presents itself outside the zone of the medians.

As you may have noticed, the scalping strategy or technique with Ichimoku is more about interpretation. Each opening or closing of positions and the number of lots to buy is up to you. The indicator just helps you improve your decision-making when investing. Its use is adapted to trading platforms MetaT, MT4, MT5 and WebMetaTrader. Platforms that you can find at online broker like Vantage.

Commonly used time settings are:

  • 15 minutes for fund trends and medium-term positions;
  • 5 minutes to stall on a short-term trend;
  • 1 minute to buy a position on an asset after an opening appears.

Scalp Trading via the RSI

Using RSI for scalping is now possible. The RSI indicator recommends opening positions in the trend. How ? Using 3 moving averages. They will serve as a benchmark for you to know if the market is rising or falling. Here, you will have to buy first when the trend is down. Therefore, when the RSI indicator inserted on your graph drops below 30, it is likely to go up and continue its course at the top of the line.. From this moment, an opening in the trend was created. You can buy lots on which you want to invest.

In the image below, we have set our RSI to find us an entry door on the EUR/USD.

Who Can Do Scalp Trading?

Normally, anyone can trade using the scalp trading method. Investors with experience as well as novices can try it and make money. All you need is investment funds with a scalping broker, a real account and you can start speculating.

What Costs in Scalp Trading?

Spreads and conversion fees are the main fees charged to scalpers. The best trick for determining scalping commission fees is to calculate them yourself. If you trade currency pairs, CFDs or stocks, spreads can be variable or fixed depending on your broker. The calculation is simple, you need to subtract the ask price from the bid price in the market. Which give : Ask Price – Bid Price.

example

Let's say you trade forex using the scalp strategy. You choose the EUR/USD currency pair and you want to know the spreads that will be imposed. If your broker admits variable fees, you will take the Ask price which is 1.9083 and 1.9080 which is the Bid price and put your operation in the following way:

1.9083 - 1.9080 = 0.3. 0.3 is the spread fee that will be applied to your transaction on the EUR/US currency pairD.

How Much Capital To Do Scalp Trading?

The recommended capital for engaging in short-term scalping speculation is generally €10,000. This amount may seem quite high for small and medium-sized portfolios, but the trading strategy requires a large number of order placements at very short intervals.

The most volatile positions and lots (perfect for scalp trading) are often substantial investments to make. As a result, the sums you invest in an operation must allow you to chain trades during your sessions. Otherwise, you will not be able to make your money profitable by using the trading technique. Starting scalp trading therefore requires real financial preparation.

example

Suppose you want to buy positions in the GPBUSD forex pair, the minimum you can buy is 0.01 position, or one macro lot. Its price is €1,000. Throughout the session, you must keep going 10 to 30 trades like this one to make your investments profitable.

However, some online brokers allow traders with limited funds to start with smaller amounts. On these platforms, you will be able to start scalping with sums ranging from 1 000 € à €5,000. The positions you can open will certainly be quite limited with a high risk to your capital, but you will have the opportunity to try your hand at scalping.

When to Enter Position and How Long to Keep Them?

Scalping is considered as a unit of time that limits the maximum duration of holding positions to a few hours, minutes or seconds. It all now depends on your own scalp trading strategy. This determines when you can enter positions, and how long you will keep them. Other factors also come into play, including:

  • The technical indicators used;
  • The orientation of your position (bullish or bearish).

As part of a bullish position, scalpers are used to entering the position when the asset curves have reached the supports. The supports here are the lowest altitudes that the courses can occupy during its progression in a unit of time. In this case, it is a question of making the rebound play in its favor, hoping that the curve does not undergo a reversal. The process is the same in the context of a bearish position, on the other hand it is necessary to focus here on the resistances. Those if are the highest positions that a curve can occupy over a unit of time.
The thing to remember here is that when you have detected an entry door in the trend, you must arrange to exit once your Take profit is reached. The same applies to your Stop loss orders must be defined during the order placement process and only at that time; otherwise, they will not be processed by your broker.
You can also proceed via the provision of automatic orders or the use of trading robot. Scalpers usually set these side orders with the intention of aiming for a few pips or limiting losses. There is an average of 3 to 5 pips on the exchanges. However, you can increase or decrease your target based on your analysis.

Comparison Between Scalp, Swing and Intraday Trading

Apart from scalping, there are other popular trading techniques in finance. We can cite here:

  • Day Trading
  • Swing Trading
  • Hedging
  • Holding

These different approaches to financial investments all have specificities specific to their operating principles. Here are some of their main ones:

Scalping

Day Trading

Swing Trading

Holding

Hedging

Periodicity

1 minute to 10 o'clock

Maximum one session (opening session)

A few days to a few weeks

months and years

No periodicity required. Models on other methods

Best Financial Instruments

  • Forex

  • CFD

  • Indexes

  • Forex

  • CFD

  • Indices and EFTs

  • Stocks

  •  Indexes

  • Stocks

  • Indexes

  • Stocks

  • Indexes

  • Forex

  • CFD

  •  ETF

  • Commodities

Trading Axis

Trade volatility (Consider that the active price undergoes a lot of variations in a session)

Trading Volatility

Trading historicity (Envisage that the asset price cycle will repeat itself)

Trade big moves (Buy stocks with the aim of generating big profits over the long term)

Security trader (Not being able to define the direction of asset variations, and choosing to invest in the up and down direction)

Find on this page the best stock broker 2025 .

What Position Sizes in Scalp Trading?

We recommend investing in positions of On average, you'll trade 5 macro lots when scalping. However, position sizes can vary depending on your funds and what you wish to invest. If you've followed our advice on the capital required for this trading strategy, you have nothing to worry about. With €10,000, you can enter and speculate on the trend of most assets in volatile markets.

What you need to remember is that it is best to start trading with lots of 5.

Choosing A Scalp Trading Broker: The Essentials

Before you get into actual trading, you need to choose a scalping broker. This implies that the broker on which you intend to trade must allow the use of this type of trading. It will be the gateway between you and the stock market. But what are the parameters to take into account for your choice? Here are some questions to ask yourself before choosing a broker:

Which Financial Instruments For Scalp Trading?

Scalping requires financial instruments with high liquidity. This is the case for Forex derivatives and CFDs, for example. Major currency pairs such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD or even GPB/JPY are assets that must be available to you. It is customary for scalpers to be interested in this parameter, because trading is done in the short term. Therefore, the broker on which you are going to practice scalp trading must guarantee accessibility to these markets.

Besides, there are a multitude of other financial instruments on which you can trade. This is the case for example of shares, indices and EFT. They are not the most volatile assets, but they are not to be neglected either. The broker you plan to invest with must allow you to trade their derivatives.

What Are The Fees and Commissions?

Ideally, you need the broker with the lowest fees and commissions. Scalping forces you to place more orders than in other forms of trading. Therefore, if the fees and commissions are substantial, it is possible that this will have an impact on your income. The operations themselves via this type of trading are hardly profitable. What increases your performance in the stock market is the repetition of winning trades. Fees and commissions vary according to their types, with most brokers you can have:

  • Spreads: are the fees charged during trading.
  • Commissions: These are the fees charged when converting currencies. If you wish to trade with an Australian broker, for example, fees will be applied to the exchange rate from Euros to the currency of the brokerage platform.
  • Inactivity fees: are charged to trader accounts that remain inactive for a certain period of time.
  • Account management fees: are charged by the broker for maintaining your client access to the financial markets;

In other words, if we isolate each operation carried out in scalp trading, they are not profitable enough to support high fees and commissions. A broker that offers reduced fees and commissions for traders with large trading volumes is a good option.

What Leverage Effects?

Leverages can range from 1:20 at 1:500 depending on the broker. These are margins that allow you to buy or sell more lots in a few trades. According to ESMA and AMF regulations, these margins must not exceed the ratios 1:20 at 1:30. In this case, you must first choose a broker that allows you to use them, and then one that provides you with sufficient information on how to use them. You need to know whether you will be indebted to the broker or not if your trades are unprofitable.

What Regulations?

ESMA and AMF approvals are crucial when choosing a scalping broker for trading in France. These bodies ensure, respectively, that brokers' activities in the Eurozone and in France comply with applicable regulations. Be sure to consult the AMF's blacklist before selecting a particular trading platform.

Tips for Doing Scalp Trading Successfully

Many traders mistakenly believe that the method of investing is not without risk. Scalping is a unit of speculative time that requires certain skills that most of them do not have. So you want to make yourself a better scalper? Here are some practical tips that will help you achieve this goal:

  • Practice scalping only in volatile markets: The time frame for financial investments is more favorable once this condition is met. Ensure that the assets you intend to invest in consistently fluctuate in value. The more regularly their prices change, the greater your chances of creating entry points.
  • Choosing a forex and CFD scalping broker: Not all online brokerage platforms will allow you to practice this trading strategy. You must carefully choose the broker that will give you access to the most volatile markets for your short-term investments. You can refer to our shortlist of regulated and reliable brokers at the top of the page to help you make your choice.
  • Place stop-loss orders on every trade: A stop-loss order accompanies your buy or sell order by limiting your losses. They are automatic and can be configured according to your preferences. In scalping, you are very likely to risk a large portion of your capital with each trade. To reduce this risk, stop-loss orders are the best option offered by trading platforms.
  • Define a clear trading plan: Avoid improvisation in scalping. To best manage your risk, you need a precise money management strategy. You must be able to properly balance the risk you take against the potential returns. How do you do this? You must define reasonable profit and loss targets.
  • Beware of leverage: Leverage is the margin offered by brokers to help you invest in assets that your capital wouldn't normally allow. It's a form of loan that gives you the ability to acquire more lots when you trade. Why is it dangerous? If you fail to make a profit on a trade under this margin, the broker will take a portion of your capital to cover the shortfall. Therefore, you must use it with extreme caution and, above all, avoid overusing it.
  • Follow a effective scalping method : Many traders who have succeeded in the stock market thanks to the trading method have chosen to trust the market analysis strategies already present. It is therefore up to you to choose the one that suits you best and apply it to your investments. You can take a look at the approaches we mentioned above, they may be useful to you.
  • Learn to control your emotions: One of the most important factors in trading is mindset. Having a relatively calm demeanor is an asset that allows you to effectively deal with unforeseen events. Unfortunately, this isn't something all traders possess. In this case, you need to work on yourself so that your emotions don't take over. Your money depends on it.

Profitability and Risks in Scalp Trading

It is difficult to be able to put figures on the number of scalpers who succeed on the stock market. The percentage of trades you can successfully scalp depends largely on the amounts you invest. In other words, you can earn more money by taking avantages of risks on your capital.

However, scalping is a fairly complex trading strategy to master, and beginners find it difficult at first. It is only after several months of training and practice that they manage to chain winning trades. Moreover, we can say that the success rate is closely linked to the preparation upstream.

The better the training you have followed on forex scalping and CFDs, the more likely you are to succeed on the stock market thanks to the trading strategy. If the numbers are not therevantage beginners, (only 20 to 30% make considerable gains on their trades) it should however be mentioned that the The success rate doesn't take into account all aspects of your investments. The amount invested isn't the same for every purchase. It varies primarily depending on the asset's liquidity.
That said, you should understand that the number of successful trades does not necessarily indicate the level of profitability of your operations. To do this, you will need to make a comparison between your starting balance and your balance at the end of the session. This is a better indicator for determine if scalping is right for you.

Scalp Trading Training

Are you new to trading and want to learn how to trade using scalping? Here are some tips for getting quality training:

  • The demo account: This is an excellent training tool for beginners. You can use it to gain experience without risking your capital. It offers fairly comprehensive trading simulations that can help you develop your strategy. It is also intended for more experienced traders who want to hone their skills and develop new market analyses.
  • Training courses offered by brokers: These are a valuable way to supplement your learning. Most online brokers have training sections on their official websites. They help traders learn trading techniques and tips to improve their performance.
  • Trading in real conditions: Every trader will tell you that the best way to improve your trading performance is to trade on a live account. This method gives you the opportunity to see how to manage your money in a real short-term trading situation. This will help you truly understand how to develop a winning trading strategy. You'll find scalping fun.

Scalp Trading Terms and Expressions You Should Know

Before you start the sca

A

  • Ash Price or Ask Price: The purchase price of an asset on the market.

C

  • Economic calendar: Summary of events that influence financial markets.
  • CFD: Contract on the difference in the value of an asset;
  • Quotation: Indicative market price of an asset (bid price and ask price);

D

  • Base currency: primary currency in a currency pair;
  • Counter currency: secondary currency in a currency pair;

E

  • Leverage: Investment margin granted by a broker for the purchase or sale of a significant number of lots;

H

  • Holding: Holding open positions over the very long term. This generally refers to an indefinite period.

L

  • Lot: This is the size of a standard position in the Forex market, corresponding to 100,000 units of the base currency. A lot can vary in size and is often preceded by a prefix. Here, you will find a mini lot which is equivalent to 10,000 units and one micro lot equivalent to 1,000 units;

M

  • Margin: Part of the stock market investment capital to be set aside for opening positions larger than the basic capital;

O

  • Overnight: Transition from one session to another. This usually takes place during the night.

P

  • Currency pair: Association of currencies regularly traded in commercial negotiations. For example, EUR-GBP;

S

  • Spread: Calculation of the difference between the Ask price (market purchase price) and the Bid price (market selling price) of an asset;
  • Slippage: This is the difference between the expected price of an asset and the actual result obtained. This is often negative or positive.

T

  • Exchange rate: The value of one currency in relation to another;

Conclusion

Having reached the end of our article, we realize that scalping is a fairly easy trading strategy. What you need to remember is that you only need to tarnish your positions for a few minutes or a few hours to do scalp trading. You then need to close them once your stop loss or take profit has been reached.

For the development of your strategy, you must refer to the technical indicators. They will allow you to know when the price trend of an asset is favorable to you. By choosing to trade in scalp, you must also be aware of the risks that the technique involves. Within seconds you can lose most of the funds on your capital. To minimize the risk, you must define a fairly clear trading plan which is accompanied by effective money management. Choose a broker forex scalping and CFDs preferably if you want to take advantage of volatile markets and learn the scalping definition.

❓ Is There A Difference Between Scalping Vs Day Trading Vs Swing Trading?

The fundamental difference between the 3 trading techniques is the time scale. If scalp trading focuses on small very short-term operations, day trading allows him to keep his positions over an entire session. As for swing trading, it can extend over days or even weeks.

???? Are There Stock Indices On Which You Cannot Trade In Scalp?

Nope ! To date, it is possible for you to scalp on all stock exchanges. If your broker gives you the option, you can buy and sell your positions on the CAC 40, NASDAQ 100, DAX and SP 500.

???? What to Focus on When Scalping Financial Instruments?

With the right method, you can achievevantage scalping on all financial instruments, with low spreads. Even if gold and oil, for example, are less recommended because of their large spreads, it is possible to make their purchase profitable. We still recommend eurusd (eur/usd) in m1 over 1 min or in 5 min with the macd.

???????? What is the Best Broker for Scalping in France?

You have the choice between several good brokers for scalp trading in France. However, choose a broker authorized by the AMF to secure your investments. All brokers featured in this guide provide the best Forex trading conditions. In addition to AvaTrade et XTB, we can add some scalping brokers like: Boursorama, FX Trade, FXCM, FXPro and Activtrades.

????️ What Are the Best Financial Instruments for Scalp Trading?

In principle, all financial instruments are profitable in scalp trading. However, scalpers tend to gravitate towards the most volatile markets. In view of some statistical data and comments on trading forums, the most traded derivatives in scalping are the currency pairs Euro dollar, GBP JPY, GBPUSD.

???? What is the Best Technical Indicator for Scalp Trading?

It all depends on your trading plan. We advise you to choose an indicator that you understand how it works. To properly define your scalping method, you can choose from these powerful indicators: the MACD, the Bollinger band, the Heiken Ashi indicator, the Parabolic SAR. You can also trade forex in m5 with alligator or with ichimoku in m1.

???? What is the Best Trading Software for Scalping?

We recommend the MetaTrader MT4 and MT5 platforms. However, you can use the ProRealTime software and its real-time market analysis charts.

???? What is the Best Strategy for Scalping?

When you have understood the def of scalping, it is easy to choose your strategy in the short term.

Are you unable to identify or understand certain concepts in scalp trading? Do not hesitate to leave us a comment ! ????

Rachel Mokam
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