Scalping is the high-frequency end of the spectrum. Positions open and close in minutes. Targets are small: 5 to 15 pips per positionPositionA single entry held on the broker account, with a direction, a size, and a current floating result.Click the word to learn more is typical, sometimes less. A scalping strategy might fire dozens of positions a day on a single instrument. The thesis is that small, well-timed entries, repeated often enough, compound into a serious result.
The catch is that scalping is brutally sensitive to friction. SpreadSpreadThe gap between the bid and ask price of an instrument, paid implicitly on every entry.Click the word to learn more, slippageSlippageThe gap between the price you asked for on an order and the price the broker actually filled it at.Click the word to learn more, commission, broker latency, every cost line eats a much bigger slice of the per-position target than it does for slower styles. A 1 pipPipThe smallest standard price increment on a currency pair, usually the fourth decimal.Click the word to learn more spread on a 10 pip position is 10 percent of the target. The same spread on a 100 pip position is 1 percent. The math is unforgiving in the wrong direction.
This is why scalping really wants tight executionExecutionHow the broker turns an order into a real fill: speed, routing, and the price you actually get.Click the word to learn more. ECN or premium STP brokers with raw spreads. The most liquid hours of the day (London open, the London-New York overlap). Anything else and the strategy starts paying away its edge in costs.
It is also a style where algorithmic execution beats humans cleanly. Hundreds of decisions per session, all under time pressure, all requiring discipline. Javlot strategies that scalp ship with explicit broker requirements and session windows, baked in.