Hi TraderAlan; Re scalping. I believe that at least 90% of those who try to learn to scalp will fail, even with the best training, so your statement Unfortunately, scalping is the LAST technique that should be taught to a new trader. is probably correct.
Nevertheless, scalping is the the most elegant technique of trading, in my opinion, and it does have some advantages.
Scalping provides the largest number of trades per day, and therefore provides the best statistical indications of profit or loss. It also (if done profitably) probably provides the highest return for a small account size. In some ways, scalping is also the fastest way to learn trading, in that the feedback is quick and immediate. And lastly, I believe that the chart reading that scalping requires improves longer term trading as well.
But most people will never be able to scalp profitably, simply because they are too slow, in addition to all the other self-modifications that trading requires. Scalping is a trading technique for the video game generation, where profits depend on fractions of a second, and, perhaps, the attitude that each new quarter in the slot is a whole new game isn't a bad one to take for a trader.
-- Carl |
