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Scalping chart timeframes and the amount of time that each trade is active are the shortest of all of the trading styles. For example, a day trader might use a five-minute chart or make four or five trades per trading day, with each trade being active for 30 minutes.

A scalper is under no logical obligation to exit a trade if there is enough reason to believe that holding it a while longer may be profitable. Although in general scalpers should liquidate their positions rapidly in order to maintain consistency, there is no rule which forbids the combining of several trading styles by the same trader.

It is common that during the most volatile periods of trading, positions held longer than what is common with scalping can be more beneficial and prudent. If that is the case, there is no reason to avoid doing so just because the trader considers himself a pure scalper.

Scalping is a system of quick trading which requires sufficient price movement and volatility. The highest levels of volume and liquidity occur in the London and New York trading sessions, which make these sessions particularly interesting for most scalpers.

Best Times for Scalping

7:00-8:00 am, Eastern Time (EST)

This is the time period when European markets often experience choppy conditions as traders prepare for the opening of the New York market at 8 am. Since there are option expiries and news releases in this time period, and statistical releases of the European session (which are released around 4 am) have already been absorbed, most traders choose to sit back and reconsider their strategies before North American players enter the forex game. The London and Frankfurt markets are both open at this time, but liquidity lessens as trading desks reduce gear.

This period is a more volatile version of the last two hours before the North American market close around 7 am. Let’s also note that sometimes the pre-news release volatility in the market can assume a directional character as prices rise or fall significantly but slowly over the one and a half hours preceding the 8:30