Is scalping a viable forex trading strategy?

[wolfy1988]

Hi

I am not sure if this is in the right section.

I signed up to a Trading Platform called MarketSpreads.ie a little while ago on a Demo account.

In total I have made 27k profit from 10k over the space of a month, about 12hrs in total.

But am I missing something? they have assured me that the demo account runs at the same pace etc than the market.

I want to stick 1k in and see how I get on but want your feedback and advise with who to use and what your opinion/experience is?

Basically I want to know, Is scalping a viable forex trading strategy?

Thanks guys, look forward to your response.

J

[ste_uk]

The problem between live Vs Demo with scalping is slippage. You will not get any slip on a demo feed but you can on live so can reduce/negate profits. I am not sure about MarketSpreads.ie, never come across them before. Also make sure that the demo feed will be the same as the frred your getting, not from a Pro feed etc.

[Lawrence5]

Tradefair do a demo account... Try that and see if you get the same ? Where did you get the strategy or you following the general theory yourself ?

[wolfy1988]

Lawrence5 said:

Tradefair do a demo account... Try that and see if you get the same ? Where did you get the strategy or you following the general theory yourself ?

I don't know of any strategy's, I just do what I do, I watch for 10-15minutes then jump in and it seems to be working for me.

I 'll send over my transaction history if you want to take a look? See, if I'm doing it right etc

J

[Lawrence5]

I was just interested in your strategy. Been messing around with spread betting but concluded it's gambling not skill and analysis.

Was reading the naked trader and there's some great stories about guys making £500k in a month then losing it all and £50k more !

Big question is can you afford to lose £1k and will you know when to stop ?

[wolfy1988]

I have read The Naked Trader myself, tis a good read.

Can anybody really afford to lose 1k but I am willing to for the sake of putting my mind at rest.

[Lawrence5]

Good luck - update us on your progress

[R11ysf]

Wolfy,
Firstly give it a go and Good Luck!

As has been written above there are a few things in Demo accounts that don't necessarily carry over to live trading. Firstly slippage, though this isn't too much of a problem nowadays as simulator algorithms can be very good. The biggest problem is psychology, it's easy to sit back relaxing showing down a grand when it is fake money. Out of interest why did you start trading with £10k?? When you were £3000 offside on one trade how did you feel? Compare that to when you are down £300 of real money.

Forex scalping is one of the hardest markets to scalp bar none. The biggest problem is risk control due to the exceptional speed at which the market moves. The "jump risk" from comments and number is incredible. Have a look at the GBP/USD over the rate announcement last week - it moved 100 ticks down, 200 up and 100 back down to be unchanged in less than a minute! That would have hit loads of people's stops instantly and puked the very high/low for a lot.

It is very hard but having said that some people are naturals so it is definitely worth giving a go as you never want to die wondering.

[gerradiuk]

Forex very fast moving ,maybe trial it some AIM stocks ...see how you go there. Just do not bother to look up the stats on profit taking , good luck ...I think you will need it!

[DonkeyApple]

Just remember two things:

The demo set up is never ever identical to the live. It is a marketing tool to obtain clients.

A small bookmaker will never permit a medium/long term winning account.