What is Scalping Trading?

In India, where over 8.3 billion people have registered for a Demat account with depositories CDSL and NSDL, investing in the stock market is very common. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, when many individuals lost their employment and had very few other choices for money generation, stock market investment has grown even more popular in the nation.

Investors and traders are the two main categories of people that invest in the stock market. Investors add securities to their portfolios with a long-term perspective, whereas traders try to earn rapid gains with short-term holdings.

Both investors and traders have strategies for maximizing their wealth in the stock market. Scalping trading is one such method.

It is intended for traders, as the name would suggest. But what is trading on a scale? How does it function? Is the scalping trading approach sufficient? Let’s investigate!

Scalping Trading Meaning

Scalping trading is a type of trading method that tries to take advantage of minute price changes in securities. The scalping method is used by traders to place a large number of trades in the market each day, anywhere from 10 to 100 trades or even more. Scalpers are traders who employ the scalping trading strategy.

Scalping Trading is designed for traders who are seeking quick profits that they can achieve in a matter of seconds or hours in a single day. In order to determine the proper entry and exit points as well as the necessary stop loss level, scalpers typically perform a technical analysis on the stocks they are trading.

Moving averages, support price levels, and resistance levels are a few of the common momentum indicators that scalpers follow.

Scalping trading requires a trader to be very focused and disciplined. Scalpers must make decisions quickly in order to accomplish their trading objectives, even in short time periods.

How Does Scalping Trading Work?

The well-known adage by Julia Carney, “Little drops build the mighty ocean,” can be used to explain scalping trading. Trading large positions in one or more assets intraday in an effort to profit from even a small price movement is known as scalping.

The large number of securities offsets the weak price movement and allows the trader to book a big profit.

The main objective of scalping is to swiftly buy or sell a set number of shares at a bid price, monitor the market, and execute the transaction as soon as the price begins to move in your favor.

Let’s use an illustration to better grasp this.

Let’s say Rakesh purchases 5 lots of 500 shares each of the XYZ securities for Rs. 100. Now, Rakesh will sell off his position and book a profit of Rs. 1250 [=(100.50-100)5005] within 1-2 minutes if the price of the XYZ security reaches a price level of Rs. 100.50 a share.

It’s vital to keep in mind that scalping trading isn’t just for stocks; it’s also possible to trade in commodities, currency, and other market-linked instruments.

3 Key Principles of Scalping Strategy

The following three guidelines are typically used by scalpers while using their best scalping strategy:

1. Reacting quickly to trades

Scalping traders usually strive to execute trades rapidly. Due to their minimal exposure to market volatility, this not only enables them to turn a profit quickly but also lowers their market risk. To avoid missing any good trading opportunities, scalpers must be extremely vigilant and observant.

2. Minor price changes

When using a scaling trading strategy, traders monitor even minute price changes, which can be as small as 0.01 rupees.

This is due to two factors. First off, because such modest price changes are constant, they are relatively easier to find. Huge price changes are an uncommon occurrence and only occur when there is either significant news or a geopolitical upheaval. Second, even if they miss out on one or two of these price fluctuations, they can still readily find another one in a very short period of time.

3. Game of quantity

Scalpers prefer to purchase larger and larger lots of a security so that the high volume can offset any minor price changes.

There are only two ways to profit in the stock market: either through large price swings on modest holdings or through enormous transaction volumes that enable you to capitalize on every price change.

What is Difference Between Scalping and Swing Trading?

• Two of the more common short-term investing tactics used by traders are scalping and swing trading
• Scalping entails making hundreds of transactions per day with positions held for only a few seconds at a time, sometimes less. As a result, gains are tiny but risk is also decreased.
• Scalping frequently necessitates a high level of analytical skills, but traders do not need to be patient.
• The time range for swing trading is intermediate-term, frequently a few days to a few weeks, and it uses technical analysis and charts to track and benefit from stock market patterns.
• Swing trading typically requires less time to monitor financial charts than scalping, so swing traders may not need as much experience as scalpers.

Is Scalping Trading For You?

The answer to this question is dependent on a number of variables, including your risk tolerance, investment style, investment preferences, trading speed, and capacity for making quick decisions, among others.

Scalping trading may be a beneficial approach for you if you feel you have adequate market experience and can react rapidly to price changes. This method can help you increase your wealth quickly.

However, scalping trading might not be the best option for you if you are a newcomer to the market or need time to research and trade.

Conclusion

Scalping is a successful trading technique for those looking to make quick money. It calls for a solid grasp of the market, quick trading, and a willingness to take risks.

Scalping trading and intraday trading are two very different trading tactics that should not be confused. Scalping trading necessitates having enough money on hand to benefit from even the smallest price changes.