Scalping vs One or Two trades a week

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SLT

Official GDayFX.com Rep
Someone i know in this forum asked me a question, the question was based on risk to reward basically. My answer was rather long, so i thought i would share my answer here below.
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I like the idea of Art mixed with Science, this is our world we live in.
The markets are our world and they move in both an art and a mathematical way, i tend to think.

ICT has developed systems, that all of us can see together, at the same time, and then see them unfold in front of our very own eyes. We cannot fault what he has put before us.

I can scalp the markets, day in and day out, but the problem with it is, i need to sit in front of the charts more often, but the big advantage is, learning. It makes us see how price behaves more often. I will try to explain now, how i see it and how i trade. remember i am not long trading, only two years.

Ultimately i think only following 1 or 2 pairs, to "trade" only is the best thing to do.
I follow other pairs, only to watch there movements, and learn from them and how they move in conjunction with the majors. I prefer to work, watch the markets coming out of Asia time into London, this is where opportunities unfold, in my experience.
So i set myself, set up time and trade time. like ICT says, if everything lines up into time of day, then its game on.

The advantage of only following 1 or 2 pairs is, we dont spread ourselves to thin, so we get to know those selected pairs very well. As far as stop size goes, 10 to 30 pips, to me, it really depends what my target is to start with, and that determines my risk all round.

Having the one shot one kill per week in mind, is a fantastic thing i believe. but if we need to fast track our learning curve, we need to scalp intra day, leaving little risk to our accounts. I find that 1 opportunity per day will arise in every pair. So following just 1 or 2 pairs will present 1 trade opportunity each day only, and if i miss that trade, tuff luck, it is time to wait until the next day. So either looking for 10-15 pips a day or 50 pips a week from 1 trade, is kind of the same, but having those 5 days of opportunity, in itself, leaves us room for error. that's the way i look at it.
Or as an option, use the one shot one kill per week on two pairs only, which leaves less time required in the charts. So saying that, i think as learners, we need to scalp to learn. then once we are confident within our selves, its time to take the one shot one kill approach per week. This i why i have started the Myfxbook demo account, using that concept. I need to force myself to take this approach, to measure day trading/scalping against not trading every day.
 
I think you are completely right on this. You can live with 2 pairs easy and if you look each week there is 3-5 really good opportunities between them with big banks doing there business on those moves you can make a career on just 1 big move a week. The hardest thing for me to learn is patience...
 
Don't mean to raise the dead with this old thread, but it's a smaller forum so more likely to happen.. but I find myself having better "luck" with scalping lately. It's great practice. Made approx. 100 pips in the last few days. That being said I'd much rather be able to snipe 1 shot 1 kill as scalping is energy/time intensive.
 
Decoherence said:
Aaaand I'm done scalping. Probably something I had to go through, but yeah, time to bag the big moves.

Scalping demands the strongest of mental fortitude.. while trading in general might not be "easier" trading other styles than scalping, trading higher time frames with lower leverage can be a lot less stressful.
 
Decoherence said:
Aaaand I'm done scalping. Probably something I had to go through, but yeah, time to bag the big moves.

Were your entries 100% sound and according to your own rules?
 
I had no rules, it was pong trading within a range. Was actually making small pips but its too much staring at the chart, and ultimately bound to fail without a plan. Decent way to get used to MT4 and whatnot is all.
 
all my trades start from scalps ,im a trader i dont sit and watch bars go up and down all day waiting for set ups .(setups wtf )
i would say for the one shot one kill crew add to your winning trades ,most of you ict crew are too ridged you know nothing of the fundies or news drivers all you look at is udx and a fib ffs .
wactch this vid and turn the words to trading .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iaLQZ73ujQ
 
garry said:
all my trades start from scalps ,im a trader i dont sit and watch bars go up and down all day waiting for set ups .(setups wtf )
i would say for the one shot one kill crew add to your winning trades ,most of you ict crew are too ridged you know nothing of the fundies or news drivers all you look at is udx and a fib ffs .
wactch this vid and turn the words to trading .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iaLQZ73ujQ

I don't focus on ICT stuff anymore but ICT material is very geared towards fundamentals and news. Though not news trading.
 
outthislife said:
I don't focus on ICT stuff anymore but ICT material is very geared towards fundamentals and news. Though not news trading.
in a semi non pro way yes, geared towards news but i mean by catching the news sentiment for the week ,i was placed for today news last week and i dont mean news trading ,im getting more into market sentiment and where option barriers are bank flow stops are rather than draw a fib ffs
 
The analogy of the sniper comes to mind.

One sniper has been sent out to kill a 'bad person'.
He plans, she studies (see what I did there?) she knows where the man will be, what his vulnerabilities and foibles are.
She moves into position, sets up in wait, takes the shot, withdraws.
Writes up a report and looks for the next 'target'

The other sniper is positioned at the top of a building in a war-zone.
Enemies and friendlies everywhere.
Opportunites and dangers all around.
Does she take the shot or not?
Will she be a hero or face a court martial?

Which role do I want to have as a MARKET sniper?
Am I seeking a target or facing an uncertain and hostile environment?

Each to their own but I like BORING. :)
 
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