The Definitive Guide to Scalping

The Definitive Guide to Scalping, Part5: Scalping Ranges

Talking Points

• When markets are flat, scalpers can trade ranges.
• Traders should identify support & resistance before considering entries.
• Range trading can continue until price breaks.

Scalpers have a variety of choices when it comes to an execution strategy. This decision should be decided after carefully evaluating current market conditions for the currency pair of their choosing.

For today’s scalping lesson, we will focus on ranges and how to trade them by planning entries between key levels of support and resistance.

Learn Forex – USDCHF Scalping Ranges with Cam Pivots



Trading the Range

As a range trader our first task is to identify key levels of support and resistance. This can be done through a variety of methods mentioned in the 4th installment of the Definitive Guide to Forex Scalping. Once traders have found these points and price is confirmed to be traveling in a range, entries become very straight forward. Traders can set an entry order to sell levels of resistance and buy levels of support. From this point, scalpers must become patient and wait for the market to turn at one of these designated points.

In the example below, we can see this technique in action. Support and resistance have been found using Camarilla pivot points. Traders can set entry orders to sell the USDCHF back in the direction of the primary trend, near resistance at .9051. In the event that price touches these entries, they will be executed selling the USDCHF. Risk has been managed by placing a stop at the next line of resistance, designated as R4 at .9068. Taking profit should be done when price has reached the opposing point of the range. When selling a range, limit orders can be placed at support. Conversely in the event of buying range support, price targets can be set at range resistance.

Learn Forex – USDCHF Range Entries & Targets



Ranges with Oscillators

Traders can also choose to scalp market ranges
through the use of an oscillator. Again traders should wait for price to reach a key level of support and resistance prior to considering an entry. Once this occurs, traders can turn to an indicator such as MACD, CCI, or RSI to time their entry. In the event price touches resistance, as highlighted below, traders will enter the market on a return from an overbought level. This process can be replicated to buy levels of support when Oscillators cross back above an oversold value.

Trading with an oscillator can potentially help trader’s better find market momentum and even keep traders out of some bad positions. However, it should be noted that this does not give scalpers license to use sloppy risk management! Just as we would with our example using entry orders, traders can manage risk by placing a stop above the next line of resistance, while targeting range support to take profit using limit orders.

Learn Forex – USDCHF Range Entries with CCI



It should be noted that ranges can be traded as long as support and resistance remain intact! In the event the currency pair you are trading breaks or begins trending, it will be time to abandon the range and either switch to a new chart or a new strategy.

This concludes the 5thinstallment of The Definitive Guide to Scalping. If you missed one of the previous installments, don’t worry! You can catch up on all the action with the previous articles linked below.

---Written by Walker England, Trading Instructor

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Talking Points

• Support and resistance levels are critical areas for scalpers to identify.
• Price action, pivots, and moving averages can all be used to find these values.
• Once identified, traders can then look to employ the strategy of their choosing.

One of the most important concepts a scalper needs to master is how to find levels of support and resistance. These levels will act as price ceilings and floors which will ultimately help us determine our scalping strategy.

While there are many ways to identify support and resistance, today we are going to take a look at three of the most common methods that can be applied in our day trading.

Learn Forex – EURUSD and Price Action



Price Action

The first way of finding support and resistance is by using price action. Scalpers should become comfortable with finding swing highs and swing lows on their charts as they are natural areas of support and resistance. A swing high is identified as a peak on the graph and a swing low can be pinpointed as a valley. These extremes in price can help us prepare for either a swing or breakout trading opportunity depending on what the graph is displaying.

Above we can see today’s price action on a EURUSD 5minute chart. A price channel has been drawn by connecting a series of swing highs and swing lows. The swing highs help denote resistance and areas where scalpers may look for opportunities to sell. By connecting the swing lows, we have created an area of support where traders may wish to close existing sell positions, and potentially look for opportunities to buy.

Learn Forex – EURGBP with Cam Pivots




Pivot Points

Pivot points also make great areas of support and resistance. These lines are drawn using a preset formula and are often favored by scalpers because they can be added to virtually any chart. Above is a great example of support in action on a EURGBP 30 minute chart using Camarilla Pivot Points. Once added, you can clearly see levels of support denoted by an “S” whereas lines of resistance are marked by an “R”. It should be noted that there are a variety of pivot points to choose from. Regardless of the pivots you use, their key purpose is to find these support and resistance levels for you. With that in mind, let’s look at an example.

Looking at today’s price movement on the EURGBP, we can clearly see price remained supported at the S3 camarilla pivot point. Traders looking to purchase the pair can wait for price to bounce off this value before looking to buy towards higher highs. It should be noted that resistance lines can also be used to find areas to sell as long as price remains in the trading range. In the event that price breaks the final levels of support or resistance, this would be identified as a market breakout. Knowing this, scalpers can adapt their pivot trading strategy to any market environment.

Learn Forex – AUDUSD with 200MVA



Moving Averages

Last we will take a look at using simple moving averages (MVA) as a level of support and resistance. Most traders may be familiar with this average on longer period graphs, but is just as effective on shorter time frames such as the 30 minute and 5 minute charts. If price is above the average, traders can wait for dips and look to buy a currency pair. Conversely if price breaks below this value, the 200 moving average will change from an area of support to new resistance. Traders can then look for selling opportunities as long as price remains under the indicator.

Above we have a 200 period MVA displayed on an AUDUSD 5 minute chart. For the majority of trading on January 27th price stayed above the displayed 200 MVA. Traders could have used this as an opportunity to buy retracements or look to trade breaks towards higher highs on the AUDUSD. This morning however, support was broken with price moving through the 200 MVA. At this point, traders should consider the average as resistance while potentially changing their trading bias.

This concludes the 4th installment of The Definitive Guide to Scalping. If you missed one of the previous installments, don’t worry! You can catch up on all the action with the previous articles linked below.

The Definitive Guide to Scalping, Part 1: Market Conditions
The Definitive Guide to Scalping, Part2: Currency Pairs
The Definitive Guide to Scalping, Part 3: Time Frames

---Written by Walker England, Trading Instructor

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Talking Points

• It should be a top priority to determine the appropriate chart for your trading.
• Reference a specific date range to begin your analytics
• Finalize your execution by moving to a shorter term timeframe

One of the most frequent concerns voiced by new Forex scalpers is how to identify which timeframe and charts to use in their analysis. This question is often addressed after selecting a currency pair for scalping, and makes sense because the possibilities are almost limitless. The image below includes 12 different time frame charts for the EURUSD. If all of these possibilities seem overwhelming, don’t worry you’re not alone.

To help simplify this process today we will look at charts for scalping, and how to identify the appropriate timeframe for our selected strategy.


Learn Forex – EURUSD and Time Frames



A Frame of Reference


Whether you are a position trader or scalper it is always good to begin your charting with a frame of reference. A frame of reference is specifically looking at how much data is displayed on your chart. This reference is designed for scalpers to find the short term trend while identifying key levels of support and resistance. Think of it this way, scalpers looking for 10 pip gains would be ill advised to begin looking at multi-year graphs on a daily chart to begin their analysis. So what reference point and what timeframe charts should a scalper use?


Scalpers can begin by referencing 7 days’ worth of data. This allows the trader to take in exactly one weeks’ worth of pricing to establish short term market direction. Traders can then identify market swings and key levels of support and resistance for the week without getting analysis paralysis from having too many candles on their charting screen.


Below we can see two EURUSD charts, both looking at one weeks’ worth of data. Notice how we can easily identify the trend on both graphs? Once this frame is selected, the time frame chosen simply denotes the number of bars displayed for the period selected. I find that a 30minute is a great place to begin, while traders wanting fewer bars may opt for a 2Hour or 1Hour selection.


Learn Forex – EURUSD Weekly Reference



The Execution Chart


Now that you have narrowed down the trend, it’s time to consider an execution chart. This graph should be the final chart that you use in accordance to your scalping trading plan. While this chart may be the reference chart mentioned above, more often than not, scalpers prefer moving into shorter time frames at this point. This can aid in identifying intraday trading opportunities, and is most commonly called multi time frame analysis.


The final question you must ask yourself as a scalper is how many positions you wish to take in one day. While this answer will vary from trader to trader, normally in my experience the answer tends to fall in the 1 to 5 trade range. If you are looking to take 1-2 positions a day, I would recommend starting off with a 30 or 15 min chart. Traders looking for 3-5 positions a day can begin by looking for entries on a 5minute graph. Finally traders looking for 5 or more trades may be best served by consulting a 1 minute graph.


Of course everything is customizable when it comes to trading! My final recommendation is to find what works for you. Below is an example of a trade taken today, based off of a 5minute strategy. Join me for next week’s article for our Forex scalping guide as we look at different ways to determine support and resistance.


Learn Forex – EURUSD 5Minute Execution

Talking Points

• Forex Scalpers should always identify market conditions before trading
• Factor in the spread to reduce transaction costs
• Consider liquidity when trading to maximize trading

Scalpers are continuously faced with choices and tough decisions when trading Forex. On a day to day basis however, none is as important as deciding which currency pair to trade. Choosing a currency not only will affect the strategy we choose but ultimately our profitability as well. So today we will review two key factors that need to be evaluated prior to implementing your favorite scalping strategy.


Spreads and Cost

Spreads and costs should be on every trader’s minds, but they are particularly important to scalpers. Since scalpers tend to favor high frequency strategies, this means they will incur the spread more often than their average positions trader. So throughout the trading year, to keep costs down scalpers should gravitate to pairs with lower spreads. Let’s look at an example.
Above we can see the effects of trading a currency with a lower spread by comparing two yen pairs. First we have the USDJPY with a 1.1 pip spread compared to the NOKJPY with a 5.5 pip spread. Being Yen pairs at some point a trader may have to decide between the two pairs above. However when looking at spreads it should make this decision considerably easier. It costs more to trade the NOKJPY! Traders save approximately $44 in spread costs per 100k transaction trading the USDJPY!
For a complete list of spreads at FXCM, click the link embedded HERE.

Liquidity

Next when choosing a currency pair it is also important to consider liquidity. Liquidity in Forex is easily defined as the amount of currency quoted at any specific price point. Scalpers should value liquidity because it will ultimately coincide with the ease we enter and exit the market.

From a traders perspective, illiquid markets are known to be volatile and are more prone to market gaps based off of fewer buyers and sellers present in the market place. This happens since every buyer must transact with a seller, and the further they are off in regards to price the more a pair is prone to jump while exposing scalpers to slippage. This is compared to a deep market where there is a breath of market volume at multiple pricing points. With more liquidity available we increase the ease that we can enter and exit the market because more buyers and sellers are readily available to cross a scalper’s transaction.



Currency Pairs

Now that you know what to look for it’s time to narrow the field of potential pairs for scalping. Out of 56 different pairs offered at FXCM, traders should consider scalping pairs comprised of the G8 currencies shown above or one of the Forex Majors pictured below. These pairs are comprised of the most frequently traded currencies in the world which helps when it comes to factoring in both spreads and liquidity.

Now that you are a little more familiar with the best currency pairs for scalping, we can now begin to look at the technical aspect of trading. Join me next week as we begin to evaluate charts and price action for Forex scalpers.



---Written by Walker England, Trading Instructor

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Talking Points

• Forex Scalpers should always identify market conditions before trading
• Markets can be broken into three major environments. Trends, Ranges, and Breakouts
• Once identified, traders can select the appropriate strategy that fits present price action.

Before any scalper places their first trade it is important to identify the markets current technical condition. Every day will bring a new price action, and it is important that we are using the appropriate trading strategy to meet the day’s challenges.

Today we will review the three most common market conditions presented to Forex traders. All of these conditions can be identified by identifying key points on your chart through basic technical analysis. Once we have a grasp on market direction, we can then look to better implement the scalping strategy of our choosing.

Learn Forex – USDCAD Trend, Range, and Breakout



Price Ranges

Identifying a trading range is the first market condition we will review. A range occurs when price is moving virtually sideways which can also be associated with channel trading. Even though the market doesn’t have a clear direction, it can still provide opportunities for diligent scalpers once one is identified.

The first step to finding a range is to identify support and resistance on your chart. These pricing levels can be found by connecting a series of recent market highs and lows using horizontal lines. Resistance is the current ceiling on price and Support is defined as price actions current floor. These points will be the basis for our strategy, and should be clearly marked on our chart before moving further.

As long as a range holds, scalpers can take a neutral market stance. This means they can look to take both buy positions near levels of support and sell look to sell levels or resistance.

Learn Forex – Identifying a Trading Range



Strategic Breakouts

When market ranges end, we are most likely to encounter a breakout. A breakout market occurs when price moves through or “breaks” an identified level of support or resistance. Immediately following a breakout, traders can look to take advantage of scalping opportunities with the fresh market momentum.

Below we can see a breakout from the previously identified range on the USDCAD 30 Minute chart. Once the previous price ceiling broke, traders had the opportunity to buy the market. The process of trading a breakout can be simplified through the use of an entry order. These orders will remain pending and execute once the price selected becomes available for trading.

It should be noted, in the event of price breaking a level of support, this process can be replicated. However, with new downward momentum scalpers will look to sell the market.

Learn Forex – USDCAD Price Breakout



Trending Markets

Breakouts normally signal the beginning of a market trend. The Forex market is known for its propensity to continue moving in a singular direction for an extended period of time, and once found scalpers can trade in the direction of the trend.

The process of identifying the trend begins with the identification of a series of swing highs and lows. A swing low is identified by a current valley on a graph, which normally represents a temporary low. Swing highs will identify temporary peaks in price action. If a currency pair is making a series of higher highs as in the USDCAD 30Minute chart below, you are probably looking at prices advancing in an uptrend. This is a strong signal for scalpers to begin looking for fresh buying opportunities.

It should be noted that markets are just as prone to declining in downtrends. In the event that a chart is printing lower lows and lower highs, scalpers should then look to sell the market with the charts current direction.

Learn Forex – USDCAD Uptrend



Now that you are a little more familiar with various market conditions, we can proceed to look at some of the different topics that are vital to Forex scalpers.

Talking Points:

• This is an archived webinar from the Live Classroom of DailyFX PLUS, in which I trade my scalping strategy in live conditions
• This webinar was recorded on December 17, 2013; the day before the FOMC Taper announcement
• After showing the strategy, and how I trigger positions; we look at how a profitable position can be managed as the market moves in the ideal direction.

--- Written by James Stanley

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Public sections :

Scalping thread is here.

Trend scalp
- Trend scalp indicator is on this post.
- Trend scalp_v1 indicator is on this post. This is MTF version with ability to plot the color levels

Trend Scalp Hacolt trading system is on this post.

Premium section :


TickScalper EAs
- TickScalper_v3.44 with 'more safe' settings is on this post.
- TickScalper_v3.44 with 'super more safe' settings is on this post.

PolyFitScalper EAs
- PolyFitScalper_v1.59_noHedge EA is on this post.

Scalp_net EAs
- Scalp_net_v1.5 EA is on this post. Scalp_net_v1.5 manual trading system is on this page
- Scalp_net_v1.3_tf EA is on this post.

PolyBands Ichimoku systems is on this thread.
- files and rules of the system (howto trade) is on this page.

At this point in our trading education, we should be aware of the fact that FX spreads are variable and can widen to levels several times larger than their typical spreads. These spread increases are most often seen during news releases and can affect our positions rapidly. But, what is the best way to weather the storm during times of widening spreads?

How to Truly Protect Ourselves Against Widening Spreads

The only way to protect ourselves during times of widening spreads is to restrict the amount of leverage used in our account (which in my opinion, should be less than 10x leverage). Spreads can only hurt us when a trade is being opened or closed. If we aren’t opening or closing a trade during a news events, we won’t be affected. Prices will eventually go back to normal and at some point we will close on our own terms.

The only time the market can force our hand to liquidate our positions is with a margin call. If we reduce our leverage, we reduce our chances of liquidation.

The “Hedging” Myth

Helping traders around the world means that I have seen many different methods to trade this market, both good and bad. One of the most damaging methods I’ve come across is the idea of ‘hedging’ a Forex trade by opening an opposing trade in the same currency pair and holding both long and short positions simultaneously. This not only incurs greater trade cost (by paying additional spread) but does not protect your position against additional losses.
Hedgers attempt to lock-in their profit or loss on a trade by opening an opposing trade, but if the spread widens, this negatively affects both sides of the trade. If the trader is over leveraged on these trades, a wider spread could incur a margin call and liquidate both positions. Worst of all, you would most likely be filled at the widened spread prices, adding insult to injury.
So now we know, hedging is not the proper way to secure a profit or a loss. Only the closing of a position can do that. Hedging also can be dangerous around widening spreads and can cause margin calls, so we need to limit the amount of leverage we are using to 10x or less.

Good trading!
---Written by Rob Pasche

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Talking Points

• Breakout traders should first find support & resistance
• Entries can be set as close as 1 pip above these values
• Support and resistance can also be used for managing a position

Scalpers have a variety of choices when it comes to an execution strategy. This decision should be decided after carefully evaluating current market conditions for the currency pair of their choosing.

Today we will continue the Definitive Guide to Scalping as we focus on scalping breakouts.
Learn Forex – GBPCAD Early Morning Breakout



Trading a Breakout

The first key to scalping breakouts is to identify key levels of support and resistance. This can be done through a variety of methods mentioned in the 4th installment of the Definitive Guide to Forex Scalping. Once found, setting up a breakout trade is a straight forward process. In the event of a level of resistance breaking, traders will look to buy. An example of this is depicted above using todays GBPCAD price action. Conversely, traders will look to sell when a key level of support falls.

The big question is always where to enter into the market in the event of a breakout. Theoretically a breakout occurs if a level of support or resistance is breached by even 1 pip! This allows aggressive scalpers to get into the market as soon as possible. Some traders may flock to this methodology as it lets traders maximize their profits when a trade moves in their favor. However, getting into the market first also will expose you to be the first trader stopped out in the event of a false breakout. Traders that need further confirmation can wait for a 30 minute candle close and then make a decision whether to enter the market.

As with any strategy, there are risks when trading breakouts. Let’s now look at managing an open position.

Learn Forex – GBPJPY False Breakout with Stop




Risk and Breakouts

The first question I inevitably get regarding breakout trading, is how to prevent false breakouts. While I understand that no one intends to take a loss, it will happen at some point regardless of the strategy that you use. With that being said, there is NO way to prevent false breakouts. All we can do is to manage our risk when price moves back against a breakout.

Above is an example of a false breakout this morning on the GBPJPY. Notice how price broke cleanly through support, and then abruptly changed directions. Even though at one time the trade might have been profitable, when the market moves back above the designated breakout area, traders should have a plan for exiting the market. When selling a breakout of support, stops can be placed above this value which becomes new resistance.

Learn Forex –GBPCAD with Risk:Reward levels



Risk VS Reward

Overall, trading breakouts is an exciting way to approach scalping. It should be noted since breakouts occur during times of market volatility it is imperative to maximize your profits when the market breaks in your favor! This can be done byusing a positive risk reward ratio. This means traders should look to make more in profit, relative to what is being risked through the placement of a stop order.

Highlighted above is a 1-2 Risk:Reward ratio with traders looking to make 2x the amount of profit on a breakout relative to the amount risked. This ratio can be improved by either reducing the amount risked or increasing the amount of pips in profit targeted on a position.

This concludes the 7th installment of The Definitive Guide to Scalping. Next week we will conclude the Definitive Guide to scalping, with a closer look at managing risk. If you have missed any of the previous editions of this scalping guide, you can catch up on all the action with the previous articles linked below.
The Definitive Guide to Scalping, Part 1: Market Conditions
The Definitive Guide to Scalping, Part2: Currency Pairs
The Definitive Guide to Scalping, Part 3: Time Frames
The Definitive Guide to Scalping, Part4: Support & Resistance
The Definitive Guide to Scalping, Part5: Scalping Ranges
The Definitive Guide to Scalping, Part6: Scalping Retracements

---Written by Walker England, Trading Instructor

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