Forex scalping involves trading currency pairs over very short timeframes, in high numbers. A lot of forex scalpers will focus on high volatility events around economic data and breaking news, where large market moves are almost guaranteed.
A standard lot in forex is the equivalent of 100,000 units of the base currency, but thanks to leverage, scalpers can continue to take larger positions and skim off the top of smaller market movements. The average value of a pip is approximately $10, so holding a trade for a one-pip move ten times a day would equal $100.
Normally, forex scalpers will have a set amount of pips in mind and close their position once the currency pair has moved by that amount in either direction.
For example, a scalper might only open a trade on GBP/USD that’s only running for 30 seconds, aiming to cover a one or two-pip movement in the currency pair. Taking the average, this might only earn them a $10-$20 profit, but it would be repeated a number of times throughout the day.Learn about trading forex with FOREX.com.