Scalping

Scalping is a high-frequency trading style that targets small profits (typically 5-20 pips) from rapid trades lasting seconds to minutes. Scalpers rely on M1 and M5 timeframes, tight spreads, and fast execution. The goal is to accumulate many small wins that add up to significant daily profits.

How Scalping Works in Practice

Scalpers need the fastest possible indicators. TEMA, DEMA, and short-period RSI (7 or 9) are preferred over slower alternatives. Spread is critical since the target profit is small; a 2-pip spread on a 5-pip target means you need to be right more than 60% of the time just to break even.

Session timing matters. Scalpers focus on high-liquidity periods (London-New York overlap) when spreads are tightest and price movement is most consistent. The /v1/sessions endpoint helps identify the current market session and optimal trading windows.

Automated scalping via API requires low-latency data. Our 2-second cache TTL for real-time data and sub-100ms response times make the TickAtlas API suitable for scalping-oriented algorithmic strategies that need frequent indicator updates.

Access via API