Scalping and common errors...

This is my report for the today's session. I made 8 trades, 7 win and 1 loss for a net profit of about +35 pips.

The price moved pretty well this time, with clear trend and fast moves. A true paradise for a scalper! ;)

Anyway not all my current sessions are like this. I've made a lot of mistakes because sometimes I traded hastiness. I still make very stupid errors sometimes, so I decided to make a list of the most common errors that you can do while scalping.

ERROR 1: CLOSE A TRADE TOO LATE WITH A HUGE LOSS.

In scalping sometimes have a rigid stop loss isn't a good idea. When you trade to take just 3-4 pips per trade, it's common to enter the trade and then see it coming back a little before the big move.

Anyway this fact could force you to keep a losing trade on because you're still waiting for the big move after a non perfect entry. The danger is to see the trend change fast while you're still thinking it will go in your direction. So, it's very important to watch price patterns and you should always be ready to close your trade if you feel the trend is turning against you. However if the trend stalls and you reach - 3 pips, just close the trade and try next time.

ERROR 2: BAD ENTRY WITH NO CLEAR TREND CONDITION.

You don't need to take all the moves. Your goal must be to take only the huge and clear moves after a clear price pattern. Don't trade if volatility is very low or if the trend is not strong. You can use a tape (like mine in the chart above) and WMA156 as a filter. Remember, price patterns and price action is ALL. Wait a good price pattern when the price move fast, and then enter at a S/R break level.

ERROR 3: CLOSE A TRADE TOO EARLY.

When price moves, it usually release two "impulse". An impulse is a strong and fast move of some pips. If volatility is high and you have entered at a R/S breakout, don't close immediately the trade when you reach + 3-4 pips. If the trend isn't "exausted" (for "exausted" I mean when there is a clear and strong trend with a big move before our entry point), watch the price come back a little and then continue in the direction of the trend for another + 3-4 pips. But this never happen for sure: If the trend isn't so strong, just close the trade at a first profit point! I can't explain more clearly, you should understand this with experience I think.

ERROR 4: BAD COUNTER TREND TIMING.

If you like to trade couter trend, do it safetly. You should wait for the VERY END of a move, don't open it in the middle of the move.

How to understand if the trend is changing? Simply. Check the 1-tick chart and watch small S/R levels. If the price has just done a very strong move with more than one "impulse" and the price change direction fast, then you can ride the counter trend move. But remember: If price seem to continue the bigger move, just exit with a small loss. In my CCI tape (the second in the chart) oversold and overbought levels are marked with white bars. If some white bars appear after a big move, and then price start to change the trend, I usually take the counter trend. When the counter trend move seem to stall, I close my trade immediately.

I hope these advices could help some of you. Sometimes I'll read again this post to be sure to keep in mind how to manage my trades. With experience you should get the right confidence to aviod these errors with no thinking. Yes, bacause when you scalp there is almost no time to think!