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Ask HN: Anyone into Stock Scalping?
Asking as an amateur. First, let me say that I know that trading is not a game and most people lose money.
Having said that, the idea of scalping really fascinates me as I have always thought about it a simplistic manner "Hey that stock moved a couple of bucks up today. If I had 50 shares to sell, I could make a quick $200 profit minus the commission". Of course, the stock could have moved down and then may be I would have held it anyway.
A very simplied version of course but kinda scratching the surface of what stock traders call scalping. I know there are many other techniques in scalping itself.
Does anyone do this at a smaller level as in less than a few hundred bucks a day or even a month ?
- jetti 10y agoI would think that doing this on a small level would eat at your profits rather quick. You have your broker fees which could be as high as $10. If you are only spending $100 to $200 you limit the number of shares you could buy, which also limits your profits. Let's assume a $10/share stock and you spend $200. You have your buy and sell commissions from the broker, which we could give a conservative estimate at $10 total. Right now you're at $220 and have 20 shares. You would have to have a $0.11 price swing in order to make a profit, and that profit is only $4. That assumes that the trade actually goes your way. It seems to me that you are not going to make much money if you are trading that little amount of money daily.