Scalping is a trading style that aims to make small profits from very short price moves. A scalper may hold a trade for seconds or a few minutes, target only a few pips, and trade many times in a session. Because the targets are small, spread and commission take a bigger share of each trade.
In short: Scalping is fast, and costs matter more than in slower trading. Tick scalping is the most extreme form. At Alpha Capital, scalping is not on the list of prohibited strategies, but the 2-minute rule, news windows and position spamming rules all limit how you can do it.
Educational content only, not a personal recommendation. Examples are illustrative. Alpha Capital accounts are simulated accounts with simulated funds, and performance fees are not guaranteed.
What does scalping look like in practice?
A scalper looks for one small move, takes it and gets out. Then they look for the next one.
Most scalpers watch fast charts, often the 1-minute or 5-minute. Trades might last a few seconds or a few minutes. Very few stay open for long. A swing trader might wait days for one trade, while a scalper could take several in an hour.
Scalpers often pick markets that are busy and easy to get in and out of, such as major forex pairs, gold and index CFDs. If you are new to the units, our guide to what a pip is explains pips and lots.
Speed does not make the risk go away. Many scalpers use a tight stop loss, but a stop can still fill at a worse price when the market jumps.
To read how one trader approaches it, see our interview with Abraham on index scalping and order flow. That is one person's own account, not a method to copy.
What is tick scalping?
A tick is the smallest move a price can make. Tick scalping means trying to take just a tick or a few ticks at a time, often holding for only seconds.
It leaves almost no room for costs or a slow fill. It is also a style prop firms may restrict. Alpha Capital's help centre says its 2-minute rule is there "to prevent tick scalping", so read that rule below before you try this.
Why do costs matter more when you scalp?
You pay about the same to open and close a trade, whether you aim for 5 pips or 50. With a small target, that cost eats a much bigger slice.
Here is an illustrative example, not a typical result. You trade 1 lot of EURUSD on a simulated account, where one pip is worth about $10. The spread is 0.2 pips and commission is $5 for the round trip, so each trade costs $7 in total. All of these prices are made up for the example.
Trade | Target and stop | Cost | Cost as a share of the target | Win rate needed to break even |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Scalp | 5 pips each | $7 | 14% | 57% |
Scalp when the spread is 1 pip wider | 5 pips each | $17 | 34% | 67% |
Longer trade | 50 pips each | $7 | 1.4% | 50.7% |
Look at the first row. A winning scalp makes $50 less $7, which is $43. A losing one costs $50 plus $7, which is $57. So you need to win 57 trades in every 100 just to break even.
The costs also add up. At $7 a trade, 20 trades in a day cost $140 before you count any wins or losses.
This table uses 1 lot to keep the sums simple. Your own size should come from your risk per trade, so use the lot size calculator to work it out. The same idea applies to gold and index CFDs, but pip values and contract sizes differ, so check the details on your platform.
What happens to scalpers around news?
Big news can change your costs in seconds. Spreads often widen just before and after a major release, and orders can fill at a worse price than you asked for. That gap is called slippage.
Both hit scalpers hard. In the example above, one extra pip of spread more than doubled the cost of the trade. One pip of slippage on 1 lot costs about another $10.
How do Alpha Capital's rules affect scalpers?
Scalping is not on Alpha Capital's list of prohibited trading strategies. But several rules apply to fast trading, so read them before you start. These come from the help centre, and each one links to its article.
The 2-minute rule
The 2-minute rule applies to all accounts. It does not say every trade must last 2 minutes. The help centre says some shorter trades are fine. There are three tests:
Test | What it requires |
|---|---|
Average duration | The average length of all your trades must be more than 2 minutes |
Majority of trades | Most of your trades must last more than 2 minutes |
Profit, 50% test | At least 50% of your profit must come from trades lasting more than 2 minutes |
The profit test is measured differently at each stage. In an evaluation, it uses your total targeted profit. On a Qualified Account, it uses your gross generated profit, meaning profit above the initial balance. Profit from trades under 2 minutes counts even if they were taken while the account was below its initial balance.
For example, with an illustrative $4,000 of gross generated profit on a Qualified Account, no more than $2,000 can come from trades under 2 minutes.
The result of a breach also depends on the stage. If you pass an evaluation but breach this rule, you restart from Phase 1. If it happens on a Qualified Account, all profits are removed and the account goes back to its initial balance. You can check your average duration on your dashboard, under Account Metrics and then Insights.
News windows
The news rules change once you are qualified:
- Evaluations: you can trade freely during all news releases.
- Qualified Alpha Pro, One, Three and Direct: you cannot open or close trades on the affected instruments from 5 minutes before to 5 minutes after a listed release. This includes pending orders, stop losses and take profits. Trades opened more than 5 minutes before the release can stay open.
- Alpha Swing: news trading is allowed. But a trade opened within 2 minutes before or after a release must last more than 2 minutes to be valid.
The gambling policy also names trades opened just before and closed right after the restricted news window on Pro, One, Three and Direct, and short-term trades on Swing that are solely speculative around high-impact news. The help centre says this depends on several factors, including the trading style and the account's history.
Position spamming
Some scalpers build a position in small pieces. Position spamming is prohibited. It means opening 3 or more positions, each within 60 seconds of the last, as part of the same trade idea. Scaling in is allowed, and the help centre recommends waiting at least a minute before adding to a position on the same asset.
Max Risk Rule
The Max Risk Rule applies to Qualified Accounts purchased after 21 July 2026. It limits open drawdown, meaning floating losses, on any one asset. The limit is 3% on $5,000 to $25,000 accounts, 2% on $50,000 to $200,000 accounts, and 1% on Alpha Direct at all sizes. If you reach it, the account is closed.
This matters if you re-enter often. If you close a trade and open a new one on the same asset, in the same direction, within 10 minutes, the losses from both trades count together towards the limit.
Focused Trader Group
A Qualified Account may be moved to the Focused Trader Group, a temporary group with reduced leverage and tighter limits. Two of the listed reasons matter here: extreme scalping, described as a high frequency of short-duration trades relative to the whole trading history, and using a Swing account mainly for scalping or frequent intraday trading, with no swing trading activity.
Commission
You choose Standard or Raw at checkout. The commission article lists a charge of $2.5 per lot for each transaction, in both directions, on Raw. It lists no per-lot charge on Standard, or on indices on either type. Check the article before you decide, because costs matter so much at this speed.
Is scalping the same as high-frequency trading?
No. Scalping is a trading style. Alpha Capital lists high-frequency trading as a prohibited strategy, and scalping is not on that list.
The Expert Advisor article also names high-frequency trading among the automated systems that are not allowed. Using one will close the account. Trading fast by hand does not remove the limits above, though. Extreme scalping can still move an account to the Focused Trader Group.
For what to check in a firm's rules, read our guide on what to look for in a prop firm for scalpers.
Frequently asked questions
Is scalping allowed at Alpha Capital?
Scalping is not on the list of prohibited strategies. But the 2-minute rule, news windows and position spamming rules all apply, and extreme scalping can move a Qualified Account to the Focused Trader Group.
Does every trade have to last 2 minutes?
No. Some trades can be shorter. The average of all your trades and most of your trades must be over 2 minutes, and at least 50% of your profit must come from trades over 2 minutes.
What is the difference between scalping and day trading?
Both usually avoid holding trades for long. Scalpers hold for seconds or minutes and aim for very small moves. Day traders may hold for hours and aim for bigger moves within the day.
Is scalping profitable?
Nobody can promise that. It depends on your results after costs, and costs take a large share of each small target. In our example, you would need to win 57% of trades just to break even.
Can I scalp during news?
In an evaluation, you can trade freely during news. On Qualified Alpha Pro, One, Three and Direct accounts, you cannot open or close trades on affected instruments within 5 minutes either side of a listed release. Alpha Swing has its own 2-minute rule around news.
Sources
- Alpha Capital help centre: 2-minute rule
- Alpha Capital help centre: trading news
- Alpha Capital help centre: prohibited trading strategies
- Alpha Capital help centre: Max Risk Rule
- Alpha Capital help centre: Focused Trader Group
- Alpha Capital help centre: policy against gambling
- Alpha Capital help centre: commission fees
- Alpha Capital help centre: Expert Advisors
Alpha Capital Group is a proprietary trading firm based in the United Kingdom. Accounts operate in a simulated environment with simulated funds. Performance fees are performance-based and outcomes are not guaranteed.
