Forex Scalpers should always identify market conditions before trading
Factor in the spread to reduce transaction costs
Consider liquidity when trading to maximize trading
Scalpers are continuously faced with choices and tough decisions when trading Forex. On a day to day basis however, none is as important as deciding which currency pair to trade. Choosing a currency not only will affect the strategy we choose but ultimately our profitability as well. So today we will review two key factors that need to be evaluated prior to implementing your favorite scalping strategy.
Spreads and Cost
Spreads and costs should be on every trader’s minds, but they are
particularly important to scalpers. Since scalpers tend to favor high
frequency strategies, this means they will incur the spread more often
than their average positions trader. So throughout the trading year, to
keep costs down scalpers should gravitate to pairs with lower spreads.
Let’s look at an example.
Above we can see the effects of trading a currency with a lower spread
by comparing two yen pairs. First we have the USDJPY with a 1.1 pip
spread compared to the NOKJPY with a 5.5 pip spread. Being Yen pairs at
some point a trader may have to decide between the two pairs above.
However when looking at spreads it should make this decision
considerably easier. It costs more to trade the NOKJPY! Traders save
approximately $44 in spread costs per 100k transaction trading the
USDJPY!
Liquidity
Next when choosing a currency pair it is also important to consider
liquidity. Liquidity in Forex is easily defined as the amount of
currency quoted at any specific price point. Scalpers should value
liquidity because it will ultimately coincide with the ease we enter and
exit the market.
From a traders perspective, illiquid markets are known to be volatile and are more prone to market gaps based off of fewer buyers and sellers present in the market place. This happens since every buyer must transact with a seller, and the further they are off in regards to price the more a pair is prone to jump while exposing scalpers to slippage. This is compared to a deep market where there is a breath of market volume at multiple pricing points. With more liquidity available we increase the ease that we can enter and exit the market because more buyers and sellers are readily available to cross a scalper’s transaction.
Currency Pairs
Now that you know what to look for it’s time to narrow the field of
potential pairs for scalping. Out of 56 different pairs,
traders should consider scalping pairs comprised of the G8 currencies
shown above or one of the Forex Majors pictured below. These pairs are
comprised of the most frequently traded currencies in the world which
helps when it comes to factoring in both spreads and liquidity.
Now that you are a little more familiar with the best currency pairs for
scalping, we can now begin to look at the technical aspect of trading.
