The support forum is built with (1) General and FAQ forums for common trading queries received from aspiring and experienced traders, and (2) forums for course video topics. How to Trade Price Action and How to Trade Forex Price Action videos are consolidated into common forums.
Brooks Trading Course social media communities
I've asked this in the BTC Discord and was asked to repost it here:
"Hi Kevin, I'm a beginner, finished the BPA course and have only focused on swing trades so far. After reading your posts, I would really appreciate your advice on how to learn scalping. Since Al often recommends swing trading vs scalping, I wonder what was your path to success in scalping? I know it's a loaded question, but every bit of advice helps 🙂 Thanks in advance!"
Hey Lisa, Al Brooks always says, "Beginner's shouldn't scalp". You must be right 80% of the time or be prepared to scale-in to increase probability. My version of scalping is extreme I take about 50-100 trades per day and look mostly at 1–2 minute charts. To be honest I wish I was a swing trader but something about my personality makes me trade mostly as a scalper. I can't bear the boredom of the 5-minute chart and the hesitation and uncertainty of the 5 min bar as it is forming. Even in trends I'm scalping in and out constantly.
The best way to learn to scalp is to look at every reasonable bar on the chart and ask yourself the following questions:
- Could I have made a scalp profit there? (4-5 Points in recent conditions on 5-mins)
- Was there an opportunity to get breakeven if the trade failed and the entry-bar turned around and against me?
- Was there an opportunity to get breakeven a bar or two after the entry bar? For example, did price wick to the entry price to let you out B/E before hitting your stop? (it often does - and the breakeven exit is sometimes a credible scalp in the opposite direction)
- Or would you have taken an immediate loss?
When you've gone through this thought process for a few months on hundreds of setups you will begin to get a feel for 'probability' of a scalp, which is an essential input of the traders’ equation. This will only come from experience and chart time.
The final component of the equation is what is your Risk/Reward ratio? If the bar is huge and your stop is wide then it’s a massive risk and terrible RR for a scalp. That's not to say its not a good scalp -probability of a scalp profit can be huge with momentum on your side: I regularly take momentum scalps. However, I should point out that traps which get you in a bad trade at the worst possible price are almost always preceded with high momentum and nothing but the painful experience of getting trapped will help you learn the difference and understand the true probability of a momentum move. When you get experienced you'll start fading traps for a scalp. But it all comes down to Risk/Reward/Probability.
After going through the above thought process for a few months, start taking some scalps using a tiny position and keep track of your points won/lost. If you're making enough points to justify the effort, then start scalping.
Find a timeframe and a style of trading you like, that suits your personality and that you can trade successfully. I do not think the 5-minute chart is sacrosanct.
About swing trading: Bear in mind, if you can catch just one 2xRR trade every day... aiming for 2% on the day then you'll be rich a lot faster than you'd think. Patience is the key with swing trading: Sitting on your hands, watching the charts and doing nothing until the opportune moment. Grab 1 or 2 great trades per day. You cannot force trades... You must resist the urge to jump into the market because you're desperate for a trade: we have all done it. If you take no trades today that's fine... the goal is to make money but it’s better to make nothing on the day than to lose money. Losing today could potentially negate a great day tomorrow. Better to make nothing today and make up for it with a great day tomorrow. But swing trading is mostly about waiting.
Ideally you want to take a combination of swings and scalps, this will come with time and experience.
Thank you for the detailed reply, Kevin. Much appreciated!
Hey Lisa, Al Brooks always says, "Beginner's shouldn't scalp". You must be right 80% of the time or be prepared to scale-in to increase probability. My version of scalping is extreme I take about 50-100 trades per day and look mostly at 1–2 minute charts. To be honest I wish I was a swing trader but something about my personality makes me trade mostly as a scalper. I can't bear the boredom of the 5-minute chart and the hesitation and uncertainty of the 5 min bar as it is forming. Even in trends I'm scalping in and out constantly.
The best way to learn to scalp is to look at every reasonable bar on the chart and ask yourself the following questions:
- Could I have made a scalp profit there? (4-5 Points in recent conditions on 5-mins)
- Was there an opportunity to get breakeven if the trade failed and the entry-bar turned around and against me?
- Was there an opportunity to get breakeven a bar or two after the entry bar? For example, did price wick to the entry price to let you out B/E before hitting your stop? (it often does - and the breakeven exit is sometimes a credible scalp in the opposite direction)
- Or would you have taken an immediate loss?
When you've gone through this thought process for a few months on hundreds of setups you will begin to get a feel for 'probability' of a scalp, which is an essential input of the traders’ equation. This will only come from experience and chart time.
The final component of the equation is what is your Risk/Reward ratio? If the bar is huge and your stop is wide then it’s a massive risk and terrible RR for a scalp. That's not to say its not a good scalp -probability of a scalp profit can be huge with momentum on your side: I regularly take momentum scalps. However, I should point out that traps which get you in a bad trade at the worst possible price are almost always preceded with high momentum and nothing but the painful experience of getting trapped will help you learn the difference and understand the true probability of a momentum move. When you get experienced you'll start fading traps for a scalp. But it all comes down to Risk/Reward/Probability.
After going through the above thought process for a few months, start taking some scalps using a tiny position and keep track of your points won/lost. If you're making enough points to justify the effort, then start scalping.
Find a timeframe and a style of trading you like, that suits your personality and that you can trade successfully. I do not think the 5-minute chart is sacrosanct.
About swing trading: Bear in mind, if you can catch just one 2xRR trade every day... aiming for 2% on the day then you'll be rich a lot faster than you'd think. Patience is the key with swing trading: Sitting on your hands, watching the charts and doing nothing until the opportune moment. Grab 1 or 2 great trades per day. You cannot force trades... You must resist the urge to jump into the market because you're desperate for a trade: we have all done it. If you take no trades today that's fine... the goal is to make money but it’s better to make nothing on the day than to lose money. Losing today could potentially negate a great day tomorrow. Better to make nothing today and make up for it with a great day tomorrow. But swing trading is mostly about waiting.
Ideally you want to take a combination of swings and scalps, this will come with time and experience.
Thank you so much for this reply man. I literally saved a screenshot of it because it addresses a number of issues i tend to have.
Hi Kevin,
thank you for your info. Just wondering as you are focused on momentum are you trading news as there seems to be most of the momentum from my point of view there?
Thank you in advance and looking forward to your feedback.
Hubert
Hi Hubert, I'm not exclusively focused on Momentum, but if I see a huge surprise bar racing up or down I will buy/sell at the market for a scalp. This was an example of a situation where the ideal stop loss is far away so the risk is big but probability is also huge due to the momentum.
In scenarios like this I use a 2RR stop, if I'm targeting a 5 point scalp I will use a 10 point stop, but will manually exit it at the market if it pauses too long or looks like its reversing. I always switch to a 1 minute chart in these situations.
As for news events, I have had some huge winners but also some losers. Until you are experienced I'd suggest avoiding news events they are difficult on a technical and a psychological level.
Kevin, thanks for your reply.
Being a beginner and learning, I collect the information from experienced traders to get an idea of how they deal with different situations.
