Definition of Scalping

What does the term "scalping" mean? What is the definition of the term "scalping"?

As it applies to the world of trading, "scalping" occurs when a person or company moves in and out of positions quickly in order to harvest quick gains.

"Scalping" is the exact opposite of "buy and hold investing", which is when people buy a company's stock with no intention of selling for the foreseeable future.

With "scalping", traders look to jump in and out of a stock (or other assets) as many times as possible while remaining profitable. Some traders will look to scalp for mere pennies (and some traders, especially of the automated variety, will look to "scalp" for even less), as their volume and low costs allows them to make money even from a penny per share of profit.

Successful "scalpers" will usually execute hundreds of trades per day. Many scalpers will utilize automated trading systems in order to properly execute their trades.

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