Trading styles: scalping, day and swing

What it is

Scalpers hold trades for seconds to minutes and aim for small moves, many times a day. Day traders open and close within the same day. Swing traders hold for days to weeks, and position traders for weeks to months.

Shorter styles need more screen time, tighter costs and fast decisions; longer styles need patience and wider stops, sized smaller.

How to spot it

• Your available hours decide a lot: someone with a day job usually suits swing trading or a single session.
• Costs matter most for scalping, where the spread can be a big part of the target.

How to use it

• Pick one style and the timeframes that match it, and test it before mixing styles.
• Judge results over a large number of trades for short styles, and over months for long ones.

Common mistakes

• Turning a losing scalp into a 'swing trade' to avoid taking the loss.
• Choosing a style that doesn't fit the hours you can actually be at the screen.

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