Best Forex Brokers for Scalping

The following brokers support all trading styles, including scalping on MT4, MT5 or cTrader. Open an account in minutes.

Here are 4 criteria to keep top-of-mind if you're on the lookout for a broker that allows scalping.

Depth of market information

Depth of market (DOM) shows pending buy and sell orders for a currency pair at different prices. The greater the number of orders, the greater the market depth and liquidity.

The balance between buy and sell orders provides scalpers with unique insights into the most likely short term direction of prices. More liquidity in the bid suggests a long position may be in your interest. Conversely, a surge in liquidity available on the ask suggests the market may have a short bias.

However, depth of market information is only available from ECN Forex brokers. Neither market makers nor brokers with Straight Through Processing (STP) execution are able to show DOM information. In addition, your broker should also support MetaTrader 5 or cTrader, as DOM information isn't available on the MetaTrader 4 platform.

Execution speeds

Speed of execution is everything when you engage in scalping.

Your broker's platform should support 1-click execution and trading from the charts. In addition, you could also consider automated trading strategies to monitor the market when you're away, protect your positions or realise profits from small changes in market prices.

Automated trading is available on range of platforms including MetaTrader 4 and 5, and cAlgo. However, platform support is not enough by itself. Your broker should explicitly support all Expert Advisors in the case of MetaTrader and automated trading robots in the case of cAlgo. This is the case for all brokers featured in this article.

Set stops and limits before entry

Stop and limit orders can help mitigate risks and realise profits for small changes in market prices. Your trading platform's implementation of stop and limit could make a world of difference to your take-home profit.

First, a refresher for beginners:

  • A stop order, also known as a stop-loss order, is a conditional order to close a position once a certain price is reached. A stop order helps protect against unfavourable movements in market prices and is designed to cap your losses.
  • A limit order, also known as a take-profit order, works in reverse to a stop order. It is a conditional order to close a position once a certain price is reached. However, a limit ordered is triggered when prices move in your favour. It is designed to realise the profit on your position.

However, setting stop and limit orders can be tedious and time consuming. Ideally, your trading platform should allow you to set your stop and limit prices at the very same time you enter the market. You achieve this through robots on MT4/5, cTrader/cAlgo and other platforms.

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About the author

I'm Stéphane, a trader and an entrepreneur. My mission with TrustedBrokers is to help you find the right broker for you, whether you're a beginner or a pro. I've personally used and tested the brokers on our service, opening and funding real-money accounts, contacting customer service and placing trades. I started my career in investment banking in London.

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