What is tick scalping, and why do firms restrict it?
Quick answer
Tick scalping means trading for very small price moves over seconds, sometimes many times a minute. In simulated environments it can exploit fill assumptions that real markets would not honour, such as always filling at the quoted price. Firms restrict it with minimum hold times or by reviewing such profits.
Detailed answer
Why it is a problem for simulators:
- Real markets have slippage and partial fills at this speed; simulators often do not.
- Profits may depend on feed timing rather than prediction.
Legitimate scalping exists, so many firms draw the line at a minimum holding time rather than banning short-term trading entirely.
Options on PropExecutor:
- Minimum hold time: flag or breach trades closed too quickly.
- Maximum orders per day: caps very high activity.
- Review: flags recorded per account with counts.
Define the minimum in your terms, for example 60 seconds.
Example
An account places 300 trades in a day, each held for under ten seconds, winning a few points each time. On a real market, spreads and slippage on that many tiny trades would likely erase the profit. On a simulator that fills every order at the quoted price, it appears consistently profitable.
State your threshold on the rules page.
PropExecutor team · Updated
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