Scalper

Scalper

1. A trader who holds a position for a very short time and sells it for a small gain. A scalper buys and instantly sells a security hoping to profit from the bid-ask spread. Scalpers hope the series of small gains over the course of the trading day will result in much larger gains. See also: Day Trader.

2. An investment adviser who makes a trade on his/her own account immediately before recommending a client to take a position on the same security. A scalper takes advantage of his/her insider knowledge and the client's trust to make a gain. Scalping, in this sense, is illegal.

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scalper

1. A market maker who assigns excessive markups or markdowns on security transactions. Such activity is in violation of National Association of Securities Dealers rules.

2. An investment adviser who takes a position in a security before publicly recommending the security for purchase. The scalper then sells the security at a profit after the recommendation has caused investors to buy the security and push its price higher. This type of activity must be disclosed to buyers.

3. An in-and-out trader who attempts to profit on relatively small price changes.