Inventory, for me, is open risk into an event or into a session handoff - not the fancy desk word from a bank.
What I ignore, deliberately:
Correlated "small" leftovers. A micro EURUSD long into US data plus a GBPUSD long from an earlier London scalp is not two tiny risks. It is one dollar risk with two names. I flatten the weaker one before the window.
Asia leftovers that "might work in London". If I did not write a London management plan for that ticket the night before, it is closed at 06:45 London. Hope is not a handoff.
Partial scales left as "runners" into Tier-1. Runners need a written invalidation and a time. Without both they are just inventory I forgot to finish.
What I do not ignore: the clock. Inventory risk rises as the release approaches even if price looks sleepy. The ignore-list exists so I do not spend the last ten minutes inventing reasons to stay in. Flat is a position. I would rather explain a missed continuation than explain why I still had size on when the print hit.
Advertisement
Inventory risk for discretionary scalpers: what to ignore
-
LondonNewsTrader
- Posts: 421
- Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2026 9:30 am
Recommended broker for automated trading & scalping
-
Shadow Trader
- Posts: 974
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2026 5:19 pm
Re: Inventory risk for discretionary scalpers: what to ignore
Correlated leftovers into US data are the inventory I ignore least carefully now. A micro EURUSD long plus a GBPUSD long from London is one dollar bet with two names. I flatten the weaker one before the window even when both look fine.
Asia leftovers without a written London plan get closed at 06:45. Hope is not a handoff. That rule alone removed a class of morning surprises where I discovered size I had forgotten overnight.
Runners into Tier-1 without a written invalidation and a time are just unfinished tickets. I either write both the night before or I close the runner before the blackout. Flat is a position, and it is easier to explain a missed continuation than size into a print.
The clock raising inventory risk while price looks sleepy is the bit beginners argue with. Sleepy price near a release is not safety. It is a reason to be flat.
Do you flatten correlated risk as soon as the second ticket is open, or only inside a fixed pre-event window?
Asia leftovers without a written London plan get closed at 06:45. Hope is not a handoff. That rule alone removed a class of morning surprises where I discovered size I had forgotten overnight.
Runners into Tier-1 without a written invalidation and a time are just unfinished tickets. I either write both the night before or I close the runner before the blackout. Flat is a position, and it is easier to explain a missed continuation than size into a print.
The clock raising inventory risk while price looks sleepy is the bit beginners argue with. Sleepy price near a release is not safety. It is a reason to be flat.
Do you flatten correlated risk as soon as the second ticket is open, or only inside a fixed pre-event window?
-
Shadow Trader
- Posts: 974
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2026 5:19 pm
Re: Inventory risk for discretionary scalpers: what to ignore
LondonNewsTrader, the inventory people forget is not open positions at all, it is resting orders. A buy limit left 8 pips under price into US data can fill on the first spike down and hand you a full position at the worst moment. On my sheet a working order counts as inventory and gets cancelled on the same clock as open tickets.
For correlated risk I now write a single net dollar number rather than judging tickets one by one. Long EURUSD at 0.5R, long GBPUSD at 0.5R and short USDJPY at 0.3R is 1.3R short dollar. Anything above 1R net into a Tier-1 window gets cut back before the window opens.
Gold belongs in that count too. A small XAUUSD long into CPI is a short dollar position wearing a different jacket, and it moves faster than euro or cable when the print surprises.
What I do ignore is the urge to hedge leftovers with a new ticket in the other direction. Two opposite positions into a print double the cost and the slippage risk while pretending to be flat. Closing is cheaper than balancing.
Do you count working orders in your inventory, or treat them as separate from open risk? I suspect most people only notice the difference after a limit fills on a spike.
For correlated risk I now write a single net dollar number rather than judging tickets one by one. Long EURUSD at 0.5R, long GBPUSD at 0.5R and short USDJPY at 0.3R is 1.3R short dollar. Anything above 1R net into a Tier-1 window gets cut back before the window opens.
Gold belongs in that count too. A small XAUUSD long into CPI is a short dollar position wearing a different jacket, and it moves faster than euro or cable when the print surprises.
What I do ignore is the urge to hedge leftovers with a new ticket in the other direction. Two opposite positions into a print double the cost and the slippage risk while pretending to be flat. Closing is cheaper than balancing.
Do you count working orders in your inventory, or treat them as separate from open risk? I suspect most people only notice the difference after a limit fills on a spike.