Tracking time spent against profit earned
Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2026 6:26 am
Take the month's net profit and divide it by the hours spent. Not only screen time, but also preparation, review, research, and the mental overhead of thinking about trades during the day. The result is an hourly rate, and it can be sobering.
For many scalpers, especially on small accounts, the figure is below minimum wage. That doesn't make the effort pointless, since skill and capital grow over time. But it's a reality check against the glamorous image.
It also informs scheduling decisions. If most profit comes from two hours a day and the other four hours barely break even, the extra time may be better spent elsewhere.
Hourly rate grows with account size and skill. Tracking it over several months shows whether the trajectory is improving.
It helps to split the hours into categories: live trading, preparation, review, research, and administration. Often the preparation and review hours produce a larger share of the improvement than the live hours do, though they rarely get credit in the P&L.
Has the hourly rate ever been calculated, and did the result change how time gets spent?
For many scalpers, especially on small accounts, the figure is below minimum wage. That doesn't make the effort pointless, since skill and capital grow over time. But it's a reality check against the glamorous image.
It also informs scheduling decisions. If most profit comes from two hours a day and the other four hours barely break even, the extra time may be better spent elsewhere.
Hourly rate grows with account size and skill. Tracking it over several months shows whether the trajectory is improving.
It helps to split the hours into categories: live trading, preparation, review, research, and administration. Often the preparation and review hours produce a larger share of the improvement than the live hours do, though they rarely get credit in the P&L.
Has the hourly rate ever been calculated, and did the result change how time gets spent?