When a peg breaks, the chart looks like a typo

[Shadow Trader]

Pegged and managed currencies trade in a tight band because a central bank defends the level. Hong Kong dollar, some Gulf currencies, and for periods in the past the Swiss franc and others. For a long time, nothing happens. Then one day the band moves, or breaks, and the price jumps by many percent.

Scalpers occasionally look at pegged pairs because the spread is tiny and the range is tiny. They look like a free lunch with a hidden cost: occasional enormous losses.

Even without a break, the pair can show strange behaviour. Spreads that are tight for weeks suddenly widen. Margin requirements rise. Brokers restrict trading.

The risk is invisible in the historical data until it isn't.

Any instrument with an artificially stable price should be sized as if it had a very fat tail, and many traders simply avoid them.

Has a pegged or managed pair ever tempted a scalping strategy, and what stopped it?