Sub-pip targets and how sensitive they are to every cost
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2026 7:57 pm
Some scalpers aim for half a pip or less per trade. At that scale, everything matters, and small costs decide whether the system works.
A spread of 0.2 pips, a commission of 0.3 pips and slippage of 0.1 pips total 0.6, which is more than the target. The strategy needs a huge win rate or a lot of luck.
Those systems only work in special conditions: extremely tight raw spreads, very low commissions, fast execution and high win rates. Institutional or rebate-supported traders can achieve it. Retail accounts usually can't.
The warning signs are clear. A backtest that shows profits on 0.5 pip targets without charging realistic costs is almost certainly misleading. Even a few extra tenths of a pip in real conditions flips the sign.
Raising the target to 2 or 3 pips doesn't solve everything, but it moves the economics into a more forgiving zone, because costs shrink as a share of each trade.
What is the smallest target you've found workable, and what made it so?
A spread of 0.2 pips, a commission of 0.3 pips and slippage of 0.1 pips total 0.6, which is more than the target. The strategy needs a huge win rate or a lot of luck.
Those systems only work in special conditions: extremely tight raw spreads, very low commissions, fast execution and high win rates. Institutional or rebate-supported traders can achieve it. Retail accounts usually can't.
The warning signs are clear. A backtest that shows profits on 0.5 pip targets without charging realistic costs is almost certainly misleading. Even a few extra tenths of a pip in real conditions flips the sign.
Raising the target to 2 or 3 pips doesn't solve everything, but it moves the economics into a more forgiving zone, because costs shrink as a share of each trade.
What is the smallest target you've found workable, and what made it so?