Why do you want to scalp? Are you a gambler? Only a few very competent individuals with extreme capabilities and appropriate hardware/software can make money scalping. Whoever believes he/she can scalp a few hours/day and make a living is a fool.
I have met a few very rich swing traders. I never met a profitable retail scalper. Maybe there is one somewhere, I mean retail, no hedge fund or HFT.
I agree retail scalping is not the way to get rich , but i cant say it is impossible to be profitable maybe very difficult but not impossible . swing trading maybe it is easier than scalping but it is still difficult and u need a bigger pot to start with ...
From my on going research, I believe you can make a living scalping for a few points each day. I'm not sure you will become rich though doing so.
Times have changed a little, when I first traded S&P 500 futures, one full point was $500, each nickel, one tic, was $25, you could make very good money getting one full point a day, commissions were $15 retail, today's Emini ES full point is $50, one point is considered scalping and have to trade ten to get equivalent to the past, and retail is $4 bucks and higher. So for all those who think commissions are cheap, they are mistaken. Each market has it's own personality, they might all be Indexes, but they all trade a little differently. Emini Nasdaq is the most forgiving, the easiest to scalp a few tics, and the ES is the toughest to scalp, but can handle Volume. Unless you are hitting 70% winners and have hardly any daily drawdown, rent a seat on exchange, I think it would be tough for a retail trader to make it. There is little room for error, one tic means much, total concentration and be able to acknowledge that you will average less than three tics per trade after commission. But most of the time as timeframe expands, winning % goes down and hopefully profits go up, less commissions (which really eats up a good size of profits for retail in scalping).
What was the level though of the SP when the value of a point was $500? Surely it was a lot less meaning you were trading a notional value less than 10 minis today?
regarding commission i find FDAX the cheapest , ES is very expensive ask-bid spread and commissions wise ...
From recollection the sp multiplier changed and eminis started traded in 1997 when the spx was in the mid 900's. Not a lot less then the current trading range by any means.