A trader who trades for small, short-term profits during the course of a trading session, rarely carrying a position overnight. Chicago Board of Trade glossary
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A floor trader who buys and sells quickly to take advantage of small price fluctuations. Usually a scalper is ready to buy at the bid and sell at the asked price, providing liquidity to the market. The term "scalper" is used because these traders attempt to " scalp" a small amount on a trade. The CENTER ONLINE Futures Glossary
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A speculator on an exchange floor who trades in and out of the market on very small price fluctuations. The scalper, trading in this manner, provides market liquidity but seldom carries a position overnight. Chicago Mercantile Exchange Glossary
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1. to buy tickets for an event and sell them again at a much higher price:
• guys that scalp tickets outside the stadium
2. FINANCE to buy and quickly sell small quantities of Securities (= bonds, shares etc), in order to make small but fast profits:
• Traders try to scalp profits as contract prices rise and fall.
— scalper noun [countable] :
• Fans were willing to pay scalpers up to $1,500.
— scalping noun [uncountable] :
• Super Bowl ticket scalping
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scalper UK US /ˈskælpər/ noun [C] INFORMAL
► US COMMERCE someone who buys things, such as theatre tickets, at the usual price and then sells them when they are difficult to get at much higher prices: »
What happens to the people caught buying tickets from a scalper?
► FINANCE someone who buys small quantities of shares, bonds, etc. and then sells them quickly in order to make a small profit
Financial and business terms. 2012.