Guide 14.2
Intermediate, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on .
In short
Log in to TWS or IB Gateway and start Scalpel before 04:00 ET, check MODE and your risk settings, then let the IBKR scanner find the gappers as the pre-market opens. Shortlist names with a real catalyst and no fresh dilution, load two to four onto trader desks, and trade small while the book is thin. Stop when your plan or your daily loss limit says so, not when the bell rings.
Scalpel is built first for the pre-market, 04:00 to 09:30 ET, when small caps with news can move 30% before most people are at their desks. That window rewards preparation: the scanner, the intel and your desks should be ready before the first gapper prints. This routine is a starting point; adjust the times to your own day.
The method behind it is small-cap momentum, in the style taught by Ross Cameron of Warrior Trading: stocks gapping up on news, with low float and heavy relative volume, traded with hotkeys off Level 2 and the tape, with a small fixed risk and a daily loss limit. Guide 14.6 explains the method and how Scalpel maps to it. Scalpel is independent software and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ross Cameron or Warrior Trading. Trading this way carries a significant risk of loss and is very difficult; many people who try it lose money.
Before you start
Start TWS or IB Gateway and log in (approve the two-factor prompt on your phone), then start Scalpel. Check the IBKR pill in the status bar reads Connected. Both IBKR programs need a fresh login every day unless you set up their auto-restart.
Check MODE in the header: SIM while you are practising, LIVE only with the red LIVE ORDERS badge showing and your mind made up (guide 6.2). DAILY P&L and the daily loss limit count from New York midnight in both modes, so the day starts clean on its own (guide 7.1).
Open Settings > Risk and decide the day's numbers while you are calm: Daily loss ($) (and Auto-flatten on daily loss if you want the exit forced), Fat-finger ($) and Max position ($). Then Settings > Sizing for your four buy presets; a fixed dollar risk per button keeps every trade the same size of loss (guide 4.2). Check Extended-hours fills is on in Settings > Trading: pre-market buys need it. Your exits do not: every LIVE sell, stop exits included, is always sent for extended hours.
At 04:00 the voice says "Pre-market is open. Good luck!" Put one empty desk on SCAN (the toggle in its header; a desk that is the only one showing a position stays a trader desk) with an IBKR scanner panel; add High-of-day momentum and Running up panels if you have the room (guide 8.3).
The IBKR scanner runs five of IBKR's own scans at once (top gainers, 3 minute volume spikes, halts, hot by volume and gappers) and merges them into one live list, ranked by percent change. Gappers stays empty until 09:30; Top gainers counts the pre-market move from the start. To match the momentum criteria, set Settings > Connection > IBKR scanner to Price min 2, Price max 20 and Min change % 10 (the default).
SEC EDGAR holds most filings submitted after 17:30 ET until the next morning, so an offering priced last night often reaches you as a 424B filing around 06:00. Scalpel watches the live filings feed every 5 seconds from 06:00 ET. Glance at the INTEL column for red chips like Selling 21h and Warrants near on anything you like (guide 9.2).
For each name near the top of the list, read across the row:
| What you want | Where it shows in Scalpel |
|---|---|
| A price of roughly $2 to $20 | PRICE, kept in range by the scanner's Price min and Price max |
| Up 10% or more | CHG% and the rank |
| Volume about 5x normal or more | RVOL (relative volume, against IBKR's 90-day average) |
| A real reason to move | A catalyst chip such as FDA 4m or Deal 2h; hover it for the headline (guide 9.4) |
| A small supply of shares | SHS OUT (shares outstanding from SEC filings; IBKR does not provide float) |
| Nobody about to sell stock into you | No red dilution chips (guide 9.5) |
| Shorts who may have to buy | SQZ and the borrow chips (guide 8.4) |
Fewer, better names beat a screen full of tickers.
Click a scanner row to load it onto a desk, or use the small squares on the row to send it to a particular desk. A scanner toast can be clicked to load the symbol too. On each desk, note the pre-market high and where price sits against VWAP (anchored at 04:00, so pre-market volume counts).
Pre-market books are thin and spreads are wide. Your marketable limit only fills inside its offset, a 1,000-share clip can walk the asks, and a stop-out can slip. Use your smallest risk preset, watch the Level 2 and the tape, and let the stop do its job: Scalpel's app-monitored stops are built for this session, where stop orders at the broker cannot work (guide 5.1).
At 07:00 the voice calls "Mid-morning open." Volume usually builds through the pre-market; new names and setups keep calling out from your scan panels. Before 09:30, decide what you hold into the open. At 09:30 you hear "The market is open. Good luck out there!" and the Gappers scan starts filling.
Stop when you hit your daily goal, your daily loss limit or your trade count, whichever comes first. Then open Analytics and look at NET P&L BY HOUR (ET) under Breakdowns: over a few weeks it shows which part of the morning actually pays you (guide 6.4).