Scalpel is opinionated software. It does one job: long-only scalping of US stocks, built first for the pre-market (04:00 to 09:30 New York time), driven by keyboard and sound, on the data you already get from Interactive Brokers. It does not short, and it does not trade futures, options or crypto or place trades for you, and it almost certainly never will. If you want those, TWS or another platform will serve you better.
Most trading platforms try to do everything. Scalpel does not, on purpose. Every screen, key and default is shaped around one style of trading: fast small-cap momentum, in for seconds or minutes, out with a stop already set. This page explains what that style is, what Scalpel leaves out and why, where the ideas come from, and whether it is the right tool for you.
What Scalpel is for
What it means in practice
US stocks, long only
Buy, scale out, get out. Every sell is capped to the shares you hold, so a mistyped key can never put you short (guide 7.3)
Momentum scalping
Small caps that are moving now, on news and heavy volume. Not investing, not swing trading
The pre-market first
Built for 04:00 to 09:30 ET, when gappers make many of their biggest moves and ordinary tools struggle. It works in regular hours and after hours too
Keyboard and sound
Every action has a key, every fill and exit is spoken, and the tape can be heard, so your eyes stay on the book
07:41:12 ETPre-market
D1TRADERABCDPRE
FDA 4mAbcd Receives FDA Approval for Lead Candidate
Can diluteShelf on file (S-3)
Hard to shortFew shares left to borrow
CHART
10s1m5m1h1d
Above VWAP, EMAs upBroke the range high
BuyShares v$571100 sh$1.4k250 sh$2.9k500 sh$5.7k1000 sh
Offset-10c+
SellFull1/21/41/2 Ask1/2 MidB/ETrailCancel
Offset-10c+
123
One desk at 07:41 ET: the desk header reads PRE 1 for the pre-market, the chart carries the open position with its stop and target 2, and every button on the order bar has a key 3. Demo data.
The pre-market focus runs through the whole app. The scanner includes pre-market movers from 04:00 (guide 8.3). The chart's VWAP starts at 04:00 ET, not at the open (guide 3.5). Orders are open from 04:00 to 20:00 ET. And the stops live in the app, because before the open a stop order at your broker cannot protect you (guide 5.5).
What it will not do, and why
Scalpel does not support shorting, futures, options, crypto or automated trading, and we do not plan to add them. Each one would pull the app away from the job it does well.
No shorting. Long-only is a design choice, not a missing feature. Every sell is checked against the shares you hold and capped to them, in SIM and LIVE, so a double-tapped exit or a stop firing during a manual sell can never flip you short. Shorting small caps also brings borrow fees, locates and squeezes, a different trade altogether.
No futures, options or crypto. They need different data, margin rules, sizing and order types. A cockpit tuned for small-cap stocks would be a worse tool for all of them.
No automation. There is no auto trader. Every order is a key you pressed or a stop you set. The only orders Scalpel sends on its own are the exits for the levels you armed, and Flatten All if you turn on auto-flatten at your daily loss limit.
BuyShares v$571100 sh$1.4k250 sh$2.9k500 sh$5.7k1000 sh
Offset-10c+
SellFull1/21/41/2 Ask1/2 MidB/ETrail
Offset-10c+
No long position to sell
Long only in practice: with no position the sell buttons are grey, and a sell key is refused with No long position to sell. Demo data.
If you need any of these, keep TWS or another platform for them. Scalpel can run alongside TWS on the same account.
Where the style comes from
Scalpel stands on ideas many traders already know. Scalpel is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ross Cameron, Warrior Trading, DAS or Aggr.trade.
Small-cap momentum, as Ross Cameron teaches it at Warrior Trading. Pre-market gappers with fresh news, low float and heavy relative volume; patterns like gap and go and the micro pullback; hotkeys, Level 2 and the tape; a small fixed risk per trade and a hard daily loss limit. Guide 14.6 maps the method to Scalpel's scanner, intel, keys and stops.
A DAS-style Level 2 montage. Bids left, asks right, one row per venue, each price level in its own colour band, the layout many momentum traders learned on DAS Trader. Guide 3.7 shows how to read who is doing what in it.
Tape sound, inspired by Aggr.trade. Every print becomes a sound: buys in your right ear, sells in your left, a block trade with its own shape, so you hear the flow speed up before you see it (guide 3.4).
No extra subscriptions
A momentum setup usually means a data feed, a charting subscription and a scanner service on top of your broker. We did not want that for our traders. Scalpel runs on what you already have through Interactive Brokers, plus free public sources:
You need
Where Scalpel gets it
Extra cost
Quotes, Level 2 and the tape
Your IBKR market data
None beyond what you pay IBKR, including its depth add-on for Level 2 (guide 1.6). No separate feed such as Massive.com (formerly Polygon.io)
Charts
IBKR's own price history, drawn with TradingView's free, open-source Lightweight Charts library
None. No TradingView subscription
A scanner
IBKR's own market scanner over your TWS connection (guide 8.1)
None. No scanner service to rent
News
The news providers on your IBKR account
None beyond your IBKR account
Filings, dilution, short interest
SEC EDGAR, FINRA and Nasdaq, all free and public (guide 9.1)
None
Sharper headline grading (optional)
Your own OpenAI key
A few cents a day, only if you add one
The risk, said plainly
Who it suits, and who it does not
Scalpel suits you if:
you trade, or want to learn to trade, US small caps on the long side, in and out within minutes;
you are up before the open, because that is when your stocks move;
you have an Interactive Brokers account with live US market data, or will get one;
you want keys for everything and are willing to practise in SIM until they are automatic;
you want a stop on every trade without placing one by hand.
It is not for you if:
you short, or trade futures, options, forex or crypto;
you want a bot or signals that trade for you;
you invest or swing trade over days and weeks: TWS does that well, for free;
you want to trade with no risk of loss. No tool offers that.
Where to go next
Guide 5.5: why the stops live in the app, and what that means for your trades.
Guide 3.7: reading the players on the DAS-style montage.
Guide 14.6: the momentum method Scalpel is built around.
No. Scalpel is long only by design: every sell is capped to the shares you hold, so it can never put you short. We do not plan to add shorting.
Does Scalpel trade futures, options or crypto?
No, only US stocks, and that is unlikely to change. Use TWS or another platform for other markets; Scalpel can run alongside TWS on the same account.
Does Scalpel trade automatically?
No. There is no auto trader. Every order is a key you press. The only orders it sends on its own are the exits for stops and targets you armed, and an optional flatten at your daily loss limit.
Do I need extra data or charting subscriptions?
No. Scalpel uses your Interactive Brokers market data, Level 2, tape, scanner and news, plus free SEC, FINRA and Nasdaq data. You still pay IBKR for the market data you use. An OpenAI key for headline grading is optional.
Is Scalpel affiliated with Ross Cameron or Warrior Trading?
No. Scalpel is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ross Cameron, Warrior Trading, DAS or Aggr.trade. It is inspired by the publicly known momentum style and tools many traders use.
Does Scalpel work in regular hours?
Yes. It is built pre-market first, but it works from 04:00 to 20:00 ET: the pre-market, regular hours and after hours.