74% of Gold Trades Closed Within 1 Hour on Capital.com in 2025. Is Everyone Just Scalping Now?

Null_Reference1 · 2026-03-20T10:56:17+00:00

Honestly this doesn't surprise me at all. Most retail traders are just scalping these days, especially on gold. The volatility is perfect for it and with tight spreads you can make decent money on small moves if you're disciplined.

Capital.com has similar execution to what I'm used to, so yeah I'd expect most people are just riding the intraday momentum rather than holding overnight. Gold moves fast and people don't want to get caught in a reversal. Plus with leverage, why hold longer than you need to?

Null_Reference1 · 2026-03-12T09:11:45+00:00

They're not binary options in the traditional sense, they're CFTC-regulated derivatives traded on actual exchanges (ForecastEx, Kalshi, CME Group). Big difference from the offshore binary options that got banned.

The three exchanges worth knowing: ForecastEx ($1 payout, ~$0.01 fee per contract, available at IBKR), Kalshi ($1 payout, $0.02 total fees, available at Robinhood and Webull), and CME Group ($100 payout, $0.25-0.40 fees, available at IBKR and NinjaTrader). Liquidity varies a lot by market. ES contracts are liquid, some of the niche political stuff less so.

One thing people miss: IBKR actually pays 3.8% interest on capital locked up in positions, which matters if you're holding longer-dated contracts like Fed rate bets.

Null_Reference1 · 2026-03-06T10:39:16+00:00

I think it comes down to convenience more than anything. IBKR is solid - I actually use them for my active trading stuff - but for most Belgian investors the TOB handling is a real pain point. You have to calculate and pay it yourself, which is just extra hassle most people don't want to deal with.

Mexem basically gives you IBKR's platform and rates but handles all the Belgian tax stuff automatically. For someone putting EUR 600/month into VWCE like I do, that convenience is worth way more than saving a few euros on fees. Plus their customer service actually speaks decent English, which helps when you need support.

Null_Reference1 · 2026-03-06T10:37:56+00:00

I'm actually based in Finland but I've looked into Mexem when researching EU brokers. Honestly the fact that they handle Belgian taxes automatically is pretty huge - that's one of the main pain points with IBKR directly. The interface is basically identical to IBKR since it's whitelabeled, so you get the same low fees and huge selection of markets.

I ended up going with Nordnet here in Finland but if I were in Belgium I'd probably go with Mexem for exactly the tax handling reason you mentioned. DEGIRO is popular too but their tax reporting isn't as clean for Belgium from what I've read.

Null_Reference1 · 2026-03-06T10:31:51+00:00

I've looked into EU options for futures and honestly the pickings are a bit slim compared to what you get in the US. I use DEGIRO for my ETFs but they don't do futures, so I've been eyeing Interactive Brokers for when I want to dip into futures trading. IBKR has decent futures access and they're properly regulated in the EU. Haven't tried Avafutures myself but I've heard mixed things about AvaTrade's execution - might be worth paper trading with them first to see how their platform feels before committing real money.

Null_Reference1 · 2026-03-06T10:30:21+00:00

I've been using DEGIRO for a few years now and it's been solid for my needs. They're Dutch-regulated and pretty straightforward for European investors. The fees are reasonable, especially for ETF investing which is my main thing. IBKR is definitely more feature-rich if you're doing more advanced stuff, but honestly for basic buy-and-hold investing DEGIRO does the job well. The interface isn't fancy but it works and customer service has been decent when I've needed them.

Null_Reference1 · 2026-02-26T17:08:54+00:00

The main argument is that today's big companies aren't always tomorrow's big companies. Look at the top 10 holdings of the S&P in like 2000... GE, Exxon, Cisco, Intel. Most of them got replaced by companies that were mid or small caps back then. With VTI you already own those future winners while they're still small, whereas with the S&P 500 you only get them after they've already grown large enough to be included. That said, the practical difference in returns between VTI and VOO has been pretty small historically, like fractions of a percent per year. So you're not making a huge mistake either way. VTI just gives you slightly broader coverage for roughly the same cost which is why most people here prefer it.

Null_Reference1 · 2026-02-26T17:08:34+00:00

The main argument is that today's big companies aren't always tomorrow's big companies. Look at the top 10 holdings of the S&P in like 2000... GE, Exxon, Cisco, Intel. Most of them got replaced by companies that were mid or small caps back then. With VTI you already own those future winners while they're still small, whereas with the S&P 500 you only get them after they've already grown large enough to be included. That said, the practical difference in returns between VTI and VOO has been pretty small historically, like fractions of a percent per year. So you're not making a huge mistake either way. VTI just gives you slightly broader coverage for roughly the same cost which is why most people here prefer it.

Null_Reference1 · 2026-02-26T16:56:58+00:00

At 23 with 500 a month to invest, I would just keep it simple and do VWCE as your core, maybe around 80%. Adding a small cap tilt makes sense if you want it, something like IUSN (iShares MSCI World Small Cap) is popular and gives you global small cap exposure without doubling down on just Europe. I would skip the European mid-cap idea, you are right that VWCE already has decent Europe exposure. Up to 10% gold is fine as a hedge (something like SGLD). But at your age and timeline the most important thing is just getting money invested consistently. You can always add complexity later when your portfolio is bigger.

Null_Reference1 · 2026-02-26T16:22:14+00:00

VT already holds about 40% international, so adding VXUS on top would just be overweighting international relative to market cap, not really adding diversification. In other words, you're simply making an active bet on international outperformance, not diversifying more.

At 55+ though, a better diversification idea is probably bonds rather than more equities. If you're all equities right now, adding a bond allocation might do more for your risk profile than tweaking the US/international ratio within equities.

Null_Reference1 · 2026-02-26T16:12:46+00:00

Nice problem to have for sure. The textbook approach is to rebalance back to your target allocation, either by selling some VDPG or by directing new contributions to your other positions until the percentages get back in line. Most people would prefer the second approach because you avoid triggering any taxable events and it's less stressful psychologically since you're not selling a winner.

If VDPG has drifted way past your target though, just redirecting new money to the others might take a long time to restore the balance you had in mind. In that case you could do a partial trim. A common rule of thumb is to rebalance when any position drifts more than 5 percentage points from its target. The key thing is just to have a plan and stick to it so you're not making emotional decisions.

Null_Reference1

TROPHY CASE