Well it depends who you are? If you've got the money you make the quality. Probably for big money owners the quality biggest money power axis of the English speaking world is London-New York-Chicago with New York seeing itself as the apex of that axis. Personally I sure as hell enjoy New York and London but then I have some fairly obscure places on my list as well since you can now trade online from most of the civilized places in the world.
I was a bit suprised myself that nobody mentioned Greece earlier in this thread. And Cyprus as well. Objectively, they're much better than some other places mentioned. With regard to the weather on the islands, it can be windy, but there's nearly 300 days of sunshine per year. No way "cold and rainy" (unless temperatures of 5-12deg Celsius are considered cold). In mainland Greece we see snow once every couple of years, lasts for a few days (and we enjoy this rare phenomenon). Actually there are thousands of islands in Greece, most (the smaller ones) are not suitable for a foreigner to live on permanently (i.e. not just May-Oct), i.e. not much social life, unless you are retired and want to relax. On the other hand, telecom infrastracture in most islands and mainland is OK (finally) and also there is ADSL (up to 1Mbps). The country is part of European Union, using the Euro currency for several years now. So, I'd say it could be an alternative for other Europeans (due to proximity to home countries, otherwise pretty much all are welcome). "Weaknesses": Overall, the country is less "organised" and "well-run" than other european countries (e.g. Austria or Netherlands) and has a rather buerocratic public sector, but this is only a hinderance if one plans to do bricks-and-mortar biz here. Whereas a trader has a virtual office and doesn't have to worry about this.
I plan to spend about 3 - 4 months out of the year in Manila, Philippines and trade during my stay there. There is more bang for your buck if you make your money in US dollars since the current exchange rate is 56 pesos to $1 (and falling). I am wary though about the reliability of internet connections in that country. Anyone has any experience trading from Manila and can comment on internet reliability for trading? Thanks.
livin's livin -Gus McCrae "Lonesome Dove" best place is wherever your hat is. worst place: a dirt bed ("heaven") every day above ground is a good day :^|