This article is an example of how stupid reporters are. Read the article carefully, they call him a "trader" but then say he has loyal customers. Pit traders don't have customers. BROKERS have customers. This guy was a floor broker, not a trader. He's a broker with no college degree. Basically, that means he has no P&L to show another trading company and no education. So, unless he finds another job as a floor broker, he is qualified to be a janitor. Floor brokers are going the way of the dodo bird anyway. I feel for the guy, but that's the reality. Don't quit school.
Locals trade for their own accounts. That's not the point here. The guy was not a trader to begin with. He was a floor broker and brokers aren't traders.
Read the article. He did save money, but he was fired two years ago and his savings is just now running out. All in all, except for not finishing college and buying instead of renting in NYC, this guy was pretty responsible.
now that the dude got featured in WSJ and on ET, can't he "write" a book about his life and make it in the end?
So this guy just works for the commissions? If you are in the busuness you would think you would know how to trade your own account for side income.