I was considering going to work in a trading office but decided against it. I subscribed to a chat room for a while and it messed me all up. So did CNBC, Investor's Daily, newsletters, etc. I don't follow any of them any more. I'm sure being around a bunch of traders who are all doing different things would also tend to throw me off track and cause me to lose focus. Besides, not having to work around people I didn't particularly like very much was one of the main reasons I became a trader to begin with!
After listening to you guys...thank God I trade at home ...I don't know how you guys can put up with that kind of crap...after 5 minutes I'd be going postal! Have any of you ever seen fights break out?...Whats the worst you have ever seen on any given day?...or for that matter what is the funniest or most ridiculous thing you have ever seen while in the office?
I used to trade at a Prop/Retail firm in LA. The guys there were super nice and they went out of their way to make you feel comfortable. I left the office after a year, because the traders there were too competitive and wouldn't work as a team. If you made money in a day everyone wanted to gather around and share ideas. Everyone had comments on the market, etc. But, if you made money for a week straight and the majority didn't, people acted strangely toward you. And then when you had a losing day (after a streak) it was like they were happy to see you lose. It was kind of creepy. I went there, after trading from home for 5 years, thinking that I needed to be around other traders who have been around the block for a while only to find out that most of the traders there lost millions of dollars buying and holding throughout the bear market. Even the owner lost ridiculous amounts of cash. I have heard some stories that would make you cringe. The only thing that I really learned trading there was that most of their big traders had no knowledge of trends. They were so used to buying huge dips in the market, holding, and scoring big. When I would ask around to get a feel for everyone's trading style, I would get real basic input, like "what you need to do is set up a MACD, and when the blue line crosses the red line..." absolutely ridiculous. I am not saying that my way was the best. I did go there to bounce ideas off of people and really learn to get to the next level. But it was just a joke. Anyways, I know there are really good traders out there, and I am trying really hard to hook up with some, but you really need to give them an incentive to learn from them. They really deserve it.
I canceled my cable (most importantly CNBC) in April, and I've been on fire ever since. I strongly recommend this to anyone who always has CNBC going in the background.
i watch Bloomy on the net to wake up and catch any headlines i might miss...after a while I click 'em off and listen to some nice music. I find reading the WSJ in the am really distracts me.
I have the WSJ online, so usually I wake up in the morning and read a few major headlines (if that), and then I don't read any of it until the end of trading. I often wonder if I'm getting my money's worth. I'll have to try the music idea. usually I just listen to the radio, maybe I could become a super-trader if I played a little Mozart.
Amen! I haven't listened to CNBC during the trading day in years. I don't find any value in it at all. If it gets really slow during the day, I will turn on The History Channel and learn something while I trade... But, CNBC or MSNBC are both worthless inputs for a daytrader, IMO. I remember the 'old days' when Dan Dorfman would mention a stock on the air, and the stock would quickly several points higher. Back then, if you had a good knowledge of the company names and associated ticker symbols, AND were quick with your fingers, you could make some really good money trading CNBC news mentions. I met a guy who was making over a million a year with this 'strategy.' However, I never got into that sort of thing then, and I'm sure it's much less viable now. -Eric
<i>Whats the worst you have ever seen on any given day?</i> In the midst of a Fed announcement craziness, I had a guy pick up his keyboard and start slamming it against the desk. Each slam was punctuated by an expletive. He kept at it for a while. As the keys popped off, they did travel pretty well, probably 15-20 feet. They were flying everywhere. He really got his money's worth from the keyboard. There was not much left when he finished.