I don’t think the outfit nor the venue nor the period traded impacts my position here. If you treat trading as a business then like any business you need to evaluate the opportunity cost of your decisions.
Of course...if you treat trading like a business you should evaluate the opportunity cost of trade decisions. Yet, those that do treat trading as a business instead of a hobby or academic pursuit...they're most likely not trading in their underwear nor scalping. In fact, with today's technology of laptops, tablets, wifi hotspots and mobile personal wifi connections, etc...more and more traders are mobile (not trading from home)...less likely to be trading in their underwear. wrbtrader
If you follow the method you have built and you make money then you are successful! For me what has held me back is the difference between believing and saying you believe, it's easy to say you believe something but it has to become a part of you to truly believe! Any person can do whatever they put their heart and soul into as long as they are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals ! I think the main goal should be to follow your method and be observant enough to take what the market is giving you
I have the opposite view... Technology allows MORE "traders" to conduct business in their underwear. Location is much less of a necessity... under an umbrella on the beach rather than an office. This applies equally to hobbyists and professionals. The minimum tech to trade from anywhere is within reach of, dare I say, all, who have the resources to fund a live account. Trading style/methodology is not dependent on the location... scalping can be done while sitting on the porcelain throne, as easily as most any other style of trading. However, trade complexity may dictate differing sophistication levels of needed (or desired) technology.
Every trader that I know that has invested in today's technology (laptops, tablets, portable personal wifi hotspots, international roaming cell phone plans, etc) along with treating their trading like a business... They are not at home trading in their underwear. They are mobile for a reason. Yet, I do know a few that have traded while sitting on a beach although they admitted its a big distraction in comparison to just trading from their hotel/resort balcony. I even know two traders that travel/trade from their RV although I consider them to be more hobbyist or academia...not trading as a business. Never said trading was dependent upon location. Yet, I've never met a retail scalper nor professional scalper that has traded from the toilet although I did meet a guy once that was checking stock market quotes & watching bloomberg news on his tablet (looked like a iPad Pro 10.5) while walking out of a bathroom at a famous museum... I didn't see any market depth screens, DOM nor tick charts...typically used by a scalper. wrbtrader
Nice pics but I would like to see traders on the toilet or even in a bathroom with market screens or some charts pulled up...heck...even a quote screen. Yet, the woman surrounded by ipad & iphones while in the shower looks a little like my girlfriend (a nurse). wrbtrader
Thanks guys for the responses.. One thing I know from past experience is that trying to squeeze more out of the market than what its providing often leads to b/e or losing days. 1 or 2 well placed trades is all I need. I try to keep my win rate very high. But at the same time, I'd love to be able to blast away 4-5 trades in the morning session and come away with a nice chunk. Didn't trade today. I don't like trading new years eve. In recent years, its a sloppy low volume mess. I'll begin trading again Wednesday. Right now, I'm going to continue slow and steady. Every $2,000 I earn, I will increase my contract size. $2k per contract. Volume leads price ! That's what helped me round the corner to profitability. Every bar and its accompanied volume is a piece to the puzzle right at that 9:30am bell. How volume and price interact at different turning points tells me how to react. Some people find no use in volume but I found a way to make it work for me. For me its useful when trading with smaller time frames or faster tick based charts. My goal now is to take it one trade at a time. Its easy to fantasize about $10-$20k trading months as I do it often to keep my eye on the prize. Its harder and more boring to focus on making less unforced errors, yet that's critical.
Just an update. January has been good to me so far ! One issue I'm having is with trading my PnL. I've hidden it, but I still somewhat know where I'm at. And on Friday I'm trading 'weekly goals' instead of taking good trades. Like today, I traded conservatively b/c I only needed 2 NQ points to hit my weekly goal. Missed out on a lot of movement b/c of that. I've also been guarding my profits. Took a lot of effort making this $ the past few months. Started trading too conservatively in other ways to protect my account. I'll get through this. Just some psychological battles. All in all, there's room for improvement. +$300 per contract trading 4 out of the 5 days this week. Not bad not great. Week before was slightly better. Slowly getting there.