I was curious what people's home trading environments are like. I have two. My main one is a laptop at a desk in the bedroom. I usually have the radio on low, and the TV has CNBC on low. In the basement I have a desktop, again with a radio on low, and CNBC on low. I don't find the radio and tv to be distracting. Do you have a radio or tv on, or do you find them to be distracting. I am a caregiver for an elderly parent, so making breakfast and lunch, along with dealing with their needs sometimes interrupts my train of thought, but I don't mind, I enjoy the break! The only thing that is disheartening is continually answering the question, "what do you do in there?". I answer "I'm trying to make money following the market and placing trades." They're elderly and can't grasp the concept of trading online. Come to think of it, I'm having trouble grasping it too!!! So do you isolate yourself, or is there stuff going on around you while you trade? Any multi-screeners out there? Just curious.
I trade (analyze and pick strategy and place order online) mostly when the markets are closed (US and Australian) - I generally get filled during a trading session (usually due to the day's trading range) without needing to amend an order. The type of strategies I use don't require intraday monitoring. I don't usually watch the news (I find it distracting), but get a feel of what's going on by looking at the indices. I check ex div dates/announcements for stocks I'm interested in placing options on (only takes a few minutes). Have a desk top for home. I have a laptop for work. I don't trade for a living but only spend a relatively small amount of time analysing and placing trades. I do spend a lot of time studying options, especially the greeks, which are a bit like rocket science (for me anyhow). I use a combination of technical analysis and "intuition" (lol) and money management to manage my trades. In summary, I'm a rank amateur but working on getting better by staying focused on what I think is important, not what the media deems important. I also don't believe that trading should take up the best part of my day - I don't want a second "job" nor do I want to give up my current profession (I still enjoy what I'm doing, lol). daddy's boy