That's an excellent point. Let me add, if you truly enjoy trading and intend on being great at it, there is no greater feeling than being around others who share your passion. You read books on it, you pour over news and information on it, over time it's almost all you know or can think to talk about. So when someone comes up to you and says did you catch American Idol last night or some other pop culture show, you might be thinking, no I was reviewing some economic news. So there you are wanting to talk about the economic news and how it relates to trading and they want to talk about American Idol! Being around traders, even the worst traders on the planet, who at least have a passion for it, is still a great feeling. Just to know there are others out there that would get what you are saying, maybe even question you a bit and challenge your thinking on a few issues. That is a huge plus of working in a office. I could just imagine the trading stories that go around at those get togethers at bars after work. I have a few that I could tell as I'm sure you have a few you could tell too. Most people would never get them. They'd think what are you talking about? Level 2? That's why this message board is so popular. What you have to ask yourself though, is if you are working with a select group of traders and are exchanging ideas, don't you think they are more likely to share more sensitive information with a smaller group than with a bunch of people they don't know on the internet? You are just going to get much more info, more ideas and more synergy. Sure working remote could work if you are anti-social and would rather work in your underwear and like talking to yourself. Let me just say that there is something great about being long a position when someone else is short that exact same position and hearing why they are short and them hearing why you are long that really expands your perspective. Everyone would also agree that there is always someone out there who has more experience trading and is more knowledgable than you in certain areas. You would be a fool to not think that. If you can get access to a great group, like you stated floor traders, you are basically guaranteed to pick up a few things it would take you years to pick up on your own through experience and trial and error. It's just not the same. I don't think it even compares. I have even said in the past, I don't think anyone should trade who's never worked in the financial industry because they don't know enough. Some people would scoff at this comment but I personally feel that anyone who's worked in this industry, especially as a floor trader, has a huge edge over those who never have. And you sure as hell aren't going to find all that great information in books or on message boards. But I guarantee you may get a few gems from them over a few drinks in a private conversation!
Some of this argument (discussion...LOL) imo also has a lot to do with what level a particular trader is at in his profitability. If you are very profitable you might want to be more isolated and less distracted with managing the systems you already have. For the trader that is not as profitable, they may want the group synergy more for the development of the trading style they are trying to advance. I can think of many pro's and con's for both options from my experiences, as I sit here typing in my trading room (a darkened walk-in closet off my master bedroom....oh, wait just a second....yes honey I will hang your bra up for you on the third shelf just left of your shoe rack).....OK, back again, what was the discussion about?
Maverick 74 wrote: A couple years ago when I was in Vegas for the week-long orientation, they were pushing the Office like no one's business. In fact, Bob said he "worried" about traders that wanted to trade remote. Regardless of the individual truth, 180 degree turn...
So you acknowledge offices are more profitable as a whole. So what's the problem then? Aren't you in the business of having profitable traders?
That's interesting because I heard something similar in the past. Maybe Bob will chime in with a response to this?
Bob did chime in in person when he spoke at the Dallas AFTA meeting this spring on the subject of why the Dallas office closed. He stated to the affect that most of the traders in the Dallas office at the time were wanting to trade remotely versus coming into the office so over time the numbers in the office dwindled as folks were allow to start trading from home. Maybe there are more people now who like to go to an office than back when the office closed. I visited the office several times back when they had the grand opening and later on to see for myself if I wanted to trade out of the bright office(At the time I was trading out of the All-Tech office in Addison). Personally being raised in Dallas the last place I want to drive to is the intersection of 75 and 635 especially during the time that the office was open because of all of the High Five construction that was going on. The area including many side streets could be parking lots for long periods. The road that ran next to the Bright office (Coit Road) could take four or five cycles of the light at the service road of 635 just to move a hundred feet. However I can't say driving to the All-Tech office was anymore enjoyable. Addison has it's own traffic problems. The Protrader office was evening further down 75 towards Walnut Hill with just as bad a traffic problem then they moved it to one of the high rise towers by the Galleria. Another bad traffic area. There was a Momentum office in Plano that was fairly easy to get to but my time spent there was during the top of the bubble where it was a free for all in that office. People didn't really help each other, just talked about how much money they were making. Helping people wasn't in the cards at Momentum from what I was seeing. I trade out of the 800daytrade office off of Preston and Campbell area until they move that office up off of 190 then eventually sold it. After that I just traded from the house and haven't look back. I trade with a private group of traders over the internet using voice and chart display software. For me it's about the same as being in an outside office. If people here on ET that live in Dallas that really want to start an office should get together and assembly a business plan and approach some of the prop shops about seeing if there is an interest in starting a Dallas office. My two cents worth. With inflation that 's more like 1.34 cents. Good luck and good trading. Bsulli
OK, again it seems we need some clarification. Back in the 1990's, it cost quite a lot of money to have proper broadband connections for our traders...as much as $20K or more per month. As time went on, and broadband became available at home, more traders stayed at home. We had around 40 locations at one point. When the leases came due, we simply asked the traders if they wanted to keep the office or simply trade remotely...most chose remote. We went from less than 25 remotes to a couple of hundred...and it's still our biggest growth segment. We've kept the offices where the traders wanted to keep them open, and gracefully closed when the leases were up a the others....not a big deal...others have been doing the same. PS: We have affiliated offices, and would be glad to listen to any business plan that makes sense!! All the best, Don
Are any of those offices still open? Wouldn't you say that the construction has cleared up considerably since then at all of those locations? If that was an issue, it's definitely not as bad.
There are a few people in this thread that are considering opening a prop shop in Dallas. I am sure they are going to be thrilled to know you are open to the idea as well. One of the benefits of affiliating with Bright Trading...you get to travel to the home office in Vegas for manager meetings. So you can tell the wife you are going to Vegas for business? I could just imagine how great that would be.