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Strategies & Market Trends : DAYTRADING Fundamentals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Leland Charon who wrote (4164)	9/18/1999 10:48:00 AM
From: TraderAlan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18137

Leland, I've always been at home. The problem here is keeping your concentration when you're alone in the house. It's a real long day. Fortunately my web site helps me to organize my time and get away from the numbers. I use eSignal/CyberX on a 51K Earthlink connection. I have a dual modem setup but rarely use it. The numbers clog in the first 1/2 hour but I almost never trade that time anyway. I keep 6 charts, 50 quotes and a single L2 active at a time. See you Friday? I understand Dave H and his wife will be there. You're still at Polar? Alan

To: Leland Charon who wrote (4164)	9/18/1999 11:06:00 AM
From: Rick Faurot	Respond to of 18137

Leland, I have only traded at home. I am using a 256k ADSL connection. When I was starting out I looked at a SOES shop in my area. I got some useful info hanging out there one day (including discovering SI !) but concluded that commuting wasn't for me, especially as I am on the West Coast and my market day starts at 6:00 AM. My home setup is very valuable to me. The TV is close at hand if I want to see CNBC (or CNN or Kiana on ESPN <<g>>), but I can turn it off, too. I am surrounded by an awesome stereo system and there are times when playing Layla at extreme high volume is just what I need! My kitchen is right there for coffee or whatever. And I can walk out into my garden for a break and just soak up a little sun if I feel like it. I also run my construction business from the same office so having the phone and the fax right here is handy. I know I'd have learned a lot in a SOES shop but I'd have never survived the distractions, so I'll take what I've got. best regards, Rick

To: Leland Charon who wrote (4164)	9/18/1999 11:25:00 AM
From: Ken Adams	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18137

Leland, Your situation really hit close to home for me. I am seriously considering retirement at the first of the year. I don't daytrade, but I do trade almost daily. I was widowed about 5 years ago, so I am now living alone in a two story townhome. Very alone! I'm wondering if I want to be here all day, everyday, always by myself. Yet, the idea of going to an "office" each day doesn't attract me, either. I've been doing that for 35 years. I'll be real interested in what you get back on your survey. Ken

To: Leland Charon who wrote (4164)	9/18/1999 11:50:00 AM
From: marketbrief.com	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18137

hi Leland, I trade from home and always have. I have cable net access and use Qcharts and Waterhouse's webBroker. My situation is a little unique since I'm in Hongkong and trade overnight, which is especially difficult (tough to be sharp at 3 AM, no matter how much my body clock adjusts). It's true that trading from home can be extremely lonely and difficult for one's mental health. So in a way it is harder to remain focused as an at-home trader. The distractions presented by frat boys high-fiving each other in a commission mill (thx to R Estes) are very different from the distractions of home... like the wife parading through the room buck nekkid in a (futile) attempt to get your attention. Best of luck on your transition. ~Smart$

To: Leland Charon who wrote (4164)	9/18/1999 2:05:00 PM
From: Cormac	Respond to of 18137

Leland - I daytrade from home...have not traded from an office 115,200 bps ISDN (best method per my location) re: connection - am interested in advantages and disadvantages of frame relay (do not consider additional cost a primary or even secondary factor) - any input by thread would be appreciated I use a direct access software and broker IMHO - I think trading from an office vs. home is a subjective decision distractions exist in either location...just different in nature are you susceptible to "herd" mentality...easier to fall into at an office I suspect...but if a chat addict or user you can fall into that mentality probably easier from home what type/style/experience are traders in office? is there a "head" trader...what is his trading style? and do traders in office emulate his style...is there any undue pressure to do so? or are you the rare individual that benefits most from uninterrupted tunnel vision? there are strengths and weaknesses in either location, neither place will be perfect day in and day out For my individual needs: I have a wife, three children under the age of 4 1/2 and a 80 yr old Mother (stroke victim) living with me. Daytrading from home enables me to meet my financial responsibility and meet the needs of my family...in one neatly wrapped package. Where else can I leave my "job" for a minute, a day, or a week at a time to meet a necessary responsibility, or a voluntary "want" at a moments notice...even if in a position - I can always exit in a few seconds...there will always be another trade. For me it is the best possible scenario - given my individual situation, needs and lifestyle. off the subject - Alan, you wrote a great post #4162 OZ's suggestion to find a location that will allow both remote and in-office trading is a great idea. Cormac

To: Leland Charon who wrote (4164)	9/18/1999 2:27:00 PM
From: Dan Clark	Respond to of 18137

Leland, I trade from home. Wouldn't think of trading from an office. Too much noise! I have an ISDN line running at 112Kb. I use QCharts for charting and CyberX for Order Entry. Great combination. Relatively inexpensive and reliable. Good trading and regards, Dan.

To: Leland Charon who wrote (4164)	9/18/1999 3:57:00 PM
From: Tai Jin	Respond to of 18137

I trade at home, but I also have a day job. Perhaps one advantage to trading at a daytrading outfit is the sharing of ideas. I don't have any news source other than Briefing.com, so I'll miss out on many news related moves. I suppose one can monitor chat rooms for trading ideas. But it does help to have another trader around for a second opinion. I chat online with a couple of trader friends for that reason and also to share ideas. I think it has worked out well so far. It is very convenient as I can just roll out of bed and start trading. I have ADSL which works great except for the occasional line error (causing connections to be broken). The trading software (MB Trader) is great except that the frequency of software/server failures is more than I'd like to see. And these failures can happen at very inopportune times. ...tai

To: Leland Charon who wrote (4164)	9/18/1999 3:57:00 PM
From: KM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18137

I'm at home too. I'd be doing time by now if I had to trade from one of those soes shops. I have my basket of stocks which I am very familiar with so I don't need to hear everyone yelling about the fad of the day. I have a standard dialup 56k (running 52k consistently) and I use RTIII via MB Trading. Southwestern Bell finally is offering DSL here so I'll be getting that soon. I have two computers, two ISPs, two trading cats, two trading dogs . . . . you get the picture. P.S. Where can I find a buff stud to parade around in front of me half nekkid to distract me <G>?

To: Leland Charon who wrote (4164)	9/18/1999 5:26:00 PM
From: RC Stein	Respond to of 18137

Hi Leland. I also trade at home with a standard 56k line. The lack of speed doesn't really hurt me since I mostly swing/position trade, but as KM said, SWB and others keep saying they are bringing in high speed lines in a few months. I also use QCHARTS so the alarms allow me to move around without having to stare at the screen all day. The good part about trading from home is NOT having to drive to an office, I did that for 30 years and hated it. Its also nice to take a break whenever you want, run errands, handle personal business and so forth. The bad news is that I'm single and between girlfriends so I may go 3-4 days without seeing another human being. I do talk on the phone daily to other traders locally and family members but its not the same as human contact, but all things considered, it still beats the daily grind to and from the office. RCS

To: Leland Charon who wrote (4164)	9/18/1999 9:52:00 PM
From: Matthew L. Jones	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18137

Leland, I traded from a private office until last year. Nice office. I had an accountant, a secretary, a couple of research people. Great setup. I managed a small ($2.3M) private hedge fund. I "blew up" during the market crash last October 8. Miscalculated the bottom by a few percentage points and the leverage killed me (good lesson on margin). Lost about 90-95%. Anyway, due to my small remaining balance I was forced to quit leasing the nice office suite and moved to an office I built at my house. Lost the overhead too so I started working alone. (Keep it small and keep it all.) Because I now only had a small balance I was forced to look at short term swing and day trading. I actually prefer trading from home, however, I'm extremely independent and highly self motivated. I get up about 4:45AM every day and have my quiet time and go running. I eat breakfast and am in front of my computers and CNBC by 7AM. I use two separate computers on a six computer network (the kid's and my wife's computer are on the same network although in the school room) to do my trading. For internet connection I use three separate 56K external modems controlled by a network device called a webramp. I have two Earthlink accounts and one AT&T account (ISP's) so I am running the equivalent of 168K connection with mucho throughput. True connection speed is more like 150-155K plus the benefit of redundancy. I highly recommend this setup. I have two separate quote services (both with level 2). One is Interquote and one is Realtick 3 through AB Watley. I use direct access (obviously) and having redundancy is once again a real benefit when things always go wrong when you have a big position in a critical place in a fast market! <ggg> The quotes are provided through two separate vendors (PC Quote and S&P Comstock) which keeps them both honest. If one lags, I let them know immediately and often they give me credit for data fees if they are consistently have a problem. Believe it or not, AB Watley is the one that has more problems (and they use RT3). Having multiple computers helps as well. I can keep one dedicated for trading, while I have Quicken, Netscape (SI), email, etc. open on the other machine. I can be looking for stocks (screens), news, research, etc. while watching a position. My office is where I spend much of my life so it is NICE. I don't allow interruptions (unless it is really important). It is as though I went to my private office down town. It truly is THE ultimate trading environment. I have no idea how anyone can make a living in the SOES shops I have seen on CNBC and on news shows. I would probably go insane and start shooting people as well <ggg>! I've never been much of a crowd follower anyway, so the hyped up environment would flash me back to basic training in the Army. No thanks. I would say, for anyone who has plenty of self discipline, there is no substitute for trading from a home office. Matt