Suppose you could craft the perfect trading environment. What would it look like?
* Would you be trading solo or with a group of compatible traders?
* Would there be teamwork between yourself and others? What would that teamwork look like?
* Would you have access to special software, hardware, and decision support tools? What resources would you ideally want to have?
* Would you have dedicated support in your ideal environment? What would that support consist of: teaching/mentoring, coaching, programming, analytical assistance, idea sharing, camraderie?
* How would your ideal environment be laid out? Who and what would be in your space? What would your screens look like?
* What information would you be tracking in your ideal trading room? Where would this information come from? How would you access that information?
These are some of the things I find myself thinking about lately.
Most of all: How does your current trading environment differ from your ideal? How does that difference impact your performance?
.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
11 comments:
Great questions. I think one more that I would ask is the call to action..."what can/are you willing to do/change to get there?"
I believe the ideal trading environment reduces as much "noise" as possible (e.g. CNBC).
Good questions to find out especially for "lone" struggling traders like this one. But if there are some individuals who can share good ideas about trading, maybe blogging will help.
If i had about 6 LCD screens, an LCD TV (for news), a superfast computer, and $500,000 to work with then i would be happy with that and set for life.
An environment where once someone entered a trade, someone else executed the exit strategy or checked to ensure that the exit strategy was automated. It would preclude the emotional attachment to a trade, once it had been initiated.
HERES MY TAKE:
* Would there be teamwork between yourself and others? What would that teamwork look like?Would you be trading solo or with a group of compatible traders?
YES I ENJOY TRADING SOLO. WHY, I SEE THE MARKET DIFFERENT THAN MANY AND NUANCES THAT OTHERS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ACT ON THAT SERVE ME WELL.
* Would there be teamwork between yourself and others? What would that teamwork look like?
THERE IS TEAMWORK ACROSS THE NET, AS I DISCUSS TACTICS AND EVOLVING MARKET STRUCTURE OVER THE PHONE.
* Would you have access to special software, hardware, and decision support tools? What resources would you ideally want to have?
WITH MARKET DELTA AND EXCEL I HAVE EVERYTHING I NEED. WHY MAKE THINGS TO COMPLICATED WITH TO MUCH FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS?
* Would you have dedicated support in your ideal environment? What would that support consist of: teaching/mentoring, coaching, programming, analytical assistance, idea sharing, camraderie?
I AM MY OWN COACH, THATS TO SOMEONE I KNOW! IT HAS CONSISTED OF TEACHING/MENTORING, COACHING, PROGRAMMING, ANALYTICAL ASSISTANCE, IDEA SHARING AND CAMRADERIE, THANKS BRETT!
* How would your ideal environment be laid out? Who and what would be in your space? What would your screens look like?
GOT TO HAVE MY PERCUSSION SETUP CLOSE BY, GOT TO HAVE MY MUSIC, MY LIMITED EXERCISE EQUIPMENT,A PHONE, INTERNET, AND A BUNCH OF COOL ROCKS ALL OVER MY DESK WITH A MAGNIFYING GLASS! AS FOR THE SCREENS HERE IS THE SET UP ON THIS LINK:http://www.screencast.com/users/SSK/folders/TRADING%20DESK%20PICTURES
* What information would you be tracking in your ideal trading room? Where would this information come from? How would you access that information? ALL INFO IS FROM DTN IQ FEED. I TRACK THE RUSSEL, NASDAQ, SP, XLF, XLB, XLE, XLY,THE BONDS, AND THE DOLLAR, ALONG WITH OTHER COMMODITIES FROM TIME TO TIME, ETC. I WATCH A 377 TICK CHART OF THE SP, 2 MARKET PROFILE CHARTS, ONE WITH GLOBEX, THE OTHER WITH THE DAY ONLY, I USE A 5 MINUTE WITH PERCENTAGE AT PRICE THAT IS SHADED, A 5 TICK REVERSAL CHART WITH 2 PANES, ONE OF ALL TRADES, THE OTHER WITH A FILTER OF GREATER THAN 199 LOTS, THE ETFS ARE 5 MINUTE ALL ON ONE CHART, 30 MINUTE VOLUME AT PRICE WITH RELATIVE VOLUME PANE OVER 45 DAYS SHOWING MAX VOLUME FOR THE PERIOD, AND THE DELTA, AND THE NYSE TICK, 5 MINUTE WITH VOLUME BREAKDOWNS SHOWING THE DELTA WITH VWAP AND VALUE AREA AND 5 DAY AVG AND MAX RELATIVE VOLUME. ALL MY OTHER CHARTS ARE FOR HOME WORK ONLY.
* Most of all: How does your current trading environment differ from your ideal? How does that difference impact your performance?
I WOULD SAY THAT IS A TOUGH QUESTION TO ANSWER BECAUSE I HAVE NO BASIS FOR COMPARISON. I WOULD SAY BEING IN THE LONDON OR ASIAN TIME ZONE MIGHT BE BETTER, BECAUSE I SEE OPPORTUNITES IN THE GLOBEX AROUND 3 AM IN THE MORNING EASTERN. IN LONDON THAT WOULD BE AROUND 1O AM, IN ASIA, 3 PM. IN ASIA THOUGH, I COULDNT TRADE THE CLOSE, SO LONDON TIME WOULD BE THE BEST SOLUTION. I GUESS I HAVE TO MOVE! LOL, THANKS FOR THE QUERY. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK, BEST, SSK
Great questions....I'm planning on building my trading office soon.
It will be away from the house...just a short walk
It will have a semi circular trading desk in a window wall facing trees to the north so the light will be constant.
It will be quiet but have music if wanted.
Most of my hardcore analysis is done when the markets are closed, so I will only have 2 trading screens plus a laptop to keep free of clutter.
I could write an essay on what I
would have in an ideal trading environment
but, one thing I know differs from
the ideal is the fact that I cannot
monitor all the markets I would like to.
This severely limits my opportunity
to one or two markets currently.
If I had the money to expand my
infrastructure and the ability to
outsource my ideas for automation I
could extensively expand the amount
of opportunity I am exposed to daily.
My trading environment consists of a pair of 24" LCD monitors running charts and my trading program. To the right is a fast laptop for backup and general news browsing. To the left is a small laptop that runs CNBC streaming from the Slingbox, usually with the sound off.
For audio lately I have classical music (streaming from KDFC) going very softly. Oddly enough, my results have improved since I switched from listening to industrial/new wave.
My only real wish would be to have someone to collaborate with. It's very difficult having to reach all my decisions in realtime, all alone.
Pardon the late addition, but I figured I'd add my two cents.
For me, I am running a 13" laptop with a 23" monitor attached. I love the small laptop, because I can just unplug it and take it with me if i'm making lunch, or want a change of scenery. I've come from a 4- 23" monitor desktop setup and prefer this more relaxed method of trading. I've also automated alot of the strategies I use to be manually trading, so I can just let them run in the background while I calmly focus on my core trading.
I am in a quiet room with a decent view of the city and the mountains. I have a little wind chime to kind of lull me into relaxation along with Classical Music or some background noise. Other times I have some noise-cancelling headsets on my iPod, and cancel everything out.
I have my trading journal on my desk, and I take notes throughout the day about the trades I'm in, and my comments and observations about myself as I trade.
I run BloombergTV in the other room on a TV, just for general noise, and occasionally if I notice a strange move in the market i'll pay attention to what's happening there.
My office is bare bones, and since moving in here, my trading has substantially improved.
Being isolated is a blessing and a curse. I have a couple of contacts that I stay in touch with during the trading day to discuss the market, we may not see eye to eye, but we are quick to call each other out on pulling a stupid move, or remind the others of some basics. That's about as close to the trading floor as I want to be anymore.
(Long-ish post) Well, my wife wouldn't let me trade all day. She likes me too much. Fortunately for me, she's a late riser and I'm in the Mountain Time Zone. So for me, an ideal trading environment consists of a time and place to decide what trades I want to make for a day where I can write bracket orders to execute. My best results come from going to bed by 10 PM and getting up at 4:30 MDT (3 hours prior to NYSE open) to watch FINVIZ market headline feeds on the monitor and run ETF screens. (I'm following Brett's Early Bird example to some extent.) After running the screens, I take a mental break to have my quiet time, coaching time, and Total Gym time; or, I'm lesson prepping for the math classes I teach that day.
I'm finding the following software combination to be affordable and effective:
--StrategyDesk (free with AMTD account) for screening the larger ETFs,
--TheWizard.com's ETF package ($60 per month)for overall market signals, some confirmation of my screens and for setting purchase bracket values, and
--MarketVolume (Silver Level at $couple hundred per year) for index volume/price signals in the 3-month, 30-minute, and 1-minute intervals.
I bought one of Brett's books (Kindle for PC edition)"The Daily Trading Coach" for behavioral coaching, and read traderfeed posts AND links for improving trading execution.
I try to execute all purchases by 8:20 on likely favorable range days(7:20 pre-market when it looks like an exogenously-driven trend day) and limit monitoring my purchases to once per half-hour (either at work or at home) if my signals are stable and to stop watching when my positions close.
That's when my wife is happiest as well. "Happy wife, happy life....."
Post a Comment