Thoughts on private/retail trading as an advantage to office based/corporate trading

[MrPaul]

I thought I would start a thread on the ADVANTAGES of retail/private trading.

Feel free to add...

The ability to customize the workspace in fine detail (colors/space/smells etc.)

No one watching over your shoulder, no one to report to.

Ability to practice relaxation techniques that may seem intrusive or distracting in an office
setting.

The choice of complete silence, talk, or even music.

The flexibilty to leave your desk at any moment, for any reason, without notice.

Your choice of attire is limited only by your imagination. No dress code.

Your trading machine is not dictated by office politics (as customized as you want it, with
the platform you are most comfortable with, and the indicators you utilize the most)

You don't have to feel pressured to trade, or be in the market constantly (the 9:30-4:00 grind)

[walterw]

Resuming... Trading your own acct = pure enjoyment ¡¡

No doubt that once you master a method and trade it for yourself on the confort of your home, trading, probably is one of the most confortable careers in the world.

cheers Walter.

[Soultrader]

Interesting thread Paul, I will add a few comments from my exprience.

Advantages of a retail trader:

- Flexibility of trading tools. Insititutions require traders to use tools that they have only. Third party add-ons are unlikely to get approved.

- The level of noise. Retail traders can enjoy their choice of dead silence or loud noise such as listening to pit noise.

- I found this to be most important. The FLEXIBILITY OF TRADES. A retail trader can easily call it a day after 2 morning trades. Insitutional trading requires you to sit there and trade all day. (leads to poor setups)

- The flexibility of the financial instruments and markets you choose to trade.

- Politics as usual.

With the current technology and information retail traders have sufficient tools and knowledge to compete evenly in this game. Although there are definitely disadvantages for retail traders (mainly information distribution), retail traders have an edge in terms of flexibility. I think trading tools and equipment retail traders now use are more sophisticated than insitutional traders. Also due to the size of the trades, retail traders are able to get in and out easily.

[Nick1984]

Advantages of institutional traders:

-Superior information collation and dissemination
-Large capital reserves (you can afford to make a few mistakes!)
-Highly Competitive environment forces you to be good or you loose your job!
-Friday night drinks at that lane way bar after nailing a nice move
-Chicks dig guys in nice suits

[Soultrader]

	Quote:	Nick1984
	Advantages of institutional traders: -Superior information collation and dissemination -Large capital reserves (you can afford to make a few mistakes!) -Highly Competitive environment forces you to be good or you loose your job! -Friday night drinks at that lane way bar after nailing a nice move -Chicks dig guys in nice suits

So true... lol

[OAC]

	Quote:	Nick1984
	-Chicks dig guys in nice suits

I don't know about other countries, I think dress code for all traders in the U.S. is casual.

[MrPaul]

	Quote:	OAC
	I don't know about other countries, I think dress code for all traders in the U.S. is casual.

It may be in prop firms or other structures like that. But in many banks/funds/institutions it's formal work dress

[OAC]

Back in the 90s, I remember every Friday was a casual day for everybody on Wall Street. When you are in the center of the financial universe, you don't need to prove anything. i think financial people outside of Wall Street dress up to look the part. If I had to dress up, I wouldn't just throw on a tie, I would put on a suspender too.

[walterw]

I love my pijamas in winter and my swimsuit in summer lol...

[Soultrader]

We had casual Fridays also and our dress code was extremely casual during the rest of the days. It makes you wonder why do we even have casual Fridays? But this is only for the trading floor.

However, I chose to go in a suit everyday. And yes, we had the typical Gordon Gecko suspender looking managers as well.