To be the best you need to love what you do. To be able to get into that enhanced state of learning where you lose sense of time and it doesn't feel like doing homework in high school. Scalping is accessible to everyone and easy to try out, but trading anything else is not - so you would never really know if your suited until you try.
I know what trading at an arcade prop firm consists of:
watching the DOM for 8 hours, reviewing trade statistics and videos - maybe researching new markets and doing some occasional backtesting (or getting someone to do it for you).
But what about an options MM? where does there edge come from? do they also have something similar to a depth ladder displaying order flow which they get a feel for?
And an IB prop trader - they are dealing with such a large range of instruments, I don't think they would be watching any sort of ladder. Is the day spent mostly talking to people about market conditions, environment and being able to gauge other players positions? is the edge coming from something less analytical (observing numbers on a depth ladder) and something more social (getting close to large traders / HF's and getting and idea for how they are positioned and what they are about to do) ?
I'm just curious as to the difference. The basic activity is the same, but I think the way it is conducted is completely different. Just like the guy down the street running a noodle bar chain is a trader - other traders use completely different and unrelated skill-sets.
I know what trading at an arcade prop firm consists of:
watching the DOM for 8 hours, reviewing trade statistics and videos - maybe researching new markets and doing some occasional backtesting (or getting someone to do it for you).
But what about an options MM? where does there edge come from? do they also have something similar to a depth ladder displaying order flow which they get a feel for?
And an IB prop trader - they are dealing with such a large range of instruments, I don't think they would be watching any sort of ladder. Is the day spent mostly talking to people about market conditions, environment and being able to gauge other players positions? is the edge coming from something less analytical (observing numbers on a depth ladder) and something more social (getting close to large traders / HF's and getting and idea for how they are positioned and what they are about to do) ?
I'm just curious as to the difference. The basic activity is the same, but I think the way it is conducted is completely different. Just like the guy down the street running a noodle bar chain is a trader - other traders use completely different and unrelated skill-sets.