As the name suggests, a day trading room is a space where financial traders spend most of their time. They conduct research and implement their trades inside the room. While the room can be in a real office space, most day traders use their spare rooms. Others use their garages, while yet another group of traders use their study as the main trading room. In this article, we will look at the best strategy for setting up your trading room and identify everything that you need.
Internet connection
A stable and fast internet connection is one of the essential things you should have in your forex day trading office. That’s because you want to receive information as soon as possible. You also want to have minimal downtime during your day trading sessions.
A few years ago, a good friend of mine traveled to India for a holiday. Since forex trading can be done anywhere, he decided to keep trading in his hotel room. One day, while having dinner, he decided to open a trade on his laptop. Shortly afterward, there was an internet hitch in the hotel room. He couldn’t trade or even keep track of his trades. In short, he lost a substantial amount of money.
Fortunately, the cost of the internet in the United States has come down substantially in recent years. For example, in San Francisco, about 200 Mbps from Xfinity goes for about $54. The maximum package by AT&T is about $60 for 1000 Mbps. This means that any serious day trader can afford to have a fast internet connection.
We recommend that you have two internet providers. You can pay for the premium package from your main provider and a smaller package from the other provider. Doing this will help you be online on a 24-hour basis.
Further, we recommend that you use an ethernet cable to connect to the Internet. In my experience, I have observed that such cables are usually faster than Wi-Fi.
Fast computers
A fast internet connection with mediocre computers is counterproductive. Instead, we recommend that you invest substantially in having an excellent computer. Windows and Macs are all equally good.
Ideally, you should ensure that the computer has a fast processor and enough storage. In most cases, you should go for one with a minimum of Intel i5 processor or its equivalent in AMD.
Having a fast computer will help reduce your downtime. It will also ensure that your computer boots on time and does not hang.
Because of how fast the online trading market works, it is possible to miss out on opportunities just because the computer took a lot of time to boot.
Further, for advanced day traders, we recommend that you have several monitors in your trading room. Personally, I use four monitors in my office.
I use the main monitor to conduct technical and fundamental analysis. It also houses my main charting and trading platforms. The second screen has several important terminals that I use, including Webull and Reuters Eikon. The other monitor has other data points that I track every day. These include the economic, earnings, IPO, and lock-up expiration calendars.
Having multiple desktops has made me more productive. It has also made it easier for me to spot and execute trades within a short period.
Fortunately, you can find relatively affordable desktop monitors on Amazon, eBay, and BestBuy, among other places.
Television screens
As a day trader, you want to have access to the latest news. Fortunately, there are many free websites where you can get this information from. These include the Wall Street Journal, Investing.com, and MarketWatch.
However, financial television is one of the best sources of high-quality breaking news. In fact, most prominent financial media companies first publish their breaking news on television before they put it online.
Therefore, we recommend that you have at least two television screens in your forex day trading room. One of the screens should be tuned to Bloomberg, the biggest financial media company in the world. The company has journalists around the world, meaning that it has access to the latest information. It is one of the first television brands to report breaking news in finance.
The other television you should always have in your trading room is CNBC. Like Bloomberg, it has thousands of reporters from around the world. It is also a leading source of the latest information, making it ideal for all types of traders.
Day trading room furniture
Since your day trading room is your office, you want to have the best furniture sets in it. First, you should have an excellent desk that has enough room for the computer monitors we mentioned above.
Second, you should invest in a good quality chair since that is where you will spend most of your time. We recommend that the chair be ergonomic and comfortable.
Third, depending on where you live, you should invest in quality air conditioning equipment.
Fortunately, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on all this. Indeed, you can find some of the best pieces in your local Costco and IKEA stores.
In addition to all this, ensure that your room is located in a serene place without disturbances. For example, you should ensure that you have specific rules about who can enter the room and at what time. Other optional items you can have in your room are a water dispenser, a standing desk, noise-cancellation headphones, and backup devices.
Final thoughts
Most forex day traders will never need the sophisticated items we have mentioned in this article. That’s because most of them only need their smartphones to trade, which is alright.
However, if you are an advanced full-time day trader, investing in these items is important. For example, having the best internet connection will help you identify opportunities faster. Similarly, having multiple desktops will help you be more effective. While having these items will be expensive, in the long-term, they will be worth it.