Nitro...I'm only addressing your comment that you're using ET as a measurement of the decline in day trading.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what happen to the markets after the 2008 - 2009 financial collapse nor does it take another rocket scientist to remember what happen to the markets years before that when the bubble burst from the dot.com days.
Next, throw in some exchange rule changes between those two key periods...trading as a whole is on the decline. Now throw in the growth of algorithms and some scandals...its declined and noticeable by anyone that's been involved in the markets since the bubble burst.
My point is this, algorithms are not the reason for the decline. They are just part of the reason and in my opinion is that algorithms has prevented trading itself from rebounding to prior levels.
With that said, using ET as a metrics...many of the original active members...
Some died (I've seen announcements at this forum of at 5 different active members that suddenly stopped posting...they had died), many moved to twitter/stocktwits, some banned, some moved on to other trading careers, some changed user names (very common) and some blew out their accounts. I know 15 active members from the old days that are posting actively on twitter and stocktwits. Yet, the fact that I know many from the old days posting elsewhere...that may be more of a representation of the posting environment here at this forum that so many traders consistently complain about. Surely you haven't heard about the guy name marketsurfer and his impact on this forum.
Now using my metrics...a minimum of 20 active members did not stop trading due to poor trading. 15 moved to other posting places and 5 are dead. Next, throw in the number of active members that changed their user name...we're talking about a lot of active members from the old days that didn't stop trading because they blew up their accounts.
Seriously, there are some folks at this forum that seems to live for giving this place a bad name and make it difficult to have a decent trading discussion. Just go hang out in the Chit Chat threads and P&R threads...that stuff wasn't here in the beginning.
Regardless, the issue is this. The OP didn't ask for millionaire day traders nor did he ask for profitable day traders nor did he ask for full-time day traders nor did he ask for women day traders nor did he ask for day traders with another job...
He's just doing a documentary on whatever involving Day traders in the New York area.
There's no need to complicate the discussion for the OP statement that he wants to do a documentary on "Day traders living in New York" because I'm sure every thing discussed at this forum the OP will hear about it from those he meets.
Yeah, most traders lose...its been that way since the birth of Wall Street and will always continue
to be so.
P.S. There are other trading forums out there that have "grown" in membership...more members each year than the prior year. It would be silly for me to use that as metrics or statistical analysis to come to the conclusion that "day trading is growing".
We both know darn well that trading as a whole its not growing...its on the decline and the reasons above explains why. Heck, even more investors as a whole are not involved in the markets. Now go to Greece and you'll see people are more quickly to cash their checks and keep the cash at home.
The markets is just scary to people the past 10 years...its that way for traders and investors.