Day trading attracts plenty of hype. Slick vendors want you to believe that you can trade whenever and wherever you want. You could even be on vacation and make money at the same time. They push the image of someone with a laptop on the beach, ticking off profits in between swimming, building castles with the kids, and taking romantic walks with a tanned, beautiful someone by your side.

This dreamlike image is, of course, just a dream. You cannot trade at the beach. And, believe me, I have tried. I have done my best to live up to this dream of making money in luxurious leisure. But there are some serious problems with that image of the laptop at the beach. Three serious problems in fact.

First, the beach is a sunny place. Of course, you're saying; that's why it ought to be a wonderful place to do business! But anyone who has taken their computer outside knows that the sun makes it impossible to see the screen. Add to that the problem that my eyes are light sensitive, which means I have to wear sunglasses (which are also necessary beach wear). So not only is it too bright to see my laptop's small screen already, but I have to put dark shades between it and my eyes. The only solution I found is draping an extra-large beach towel over both me and my computer. But, of course, this defeats the purpose of being out in the sun at the beach, and my kids were embarrassed to be seen with me.

Second, the beach is sandy. Again, you may think this is an obvious observation, but it's a point those vendors neglect to remind you of when selling you this fantasy. Sand may look stationary, but, believe me, it is an explorer at heart. I found sand in places I'd forgotten I had. But, while I can take a shower, my computer can't. And nothing clogs up a laptop fan faster than a few grains of beautiful white sand slowly grinding down all of your laptop's most intricate parts.

Third, being at the beach was supposed to be a vacation, not work. My idea of life on the beach includes sleeping in, enjoying a nice breakfast, and then slowly starting the day. But day trading brings its own schedule with it. The best moves in the markets happen in the first two hours after the opening. If you are somewhere on a beach in Florida, then you are in luck. You only need to get up by 8 in the morning, Eastern Standard Time, so you can start trading the Euro and the Interest Rates at 8:30am. But if your idea of a beach involves the Pacific Ocean, set your alarm for 5 in the morning! And Hawaii? Why even bother going to bed?

No, the fact is that day trading is not like sitting on the beach at all. It does, in fact, require work. Even if you can find a wireless connection out by the water, you're still going to have to chart trends, research markets, and watch your trades. The fact is that the beach is distracting. It's supposed to be. But distraction is the last thing you want when a market is quickly trending down, and it is already past your stop loss. All the fun you had splashing in the water while the market kept dropping won't seem as fun when you get back to the computer, no matter how many great pictures you now have.

In fact, you may end up having to sell that digital camera and hitchhike your way back home in order to cover your losses.

No, day trading and a day at the beach are not meant to mix. We are better served by day trading now in order to enjoy even more days in the sun and sand later. So wipe that image of the sun-drenched laptop from your mind as quickly as you wipe sand off your posterior, and get back to work.

It will make the vacation all the more enjoyable when you can afford it.