Your favorite client, Mr. T, tells you that in 2019 he finally turned his longstanding meteorite hunting hobby (something hes loved since he was a kid) into a real business. You ask a few due diligence questions and find out the following:

• Over the past few years Mr. T has found around 50 actual meteorites.
• He has sold only four of those, at prices ranging from $8,000 to $15,000; his other finds hes kept even though there is a ready market for them.
• In addition to travel, Mr. Ts major outlays have been for high-tech metal detectors and etc. equipment around $20,000 over the past few years.
• He does keep very careful books and records.
• To facilitate his search time he cut his hours at the plant (his day job, which he hates) during the nice-weather months and made up the time during the horrible-weather months; he has not and does not plan to quit, however, because he likes the medical insurance, group life insurance, and other benefits.

Toward preparing his 2019 tax return, what is your analysis and conclusion as to whether Mr. T now has a real business vs. just a hobby