Teaching new traders how to trade has made me a better trader.  Below are five things I have learned about trading by teaching.

1) I have cemented the statistically profitable trades that work intraday.  Being forced to teach others trading plays has made me recognize exactly which plays work best for me.

2) Video review with other traders increases my screen time which has improved my trading.  There is all this talk about how hard it is to read the tape.  Yada yada yada.  I just do not have trouble reading the tape.  Since I often lead video review sessions with our new traders I am exposed to more market patterns than the average trader, which has sharpened my reading the tape skills.

3) New traders have struggled with the same things that I do.  I have been forced to learn how to cope with some of my shortcomings to help other new traders.  Specifically I have become very well versed in visualization, which has helped me control my emotions better as a trader.

4) Teaching challenged me to formalize my trading system.  This is different than just finding statistically profitable trades.  For example I never double down before because I recognized after working with new traders that it did not work for how we trade.  I used to double down on certain occasions.   Also, I do not fade as much as I used to because teaching new traders trend trading showed me the folly in some of my previous fade trading.  I trade the most active stocks daily, Stocks In Play, after allowing some to trade a basket and learning that this is just not as efficient for intraday trading.

5) Teaching has increased my confidence.  While working with others I experience that I do truly know what is most important to succeed as a trader.  I have been taught by the market all the little things that really make a difference.  My trading principles have been challenged by uber smart, ambitious new traders.  Each conversation reinforces that I have correctly deciphered the lessons from Mother Market.  And that spending your day committed to these things that are really are important is why you succeed.  Things like: keeping a detailed trading journal, visualization exercises, tweaking my playbook continually, staying positive, and video review of trading.

I have learned so much more than these five things above.  But I have to head into a video review session this Saturday AM with our new traders now.  Time to sharpen my reading the tape skills.  I hope someone saved me a bagel.

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