This is a Guest Post by AK of Fallible
AK has been an analyst at long/short equity investment firms, global macro funds, and corporate economics departments. He co-founded Macro Ops and is the host of Fallible.
Paul Tudor Jones is absolutely right. Effective communication is one of the most important skills when it comes to business and trading markets. In this video we’re going to explain why…
If you can write and communicate clearly, you’re much closer to solving any problem you have. In the markets, every investment you’re going to make will have one to two core drivers that move its price. If you’re forcing yourself to communicate that thesis to someone, then you’re forcing yourself to identify those main drivers. Effective communication gives you clarity.
As Richard Feynman said, if you can’t explain something simplify enough that a 6 year old could understand it, then you don’t know what you’re talking about. There is a huge failure in the financial industry when it comes to doing this. Most writers or talking heads try throwing in a bunch of fancy jargon into their explanations to make it seem like they know what they’re talking about… when in reality, they don’t. If they did, then they could explain it in simple terms.
One of the big reasons our team started Macro Ops is because explaining these complex macro topics helps us understand them ourselves. Writing is really a form of thinking. The process of explaining something forces you to understand it deeper than you otherwise could.
So how does this all help your trading? Well if you keep a trading journal (you should) writing out your thesis before you place a trade will help you narrow down the real drivers of your trade.
There are a number of other benefits too that we cover in the video above. Make sure to watch!
And as always, stay Fallible out there investors!
