Today, we continue our September series about how to get better trading every day. And like so many lessons, this one focuses on what you can learn from someone else's missteps. Before there were crises at Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers or MF Global, there was Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM).

(The irony of the collapse of a hedge fund called "Long-Term" should not be overlooked.)

Though LTCM was run by Nobel Laureates and  geniuses, it made one trading mistake that cost it big, leading to a rescue 20 years ago. In the rescue, LTCM partners' capital, which once stood at $1.9 billion, was wiped out completely. 

Was I planning on relating trading to Tiger Woods' epic 2018 comeback today? No.

Maybe I am doing it because I was caught watching The TOUR Championship in the office yesterday and said it was for "research." Or maybe there really are some parallels that you should take into your trading. 

You're just going to have to read on to find out. 

Overtrading. It's a bad habit.

Sometimes, we make trades for the simple fact that we are in front of our computers and the markets are open. Then, we hold onto those trades and make them positions — it's a vicious cycle that often ends up in losses and ties up capital that we could be using when the market does present an opportunity.

So, instead of placing that next trade when the market isn't there, here are four things to do instead.

Experts say that there is no better way to learn to trade than to teach. That's something that Steve Burns, trader and the founder of New Trader U, has taken to heart. From his time trading the dotcom boom and bust to trading through the Great Recession of 2008 to today, Steve has been incredibly passionate about markets and  shares that passion openly on Twitter (@SJosephBurns). 

In this interview, Steve tells Eddie Horn how he found his niche in trading and how he would lessen the learning curve if he were starting out today. 

We are halfway through our September series focused on helping traders get better every day. We've covered the importance of preparation. We've taken a look at some funded traders (Brian from Brisbane and Daniel from Arizona) and shared insights about how they've found success.

And through it all, we've tried to show how challenging trading is, that's why we pointed out how "Bond King" Bill Gross made an amateur trading mistake this year that cost his investors $150+ million. 

If you've been following along — and we hope you have — hopefully you've incorporated some of these ideas into your trading. But if you're working to make change, you are going to need a community.

That means you should join our private Facebook group. Here's why.

This is our second piece in a three-part series on the 2008 Financial Crisis. For the first piece, please see “10 Years Later: 4 Universal Trading Lessons from the Great Recession.”

Under normal conditions, the stock market goes up and down. So corrections (aka losses) happen from time-to-time. They’re expected and not much of a challenge for our economy to navigate.

But 2008 was different. That year, markets were not operating normally. Because the economy was not operating normally. Here’s a breakdown at some of the moves in equities, commodities and currencies.

You think that trading legends don't make the same mistakes that you do? You'd be wrong. This year, Bill Gross cost his investors more than $150 million in losses — 8% of his $2 billion portfolio — because he made a very common trading error. 

Here's what it is. 

Some people start trading because of the allure of big profits. That is not the case for Brian G. of Brisbane, Australia. He says he was drawn to the markets for a different reason entirely: for the challenge. “Trading is difficult,” he says. “And like most things in life the greater the complexity the greater the reward.”

Brian has faced the challenge of trading head on. For example, though he has amassed profits to withdraw more than $1,100 in his first 25 trading days, he is still working on improving his risk-to-reward ratio. That’s because he’s found himself giving away more on his losing trades than he makes on his winning trades. On his average winning trade, Brian makes $197.46. But he risks $217.58 on his average losing trade.

Brian is constantly learning how to navigate the intricacies of the markets he trades — Nasdaq, E-mini S&P 500 and Russell 2000 futures. Let’s take a look at some of the lessons he’s learned.

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." — Benjamin Franklin

The market is not going to give you anything. If you don't prepare for the trading day, your screen won't flash a message to you telling you when the perfect time to BUY or SELL is. You have to put in the work. 

That's why we found this conversation between Anthony Crudele of Futures Radio Show and legendary trader and mentor Jim Dalton so interesting. Here's the key to Jim Dalton's preparation that allows him to crush the market.

There is a difference between reviewing your trades and being a Monday morning quarterback. Being a Monday morning quarterback is about the ifs and buts. If I would have held onto that /ES short, I would've made $1,000+! I should've just got out of that trade, and I would have saved $500! 

In short, it's about the outcome of what happened — not the performance. And focusing on the outcome will kill your trading. Here's what to do instead.