Which is better, an MBA or PhD?
- Thread starter mrclean
- Start date
Whoah. Hate to break your oversized ego, bro, but you're just a small-time potato with a tiny retail account.
I don't think you have any kind of idea what real money is. 10 contracts is probably size to you. Traders in top houses play with size that move the market.
The original poster wanted to know which was better suited for his career, a PhD or an MBA. Both should do him well, but a PhD should give him different opportunities for jobs that you probably don't even understand. And even if he fails in trading or as a quant, he's still in pretty good shape because he definitely won't ever have to work in customer service or serve fries as his back-up plan. But for a person with no high school diploma? Well, you might still succeed in other ventures, but realistically, the probabilistic odds are against you.
So getting back to my original question, which of the two, a quantitative PhD or an MBA, would you say is best to get into something like what you said about structured derivative trading products "where the real money's at"? So I guess what I'm really asking is which typically pays better.
All so confusing
A math/physics/c.s. PhD would have more value than an MBA (unless top Ivy) if your desire is to specifically enter the most complex levels of structured derivatives type trading.
If you don't believe me, look up the job section in the finance career boards and enter "derivatives." (Not derivatives as in basic futures or basic options [even a high school drop out can comprehend what those are], but derivatives as in technical shit that are highly innovative and require complex computer modeling and quantitative research.) All the ridiculously fat paying jobs of that level request that you have a quantitative PhD, not MBA. Actually, I don't recall an MBA ever being a requirement for a trading position (unless it involved some kind of management, sales, or consulting).
However, if later on, you do *not* want to do this kind of stuff anymore and wish to venture out into more "simple" kinds of businesses far away from the trading arena, then an MBA would probably be a lot more suitable since it's so broad and covers many areas of business like team management, growth development, analytical solutions, strategic thinking, etc., and not just financial math.
....and if you have a phd in math or science this type of information can easily be a self-study project. Get the phd: the business-lite stuff (marketing, team dynamamics, financial accounting etc) can be picked up in your spare time and, if you have had any type of team product development or research experience then you already know much of the detail that is included in an MBA.
That wasn't the issue.
You went off on Kastro_316 about his needing at least a PhD to "get into some of the more complex and structured derivative trading products (where the real money's at)."
then you blurt out: "I'm sorry, but your plain high school degree or GED is insufficient for you to price and hedge something like an exotic credit derivative swaption or know anything about the trading risk models."
I asked you about the comparable "complexity" of trading global currencies.
I stated that I trade the forex successfully and I'm a high school drop out.
The subject is NOT about size, it is about accessing and proficiently trading the forex market NOT having a PhD and/or MBA.
I asked you, what about me.
You came back with a mamby-pamby rant about "market moving size."
So I put the same issue in your face. Has NOTHING to do with trading size. It has to do with being able to successfully access and trade the forex market.
I DEVELOP global currency trading models and systems. And I am a high school drop out.
The results of one of my systems is seen here a snapshot from my live forex trading account where, this week, I bagged 250-pips on GBP/JPY.
You think YOU can do that with YOUR level of trading "sophistication" and "education"?
*busts up laughing*
I trow not, Senior.
Again, are you saying that the forex is NOT the most difficult and complex market to access and trade successfully? Or is LESS difficult and complex than "the most complex levels of structured derivatives type trading"?
Frankly, I think the reason you side-stepped the issue and my question is because you have no fkn IDEA about trading the ForEx.
I'm saying that even the most advanced PhD finance quants and MBA paper-shufflers and exotic credit derivative swaption trading scrubs do not even begin to reach the same level of ability and competency that is required to be able to capture a 250-point move in GBP/JPY in a single week.
PLUS, I called the move on Tuesday, the day it began at its bottom of 199.20. It peaked on Friday.
Go ahead, prove me wrong, boy.
Zking sKaLpY
Well, I can respond and tell you how silly you are, but I can see where this is going.
This thread's about answering the O.P.'s question of where to choose his options in education; the topic's definitely not about validating your own sense of worth when you don't even have a G.E.D. Of course, we know you have no interest in PhD physics. You don't even know geometry yet. And no algebra neither, huh? But if you are so concerned with the need to emotionally validate yourself, maybe you can start a different thread to argue with people just to boost your self-esteem.
You already have demonstrated a strong pattern of insecure behavior anyway. You should take some money out of your account and purchase a mirror, so you can stare straight at it and repetitiously say to yourself, "I'm good enough!... I'm smart enough!... and doggone it, people like me!" Just keep telling yourself that. Or you can continually do it in public for our amusement.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=869294#post869294
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=869288#post869288
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=869276#post869276
This thread's about answering the O.P.'s question of where to choose his options in education; the topic's definitely not about validating your own sense of worth when you don't even have a G.E.D. Of course, we know you have no interest in PhD physics. You don't even know geometry yet. And no algebra neither, huh? But if you are so concerned with the need to emotionally validate yourself, maybe you can start a different thread to argue with people just to boost your self-esteem.
You already have demonstrated a strong pattern of insecure behavior anyway. You should take some money out of your account and purchase a mirror, so you can stare straight at it and repetitiously say to yourself, "I'm good enough!... I'm smart enough!... and doggone it, people like me!" Just keep telling yourself that. Or you can continually do it in public for our amusement.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=869294#post869294
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=869288#post869288
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=869276#post869276
Deringer, I concur. I think Fxscalper or whats-his-name has some serious self-esteem problem. People that actually make the huge bucks don't need to talk about it nor need any kind of validation from anyone else.
My take on this entire subject: Go with an MBA if you prefer the salesman-type / Managerial-type position with a big financial services house. I don't know much about getting PHDs in this field but I'm guessing it involves less interaction with people and more interaction with calculators and computers
My take on this entire subject: Go with an MBA if you prefer the salesman-type / Managerial-type position with a big financial services house. I don't know much about getting PHDs in this field but I'm guessing it involves less interaction with people and more interaction with calculators and computers