Which is better, an MBA or PhD?
- Thread starter mrclean
- Start date
This is a bold statement. At last check, I don't recall seeing many if any traders on the list of Nobel laureates whilst most if not all had PhD's. Just to recap, the Nobel goes to individuals with SIGNIFICANT contributions in their field which have in many instances changed the face of their field and/or world. Did Merton and Scholes trade? Even if they didn't trade, they had PhD's...
http://nobelprize.org/search/all_laureates_yd.html
MAK!
see, as a high school drop out, I'm what you'd call a blood pit trader.Quote from dividend:
how does the phd help you in trading?
i can see how economics can show you fundamentals, but not timing. timing is the only thing that is important in trading.
pokemon, beanie babies, baseball cards, tulips... etc.
I trade global currencies in the ForEx. And if the guy(s) on the other side of my trades cannot beat me, then I win (read zero sum game).
I win because my system is superior to theirs.
and it doesn't matter what degrees a person has who loses to me on the other side of my trade.
that is the only point I am making.
guys who come here on this thread and kick at me, trying to say I got no chance of making it as a fund manager, and no chance of winning in the markets, well, simple and clear facts blow their theories to hell.
I don't have a PhD OR an MBA - I am a self-taught currency / equity trader - and everyday with my own real money on the line I go up against the best, most highly educated traders the world can throw at me and I win consistently by trading a system that effectively manages my wins, losses and risks.
that's my point.
no one needs to cuss me out and try to make me feel bad for my accomplishments as a trader, because I have worked very hard and applied myself to progress and better myself inspite of my not having a 'formal' education.
I just bagged another 257-points trading GBP/JPY this week.
Bringing my total captured net profit pip gains in my live forex account to over 500-pts in two weeks: Captured by design.
nobody in the world is going to berate or belittle my trading abilities with or without degrees and a formal education.
my gain was done using my own developed successful trend-following system that is over 100-principles deep, utilizing my own developed proprietary indicators.
I can do that with a dollar or with a trillion dollars.
effective results. numbers. performance.
they are all that matter in the markets.
The Coin
I, in particular, am opposed to being a naysayer. I neither challenge nor ridicule your accomplishments and they are your own to keep and regard. Success is great in any endeavor. Whether one has a PhD, MBA, BS, AA, GED, etc, they all experience success in their own ways. Just the other week, a friend from undergrad stopped in to town, NYC, to pursue some interviews. He is now published in 3 significant neuroscience journals and will have completed his PhD (Berkeley, turned down Harvard) by this May. He is looking forward to doing what he loves, neuroscience research, despite the salary he will be getting paid, circa 38K. WHY? I asked him and then realized by his response to my Q that I was not seeing what really mattered...
Success for him, is his dedication and ability to continually contribute, via his chosen career, to increasing the body of knowledge in his field to help change and/or effect the lives of others by the work/research he conducts. OK, so he's tied to the companies some of us trade and profit from perhaps based on news that was a result of his research... Point being is that, there is no issue of which person is to be considered more successful. As far as respect, it's hard to look at the nobel laureate list and regard any of the recipients as undeserving, although, a co-worker strongly feels that Kofi Anon has contributed nothing to the world...
Everyone will have their own opinion. As for your previous statement, my comment was that it was bold since much of the world does not revolve around trading. It is as a few other posters have commented, determine whether either degree is the appropriate fit for what you want to achieve. If you can do without it, by all means do without it. If you can't do without it, then either pursue it or opt for something different. Sometimes, goals are too lofty... Crap, even a few of Einstein's colleagues had thought that what Einstein was pursuing GUT (genaral unified theory) was too lofty and he died pursuing it and was ridiculed for missing the quantum mechanics boat. What is certain is that some things require the knowledge that may only become available through a PhD or MBA. I don't think that anyone, including myself, would disagree with you that neither a PhD or MBA are required to trade...
On a final note, not everyone who will be on the other side of your trade is a losing trader. There are a variety of individuals who face you when you trade, some long term, others short term, some intermediate, some scalps. WIth trading, your skills determine how effective one is. The better your skill, the more effective one is at exacting/extrapolating pips/points. There are many ways to extrapolate. Arguably, there will be very few ways that maximize effectiveness... Who is among that league of extraordinary traders? Is it even important?
Regards,
MAK!
If you have the ability to do it, go get the degree, you'd be crazy not to.
Daytrading is very simple after you discover how to buy and sell on a given trading day. That means finding out how stocks trade intraday. As simple as the end result is, it can take years to find it out. That's the nature of the market.
But, the degree is knowlwdge gained, and also financial security. Jobs are waiting out there for guys with higher level degrees. For the high scool graduate or high school drop-out, if he can figure out how to daytrade, he will have unlimited earning potential, but very few will make it. When it comes to daytrading, many of the highly technically trained might focus more on how to apply things like technical indicators and lean towards the science related to trading, while missing what works best as an indicator of future price movement. And it's all about future price movement - future meaning the next five minutes or the next thirty minutes. I'm at the 'some college' level, and glad to have it. It's another level of understanding.
Daytrading is very simple after you discover how to buy and sell on a given trading day. That means finding out how stocks trade intraday. As simple as the end result is, it can take years to find it out. That's the nature of the market.
But, the degree is knowlwdge gained, and also financial security. Jobs are waiting out there for guys with higher level degrees. For the high scool graduate or high school drop-out, if he can figure out how to daytrade, he will have unlimited earning potential, but very few will make it. When it comes to daytrading, many of the highly technically trained might focus more on how to apply things like technical indicators and lean towards the science related to trading, while missing what works best as an indicator of future price movement. And it's all about future price movement - future meaning the next five minutes or the next thirty minutes. I'm at the 'some college' level, and glad to have it. It's another level of understanding.
Phd level courses regarding the assembly of methods to project prices...whether it be linear or nonlinear...did give me a method of thinking about price movement...
However..ever since the Apple 2+ arrived..then the IBM PC...this lead the way to being able to model thinking processes and thus made the art of trading more of a possibility to effectively employ...
It was not until Instinet was made available that one could more feasibly attain the desired prices...thereafter ARCA ..REDI..and the other ECNs...particularly thanks to the people at Real Tick led by Putnam and the Townsends....made price attainment possible for the individual trader...along with the arrival of broadband internet...
No I did not learn ¨how to trade¨ in school...School only provided me with methods of thinking...
I am not aware of any school that focuses solely on the short term price forecasting in stocks as it would suit the needs of a short term trader.....This of course is your sole focus as a short term trader....which both the MBA and the Phd do not address....
Short term stock trading is a ¨self made¨ occupation....
And there will be some folks knocking down $5 million and up ...trading individually without these degrees...
However..ever since the Apple 2+ arrived..then the IBM PC...this lead the way to being able to model thinking processes and thus made the art of trading more of a possibility to effectively employ...
It was not until Instinet was made available that one could more feasibly attain the desired prices...thereafter ARCA ..REDI..and the other ECNs...particularly thanks to the people at Real Tick led by Putnam and the Townsends....made price attainment possible for the individual trader...along with the arrival of broadband internet...
No I did not learn ¨how to trade¨ in school...School only provided me with methods of thinking...
I am not aware of any school that focuses solely on the short term price forecasting in stocks as it would suit the needs of a short term trader.....This of course is your sole focus as a short term trader....which both the MBA and the Phd do not address....
Short term stock trading is a ¨self made¨ occupation....
And there will be some folks knocking down $5 million and up ...trading individually without these degrees...