Which is better, an MBA or PhD?

Quote from mrclean:

Where do you guys think the best salary and/or overall job opportunities in finance exist for a current physics student? A PhD, possibly in mathematical finance, or an MBA.

The PhD would probably be better to land a quant job, but I've recieved ambiguous info. about that career from browsing around these boards... I've read that it's a highly competitive, high paying job that everyone wants and I've read horror stories about working 12 hrs a day as a computer monkey, programming code and taking crap from traders.

Also, can you get into business school strait out of college, or do you need to work for a while first? I still have a lot of learning to do about this whole financial industry.. thanx
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In my opinion, if you're interested in trading, you'll be better off with an MS in Finance, Financial Math, Financial Engineering, etc. than an MBA or PhD.

Check out this list of programs. In addition to the program itself, you should also consider what the school/program/professors/alumni can offer in terms of contacts/internships. Not only will contacts and an internship(s) help you obtain interviews but it will also provide you with a better understanding of the various career options in finance.
 
Quote from makosgu:

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!
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no, no, I'm referring strictly to trading PhDs/MBAs vs Compentent Traders.

a private trader ain't gonna get no Nobel prize for fattening up his bank account.
 
Quote from reid5525:

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.
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trading is not an exact science but it's not rocket science.

for some it is.
 
Quote from libertad:

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...
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there are good traders, undoubtably, who are PhDs and MBAs, the same as there are Competent Traders who don't have any "formal" education.

but neither category is required one way or the other.

for you college boy types, here's a book you may be interested in reading.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...102-1652021-5345745?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
 
did it ever occur to any of you that the great martial artist, Bruce Lee, when he was offered an honorary black belt turned it down?

His thought was, he had advanced past a "black belt" so it would dishonor him to receive one.

Bruce Lee formulated his own discipline called Jeet Kune Do that was accepted in the USA as a legitimate and complete martial art.

a very rare accomplishment since JKD was not 100s of years old. Bruce developed it and introduced it himself.
 
AH, that last post (a few posts ago now) brings up the well written comparison of is TRADING an "ART" or a "SCIENCE".

My two cents, if trading was ALL science the game would have gone away a long time ago.

As the previous post states: "it can take years to find it out", well, that is the "ART" side of the game.

So in my opinion and from experience i make the following claim.

There are one easy part and one hard part. Some might call it, #1 The mechanics of the trade, order entry, which broker, which time frame etc and #2 The phychological aspect of the game.

I boil it down to this game is won or lost because: MIND OVER MATTER"....:)

PS, education will get many a foot in the door of trading, such as a whizkid from U of Chicago, Hyde Park, a math whiz from MIT, etc. I was neither, but refused to not get a handle on the game simply because i "KNEW" in my heart it was "NOT" top drawer stuff and a kid from the South Side of Chicago could do it if even if he walked in front of U of Chicago and could not afford to get in, much less have the brains...HA
 
Quote from makosgu:
Who is among that league of extraordinary traders? Is it even important?

Regards,
MAK!


Quote from FXsKaLpEr:

only if you're one of them.
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So where would pipscooper be on your comparitive list since he is a rubber and road type of fellow... Hopefully, what you seek is not the billionaire syndrome who continually wishes for yet another dollar. The last billionaire I crossed paths with was frustrated that he was not on Forbes list. Important??? He seamed to think so and above all other matters...

Kind Regards,
MAK!
 
Quote from makosgu:

So where would pipscooper be on your comparitive list since he is a rubber and road type of fellow... Hopefully, what you seek is not the billionaire syndrome who continually wishes for yet another dollar. The last billionaire I crossed paths with was frustrated that he was not on Forbes list. Important??? He seamed to think so and above all other matters...

Kind Regards,
MAK!
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ultimately, if you're not trading to get rich, something's wrong.

why else would anyone do the most difficult job in the world?
 
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