The things that can make you successful cannot be taught in any school"
What a load of shit. Tell that to the GS team that shorted the CDO markets and just cleaned up.
Tell that to the MBA grads of University of Chicago, MIT, etc.
90% of trading is now "Financial Modeling and Black Box Trading". Which require not only a degree in Finance but a degree in "mathematics"
The days of the "Street Hungry" guy trading his way to millions is over. Just ask all those pit traders that couldn't make the transition to "Off the floor".
99% of "retail day traders" fail. Period.
Soon, "day trading bucket shops" will no longer have customers.
I am came from the "old school" of Prop Trading. I had a degree and now a advance degree. I was reading market wizards just as many others were too back then. Markets have changed and so has the game.
Markets have changed, more efficient, so much more than the human mind can Calculate. The human mind and psychology , wired brain is not fast enough to take advantage of the narrow spreads in most instruments, let alone a "winning" average year to year.
More complicated trading using Dervatives, hedges require on the spot calculation to the tee, with in seconds once you take a position.
To tell this guy that "Education" is pointless when coming to trading is ass nine. Those who speak this way are the "Etrade" bandits and SOES bandits of the past.
It is not a guarantee one with an education in finance or Mathematics will be successful in todays markets. But I will put one of my former class mates, against some off the street, uneducated, poor and hungry trader. That shit is for the moves. This is real life.
And "black box models" alone will not work. You need a combination of a "Trader" who is educated and able to adjust the system based a variety of indicators. They "system" still needs a trader that is not afraid to jump in when needed.
A trader and a team of quants, but the trader must also understand and speak the quant language.