Harvard MBA Indicator

If more than 30 percent of Harvard M.B.A.’s end up in what he defines as “market-sensitive jobs” — a subset of the financial services category that includes investment banking, private equity and hedge funds — it’s a long-term sell signal. If that number is below 10 percent, it is a long-term buy signal.

This year, about 41 percent of Harvard’s latest grads got market-sensitive jobs. That’s even more than last year’s 40 percent, which was a record at the time. The Harvard M.B.A. index has been sending a “sell” signal since 2005, Mr. Soifer said. [That's actually a year over year increase, up from 40% last year, 37% the year before that, 30% in 2005 and 26% for the class of 2004. - clusterstock]

“Most of these career decisions were made before the market’s recent steep decline — some as early as the fall of 2007,” he wrote. “Next year’s data should be interesting!”

Back in 1937, only three Harvard Business School graduates, or about 1 percent of the class, ventured into the securities industry straight out of grad school.



http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/newest-harvard-mbas-flocked-to-wall-street/

 

?.....the other 99% went to work for railroads and steel companies? They had enough problems of their own back then. The proper application of the indicator is that "hot" industries are likely to be peaking and due for a meltdown.