Here is one for guys that are a little more serious into their trading careers and care to share some experiences. 33, Ex Int'l Bank Exec. Trading for 3 years, comfortably self sustaining 1.5+-. Family of 4. Self taught. Thinking about returning for an MBA with the sole purpose self realization. Am not considering this with the intent of enhancing my trading, my strategy, (don't think it is necessary) but to get the details on the nooks and crannies of deep Finance and Econ. which are perhaps overlooked on the day to day, maybe even non-essential given all the info you have available today on the net. But who knows, I may surprise myself. Any (serious) opinions of those trading for a living successfully (and I emphazise successfully) who have considered or gone forward with something similar? Pros/Cons? similar experiences.... Thanks
Hey, I don't trade for a living, but wish I could and this place is great for economics. But, I do have an MBA, so I thought I'd share my perspective. Unfortunately, most MBA programs all teach the same stuff in the same way. If you believe that education changes your thinking, then you might agree that getting an MBA could change your perspective on things in the business world. But since you're self-taught, this could actually be a bad thing. Part of your "edge" may be that you don't think like an MBA, which means you don't follow the herd. The patterns you see might be invisible to someone with a different thought process. Now...saying all that, it might be handy to have a better idea of how the herd thinks. So, if you get an MBA, decide from day one that the purpose of your being there is to understand an MBA's thought process, but don't let it muck up what you're doing. Be detached. SM
Think about the future... When I am thinking about hiring someone, I would go with the one with the MBA, aside from the one that doesn't have it. MBAs make great workers.
Interesting.... One of the "mantras" at financial institutions, better known as The sell side" is that day traders ( Swing/ Intraday, position etc...) all die broke. Ironically enough, most believe they can go forward with enhanced education, hence, MBA. For me, it took alot of thinking outside of "the comfort zone", "The BOX" and everything else, to engrain in my thinking that this is a business like any other and can be accomplished. Perhaps returning to obtain an MBA is more of the same of what I originally left... Thanks for sharing.
MBA is useless for trade and finance. You need to look into a Master of Science in Finance. Pure finance in great detail- no marketing, no organizational behavior classes, no group dynamics stuff and then a small set of electives on finance. The average MBA in finance is at best 25 credits or so in finance. An MSF can be 48 credits in pure finance and much more concentrated. Not many schools have the MSF so you need to look at the schools in your area. When I was getting my MSF degree, I had MBA students in the class who majored in finance lol. Also, I have taught classes to MBA students and it is amazing how little they get on more detailed finance topics. I would have a whole semester of derivatives, a fellow MBA student did calls and puts in their investment class. Trust me cause I did the research when I was getting ready to go back to school. The MSF degree is pure finance and nothing else. MBA is a general business degree where you can specialize in finance but the education is still generalized to an extent.
To be honest, I will do everything in my power not to return to the corporate world, working for someone. It took me 6 years to come up with a plan to leave and implement it. My "plan B" will not include going back.... But since you never know the curve balls you will be thrown, If I do ever have to go back, it will be to accumulate capital for a short time in order to go independent once again.... Thanks
optionquote, Thanks for this reply i've heard this before but had very liitle insight into what the differences are. I'm not so much interested in the management side but I understand that an MBA is trying to prepare you more for management positions. How marketable is the MSF? Is it equivalent to an MBA or do major institutions still value an MBA more? It's a shame that there is so much emphasis put on an MBA considering it's not as concentrated an MSF. Any info would be much appreciated, Im in the process of taking GMAT within a month and don't want to take the extras that an MBA offers. Thanks again.
Paul Tudor Jones said it best... "I applied to Harvard Business School, got accepted and was about to go. I literally was packed up to go and then I thought, 'this is crazy', because for what I'm doing here, they're not going to teach me anything. This skill set is not something that they teach in business school."