I would say it's worth it if you manage to get into a good program, e.g., MIT's financial engineering Ph.D. The reason I think it's good is because you will learn a lot from it even though you may not write your dissertation on direct trading per se but for example on how microstructure affects efficiency or order flow etc. But unlike most who learn this on their own or on the job, at the end of the day you will have an MIT Ph.D. which will serve you good in the future and it will probably be the best investment you ever made. You have to be prepared for long nights of study however to pass comp exams which can be difficult if you are rusty with your math.
I forgot about Hershey. He granted himself a Ph.D. in Trading Strategies back in 1958, and another one right after his tax lien fiasco. No one has ever finished reading his dissertations, however. Let the learning begin.
That's how I do it. Let them free range in a really big forested "paddock". The bacon out of these beauties is...unbelievable. Render the lard down...unbelievable. It's good to be alive. No, that would be too much like real work. Grow enough to keep the family and close friends in fantastic meat (which effectively turns into bartering, I suppose, as they do favors back), not really looking to expand beyond that. Heh. American "whiskey history" is a neat story. Right now I'm experimenting with cold-temp rum distillation. Call it my "Hillbilly Rotovap", built out of an old chest freezer and surplus lab glass.
I'm kind of acey duecy on that, we were brought up Jewish and taught pork was evil and sinful. But everybody traded them up there on the merc. I personally never had the balls or guts or whatever you want to call it to trade Pork Bellies. But the rabbi always had a position on. My mother was Christian and she use to make those big hams for Easter. Now two of my kids are Jewish and one is Moslem. The only thing they can agree on is "Pork is Bad". Funny, because for years their aunt was the head of the Iowa Pork Council. One of my daughters wouldn't even let her neighbor grill some ribs on her outdoor grill because she didn't want to "defile" it. personally, I sneak in a little of that pepperoni on my pizza. But there is nobody here to watch. Laugh if you want, you may think it is an old rural myth. But one day my aunt sent me out to the orchard with a galvanized pail and told me to pick up all the apples on the ground and feed them to the hogs. She may have underestimated just how determined I was. And sure as shit, they got drunk that night on those old rotten apples and broke through the pen. The funny thing was, in the morning, they were all back sleeping in the pen. All the boards were broken (that was back before they used hogwire) and there they were like nothing had happened. It must have been one hell of a night.
bad memories and negative energy building up in my system.. time to do some energy therapy work before I blow chunks on the keyboard...
Our community (Bucks County, PA. 1759 homestead) trade was: 1. we bought 5 pigglets at auction. two and three of a kind. 2. Others supplied the feed. 3. we had the land (woods and sty) and did the care. 4. At about 180 pounds (around NOV first) half and half were smoked. 5. we kept two; they spread the other three around. Everyone involved was Mennonite. We also did a dozen sheep a year. wool traded for 7 blankets (Hudson Bay style) from Harmony Mills in Maine plus meat and sheepskins. One Sunbeam shared among families who also ranged sheep. we canned 300 quarts a year and fed 4 families with fresh food and fruit. 120 pounds of honey a year. 7 cords a year for heat (red oak, white ash and silver beech). 60 tons a year for road dressing. It was a good way for children to grow up.