An interesting post. I'd be interested hear what kind of background you've got.

I think your remark on finance professors is quite wrong. It takes quite a lot of dedication to do a Phd. I'm not great respecter of academic prestige, but its a bit insulting to imply that people fail their way into a professorship.

I'd be more than happy to share some pointers on financial papers I've read and such. Just talk about your background and what you know. If you think 'a random walk down Wall Street' is correct, it isn't. Have you seen the derivation of Black-Scholes? Do you know what most high frequency trading is based on?

I'd also be interested to see what type of stuff you like to read.