Officially starting to study today

[Ben Jones]

Hello all,

Im starting the brutal journey today. Would like some feedback on
which subjects people are tackling first. I guess I'll just start
with ethics and go from there. But I'm still not sure this is the
best way since ethics tends to depart from the brain just a few weeks
later.

Thanks

Ben

[Frank Jiang]

 I started from Quant last weekend and skipped Ethics.  I found it's very similar to level 1. 

I got my books from both CFAI and Kaplan today.  I guess most of you did. Let's start the game.

In terms of study plan, I am thinking using mp3, video as much as I can plus CFAI EOC excercises because I am extremely slow reader.  Not sure if it's a good strategy. 

[Bui Thanh, Bryon]

I'm thinking of doing Equity and FRA first since they have the most
weight.

Is Kaplan any good? I'm with AnalystNotes

[swt326]

I'm with AnalystNotes as well, I have also used Kaplan Schweser which
is pretty good at breaking up the sections with the LOS, outlining
problems, and giving hints. Schweser overall though, I wouldn't say
gives you a better advantage than AnalystNotes. I would recommend
looking at the CFAI given text if you need more explanation.

[Frank Jiang]

First time heard of AnlystNotes, went to their website and checked free sample notes...

Question for you, is the notes online or physical book? Is the sample notes in the same format as the real products? I kind of like the bulletin notes format and it will reduce study time a lot.

[swt326]

Analyst notes is just online. However, there is also an e-book if you
decide to pay more. The notes are the same as the samples, some have
bullet points some don't. It just depends on the subject matter. It
definitely helped me since they also include questions with each LOS
in the readings. They also have practice questions and rank you
against everyone else taking them on the website ( like CFA does for
the actual exam). Plus since the notes are shorter, I was able to get
a good grasp of the material and then go through the CFAI curriculum
with knowledge on where my weak spots were and that targeted my
reading for concepts I had trouble with.

[Laura Noonan]

I found Schweser really good for Level 1, particularly the Q Bank.
Agreed on ethics, I've spent about five hours on it, got through the
CFA notes, and think that's me done til revision time. Onto the proper
stuff tomorrow.

[tuse]

I've just started this week - with Equity.

I'm doing what worked for me in L1 - read Schweser, a bit of CFAI
curriculum & watch the Schweser Videos.

On Feb 2, 2:35 am, Laura Noonan <laura.noo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I found Schweser really good for Level 1, particularly the Q Bank.
> Agreed on ethics, I've spent about five hours on it, got through the
> CFA notes, and think that's me done til revision time. Onto the proper
> stuff tomorrow.
>

[harry4u9]

Hi there,

Hello people i too have started my studies but unlike many i have
started out with Economics

Can anybody post the link to the schwesser videos (torrentz)

Also i wud be interested in the confy...pls share the time(IST)

Anybody from Mumbai,India here???

[Frank Jiang]

I don't think you can find torrent of CFA video, CFA candidates should have learned from ethics and professional standards. 

[aditya]

I've started with Financial Reporting and Analysis....the subject with
the maximum weightage... Just done with 60 pages and to my horror, was
lazying around over the last 3 days. Hope to regain the momentum from
tomorrow.

I'm from Chennai and planning to join Pristine for coaching... Classes
due to start on Feb 12.....Any feedback on Pristine?

[Laura Noonan]

Does anyone know where I can find the subject weights? Can't find it in Schweser notes or cfa,
Thanks
Laura

[aditya kiran]

Hi Laura, follow this link to get the topic area weights.

 

http://www.cfainstitute.org/mycfa/candidate/aboutexams/weights/Pages/index.aspx

 

Btw I was wrong, equity investments seems to have the highest weightage.

[Sonal Thakor]

Laura,

This is the link you need to access:

http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprogram/courseofstudy/Pages/topic_area_weights.aspx 

[Laura Noonan]

Great thanks
L

[martin]

Hi all. New to the group. Just wrapped up
statistics today and beginning econ.

I also passed in Dec, and going for the condensed 2 for 2 and need to
stay on track.

I am using elan notes to read each section. At the end of each
section I take the cfai chapter review questions. So far they've been
on point and they are only $100.

I will read ethics at the end from cfai.

My goal is to knock everything out by end of April so I have a full
month to take practice exams/questions.

I had no accounting background coming into L1 so I spent all of the
last week rereading notes and taking questions. It caused my
performance to slip to 50-70% in two categories but I nailed
accounting when I had been getting about 50% on practice tests.

Planning to utilize similar strategy this go around

On Feb 6, 3:12 pm, Laura Noonan <laura.noo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Great thanks
> L
>

> On Monday, February 6, 2012, Sonal Thakor <sonalw...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Laura,
> > This is the link you need to access:
>

> http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprogram/courseofstudy/Pages/topic_area...
>
>
>
> > On Sun, Feb 5, 2012 at 5:45 PM, Laura Noonan <laura.noo...@gmail.com>

> wrote:
>
> >> Does anyone know where I can find the subject weights? Can't find it in
>
> Schweser notes or cfa,
>
>
>
> >> Thanks
> >> Laura
>

> >> On Sunday, February 5, 2012, aditya <aditya.from.pithapu...@gmail.com>

[Shreyas Tonse]

How many of us are trying the 2 in 2 as martin is? ie december 2011 L1 passouts?
What would be the best strategy to pass given the limited time?

[Frank Jiang]

Quite a few here. Me too.
It's less than 1 week to cover a study session. No short cut dude.
It's been real. 300 hours that's what I am shooting for.

[Shreyas Tonse]

Are you reading the cfai text?

[Frank Jiang]

No. But if I have weak areas, I'll go over the examples of CFAI text,
for example, the capitalization of construction interest in FRA. But
it's just me, I am very slow in reading and I like doing practice.

[Jordan Wang]

Same here. Due to the time constraints, I won't be looking at the CFA text at all, except Ethics. 

[martin]

I finished Economics today, thought that Chapter 18 was pretty
challenging. I've finished Statistics as well.

Going to try to make it through Financial Statement Analysis this
week. I was suprised to see how short the reading is for this section
considering how lengthy it was on Level I.

I'm sure the difficulty will make up for it.

I'm starting to wonder if one month will be enough time for practice
tests/review, the material is definitely a little more difficult that
I anticipated. How is everyones progress going?

On Feb 8, 2:14 am, Jordan Wang <jordanwan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Same here. Due to the time constraints, I won't be looking at the CFA text
> at all, except Ethics.
>

> On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 11:08 PM, Shreyas Tonse <shreyasto...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Are you reading the cfai text?

> > On 8 Feb 2012 12:35, "Frank Jiang" <frank.z.ji...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> Quite a few here. Me too.
> >>  It's less than 1 week to cover a study session.  No short cut dude.
> >> It's been real. 300 hours that's what I am shooting for.
>

> >> On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 11:02 PM, Shreyas Tonse <shreyasto...@gmail.com>

> >> wrote:
> >> > How many of us are trying the 2 in 2 as martin is? ie december 2011 L1
> >> > passouts?
> >> > What would be the best strategy to pass given the limited time?
>

[Jordan Wang]

I should be finishing Econ tonight. What statistics section are you referring to? Are you talking about the Quantitative Analysis? 

Does anyone feel Level 2 so far is easier than level 1? I think the material is deeper, but much more concentrated in a specific topic, where as Level 1 was so broad. 

[martin]

yes, quant = statistics.

I think the material is less all over the board but the questions in
the CFAI are a bit more complex. I finished the first chapter of
accounting just now and its almost 100% review of L1 material which
was a good sign. Hoping for more of the same on Ch. 21.

I actually think I might like the vignettes. I can concentrate better
on a series of related questions than I do when they are scattered
randomly and I have to spend time figuring out what type of question
it is and what type of formulas do i need to dredge up.

[martin]

Ok so i pumped out SS5 today, good news. It's like 80% review of L1
accounting materials. If you're pressed for time and/or you have a
good accounting background you may want to try just reading the
chapter summary and taking the CFAI questions at the end of the
chapter to see how you do.

SS6 tomorrow, I'd like to crank that whole accounting book this week
if possible.

[Shreyas Tonse]

Wow martin, that was pretty quick on SS5.

I'm also looking forward to start SS6 today - and from what I've heard over at AanalystForum, SS6 sounds like a beast. Hoping I can ace this by the end of this week. 

--
Shreyas Tonse

[martin]

All I am doing is reading the elan guides notes and then reading the
CFAI chapter summary and taking the CFAI practice questions. So I
don't know if I'm technically doing them "quickly" because I'm an ADD
retard who can't stop Texting/surfing internet as a study break every
30 mins or so.

Study tip: Is anyone here familiar with intermittent fasting? It's
very helpful for studying, I absorb the material much faster and I
don't feel the need to take a break to eat during a 6-8 hour study
session. If you want to learn more leangains.com is the aurhoratative
source on it. And no I'm not the "Martin " from that site, that's a
coincidence. He's not selling anything really which is also nice
unlike 99% of the fitness community

On Feb 13, 2:23 am, Shreyas Tonse <shreyasto...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Wow martin, that was pretty quick on SS5.
>
> I'm also looking forward to start SS6 today - and from what I've heard over
> at AanalystForum, SS6 sounds like a beast. Hoping I can ace this by the end
> of this week.
>

[martin]

yikes SS6 is no joke. I've completed half of it and it's taken me
like 6 hours because I keep zoning out its so boring and detail
oriented. I did ok on the review questions so far though, elan is
doing a good job on their study notes.

[Keith Jensen]

Well I really started back in December, not my first attempt at Level
2. Has anyone used the material from 7city.com ? I just found them
yesterday and they look pretty good.

Keith Jensen

[Shreyas Tonse]

Hi Keith,

What band did you end up with in your last attempt?

Since some of us here have started after the L1 Dec results, we were going through the prep notes rather than the CFAI text. Having had the exam experience, do you think this is a good way to go about things?

--
Shreyas Tonse

[Shreyas Tonse]

How're you doing on SS6, martin?

I guess I'll be done with it tomorrow, with the Sunday left to work out more questions. 

--
Shreyas Tonse

[martin]

Just starting it back up now, I'm in the middle of the pension
section. I'll have to say the difficulty is not as hard as I
anticipated but I think the final month of review is going to be
pretty hectic. I might try to aim for 5-6 weeks to review instead.
Which explains why I'm up at 8 AM on a Saturday haha

On Feb 17, 12:44 pm, Shreyas Tonse <shreyasto...@gmail.com> wrote:
> How're you doing on SS6, martin?
>
> I guess I'll be done with it tomorrow, with the Sunday left to work out
> more questions.
>

[adam johnson]

Does anyone have SS 6 study materials (flash cards, spreadsheets, etc) they can pass along? The Jonathon Bone lectures on Schweser were not much help. My plan is to spend the next couple of days working problems from SS 6 and then review the areas where I am weak.

Thanks for the help - Adam

[martin]

I finally finished SS6. The good news is if that section came easy to
you, you are going to pass this exam. The other good news is that if
it didnt come easy to you, you are right there with the other 95% of
the people, of whom ~35% will still pass this exam.

I did get just over 2/3rd of the questions correct on the CFAI chapter
review on my first time through so that's a good sign, but with a few
days away from the material that will revert to below 50% real
quickly. I'm just going to keep pressing on though. I think you
really need to make an honest effort at each Study Session, but you're
better off moving along with 50-60% of the material learned and then
coming back to try to get the rest later. I mean you could spend a
week trying to memorize each difference between IFRS/GAAP for some of
that material and you'd still retain very little of it 3 months later
on test day.

I failed to finish Accounting this week like I hoped but I will finish
SS7 and all of corporate finance this week to get back on track. SS7
starts out with a nice short chapter that you will breeze through.

[martin]

Good News. SS7 goes by very quickly and is relatively similar to
Level I. I guess I can see why most people are mainly concerned with
SS #6.

However, I would recommend possibly reading the "Case Studies" that
comprise the final chapter (reading 27). The CFAI questions for this
chapter are very tricky i only got 50% of them correct on my first
try. Looking over them they are relatively easy to walk through step
by step in hindsight, however there are a lot of tricky steps that I
left out when solving the problems. Like level 1, the "easy" wrong
answer is almost always one of the answer choices!

I've flagged this chapter to review the CFAI text in the final review
month.

Corporate Finance begins. But not tonight. Tonight I watch NC State
defeat UNC for the first time in what seems like decades.

> ...
>
> read more »

[Laura Noonan]

Finally made it to the end of SS6 this morning, very relieved to hear it gets less intense. Gave up trying to learn off everything in one go, my plan is now iPad notes, one gaap ifrs difference etc whenever I've time to kill in a taxi or Im stuck in a boring meeting. 

Laura 

> > > > > > > accounting just now and> ...
>
> read more »

[Frank Jiang]

Similar progress here. Will try to do CFAI question on Reading 27
tonight. Then I am done with FRA!

[martin]

Just a heads up, Reading 28 to start Corp Finance is a beast. Not
only are there a lot of formulas to memorize but the problems are
somewhat complex and there are FIFTY practice questions! I got 33/50
right so I'm pretty happy, but it took forever.

[Sonal Thakor]

I agree, reading 28 is a beast, but the DCF concepts are necessary to cement other concepts down the road in equity valuation. 

Good thing corp finance is a relatively small piece of the exam!

[Frank Jiang]

Can anyone explain to me when you should add depreciation back to the
operating cash flow? I cannot find any explanation why some questions
care about depreciation while others don't.

[martin]

I can't think of an example off the top of my head where they wouldn't
care about depreciation on operating cash flow.

You subtract depreciation from net income so the company is reporting
net income that is consistent with the profits they are actually
making so they aren't taxed on "income" that is really being offset by
depreciating assets. Then you need to add the depreciation expense
back in to reflect cash flows, because it's just an accounting entry
and doesn't actually affect cash flows (other than lowering their net
tax expense).

Perhaps you have an example of one where they don't care about
depreciation?

On Feb 23, 7:29 pm, Frank Jiang <frank.z.ji...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Can anyone explain to me when you should add depreciation back to the
> operating cash flow?  I cannot find any explanation why some questions
> care about depreciation while others don't.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 9:17 AM, Sonal Thakor <sonalw...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I agree, reading 28 is a beast, but the DCF concepts are necessary to cement
> > other concepts down the road in equity valuation.
>
> > Good thing corp finance is a relatively small piece of the exam!
>

[Frank Jiang]

I guess it's just me. I made mistakes on some questions. If you want
to learn from what I did wrong, take a look at corp fin book P79 Q 22
and 23.

Basically I didn't pay attention to the difference of two terms.
"After tax annual operating income" vs "After tax annual operating
cash flow". You probably know that one is already taken care of the
depreciation.

Now go back to work...

[martin]

Good news. Reading 29-31 are quick and probably the easiest material
we've covered yet. Only got Mergers & Acquisitions left for Corp
finance but it looks lengthy.

A friend of mine who passed Level 2 last year said he thought Equity
was probably the easiest of the sections. That would be good news,
I'm about sick of studying I might have to just go nuts and start
doing one study session a day until its over. Cant handle this hour
here, hour there anymore.

[martin]

So I went on vacation this weekend and didn't get much done. I've
finished corporate finance though and overall didn't think it was too
bad sans the first chapter.

My goal is to take out the entire Equity book this week. 11 chapters,
6 days. Got to get ahead so I won't be too preoccupied with studying
during March Madness and the NBA playoffs. Would also like to sneak a
Vegas trip in here somewhere haha

[Ben Jones]

I gotta say Martin, you are whooping my ass in the readings.  Haha.  I just went on vacation as well, but am having motivation problems.  I'm just now starting financial reporting. Ouch...

--

Ben Jones
4632 Amesbury Dr, #243

Dallas, TX 75206

(214) 600-9012

[Frank Jiang]

Don't worry about him Ben, he is not human being. But seriously, you
need to speed up a little bit. If reading text does not work for you,
just skip it and get the work done in another way.

[martin]

I've been an underachiever all of my life and I've decided to actually
put in the work for once instead of relying on good looks and talent.

Again, I'm not reading the CFAI text, I'm reading elan notes so an
average chapter is only 20-30 pages of notes and examples. Then I
read the CFAI chapter summary and take the practice problems.

On a typical chapter I usually get around 75-80% of the questions
correct on my first try. On the harder chapters it's more like 60-70%
correct.

I'm a big proponent of overall review and the more practice questions
the better at the end. I've taken many professional exams and the
common theme is that reading the textbook word for word is very
inferior to practicing the problems over and over. You have to master
the material, formulas, question formats, and exam tricks to really
prepare yourself.

If you are falling behind dont worry, you still have time. 2012 is a
leap year so you get one extra study day free of charge.

Make it a goal to absolutely crank for the rest of this week. Don't
want to study? Study. Want to study? Study. Indifferent to
studying? Study.

Do you want to study now when it's 40 degrees or in 12 weeks when it's
80?

On Feb 27, 9:03 pm, Frank Jiang <frank.z.ji...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Don't worry about him Ben, he is not human being.   But seriously, you
> need to speed up a little bit. If reading text does not work for you,
> just skip it and get the work done in another way.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 3:49 PM, Ben Jones <bcj...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I gotta say Martin, you are whooping my ass in the readings.  Haha.  I just
> > went on vacation as well, but am having motivation problems.  I'm just now
> > starting financial reporting. Ouch...
>

> ...
>
> read more »

[Ben]

Good tips Martin. I'm going thru the schweser notes and have noticed it's not near as daunting of a task as the cfai text. Gonna suck it up and get it done.

Sent from my iPhone

[Jordan Wang]

Martin you are just blowing through the readings! I think you should be taking the bar exam as opposed to the CFA haha. 

[Thanh Bui-Dang-Hoai]

I'm going through the CFAI text using Elan as summary.

I think it's important that we are able to do all in-chapter examples and end-of-chapter questions regardless of study method.

For my style, I'm taking 4-5 study sessions concurrently to enhance retention. Something I learnt from my lvl1 prep.

--
Regards,

Bryon BUI

[Sonal Thakor]

I agree with Martin, the problems are crucial! This is my 2nd time through and I'm committing these next months to doing problems over and over again. 

[martin]

I did SS #10 (first 3 chapters of Equity) last night and it's very
easy. 80% of the material is just review of L1 and most of it is very
basic. Use this SS as one to speed through to make up some time if
you are falling behind, you can knock the whole thing out in ~3-4
hours.

On Feb 28, 10:05 am, Sonal Thakor <sonalw...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I agree with Martin, the problems are crucial! This is my 2nd time through
> and I'm committing these next months to doing problems over and over again.
>

> On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 9:20 AM, Thanh Bui-Dang-Hoai <bryon...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > I'm going through the CFAI text using Elan as summary.
>
> > I think it's important that we are able to do all in-chapter examples and
> > end-of-chapter questions regardless of study method.
>
> > For my style, I'm taking 4-5 study sessions concurrently to enhance
> > retention. Something I learnt from my lvl1 prep.
>

> > On 28 February 2012 15:13, Jordan Wang <jordanwan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> Martin you are just blowing through the readings! I think you should be
> >> taking the bar exam as opposed to the CFA haha.
>
> >> On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 5:54 AM, Ben <bcj...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>> Good tips Martin. I'm going thru the schweser notes and have noticed
> >>> it's not near as daunting of a task as the cfai text. Gonna suck it up and
> >>> get it done.
>
> >>> Sent from my iPhone
>

[martin]

What did everyone quit studying??? After my weekend off I thought
i'd be ready to hit the books again. But I was wrong. I had a thirst
for more vacation. So I took a few days off and then spent a week on
South Beach. Now I'm back and its like 70 degrees and crappy here and
im having trouble getting motivated again.

I wish I had some form of self punishment like.... if you don't study
for 3 hours today you have to watch a womens basketball game on tv.

On Feb 28, 10:20 am, Thanh Bui-Dang-Hoai <bryon...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm going through the CFAI text using Elan as summary.
>
> I think it's important that we are able to do all in-chapter examples and
> end-of-chapter questions regardless of study method.
>
> For my style, I'm taking 4-5 study sessions concurrently to enhance
> retention. Something I learnt from my lvl1 prep.
>

> On 28 February 2012 15:13, Jordan Wang <jordanwan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Martin you are just blowing through the readings! I think you should be
> > taking the bar exam as opposed to the CFA haha.
>
> > On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 5:54 AM, Ben <bcj...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> Good tips Martin. I'm going thru the schweser notes and have noticed it's
> >> not near as daunting of a task as the cfai text. Gonna suck it up and get
> >> it done.
>
> >> Sent from my iPhone
>

> ...
>
> read more »

[Sonal Thakor]

I'm still here! I'm running through EOC questions from the CFA curriculum to cement concepts now. I've done my first run through of the curriculum so it's time to really drill it in. 

[Laura Noonan]

I'm still here too, was getting a bit worried about being behind as haven't done much lately, then realised there are only five schweser books (had thought there were six) so now I'm miraculously back on track. Doesn't say much for my quants skills I know!

L

[Shreyas Tonse]

Studying through Alternative Investments. Got the Ethics section & a few readings from other topics left. Aiming to finish by end of March, which should give me a good 2 months for CFAI End of Chapter Questions & Mocks. 

Do you folks have access to the mocks from previous editions?

--
Shreyas Tonse

[Frank Jiang]

My original goal is to finish first round by April 15. Now I am at
Equity Free Cash Flow. Behind my schedule for about a week. I expect
to be further delayed since Derivatives will be more difficult.

[adam johnson]

Are you guys going through any problems on your initial trip through the readings? My plan has been to do the Schweser readings, watch the schweser videos, and CFAI end of chapter questions to make sure I am retaining things. I am just finishing up the Equity readings (I am going through in traditional order). I find myself losing momentum and interest right now. Based on my schedule, I will get through everything the first time by April 15.

[Sonal Thakor]

I'm going through problems to make sure I retain my knowledge. Sometimes I do the Schweser questions first to cement formulas and basic concepts before moving on to the CFAI EOC questions. 

[martin]

I finally finished equity. SS #12 was a nightmare for me in terms of
length and difficulty.

Not feeling so great about this exam. Not sure I can learn and retain
this much stuff in such a compressed window. I knew this was going to
be hard since I never took any accounting/finance courses in college,
but sheesh.

On Mar 16, 11:01 am, Sonal Thakor <sonalw...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm going through problems to make sure I retain my knowledge. Sometimes I
> do the Schweser questions first to cement formulas and basic concepts
> before moving on to the CFAI EOC questions.
>

> On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 1:42 PM, adam johnson <johnsonadam...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
> > Are you guys going through any problems on your initial trip through the
> > readings? My plan has been to do the Schweser readings, watch the schweser
> > videos, and CFAI end of chapter questions to make sure I am retaining
> > things. I am just finishing up the Equity readings (I am going through in
> > traditional order). I find myself losing momentum and interest right now.
> > Based on my schedule, I will get through everything the first time by April
> > 15.
>

> > On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 1:35 PM, Frank Jiang <frank.z.ji...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> >> My original goal is to finish first round by April 15. Now I am at
> >> Equity Free Cash Flow. Behind my schedule for about a week. I expect
> >> to be further delayed since Derivatives will be more difficult.
>

> >> On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 4:26 AM, Laura Noonan <laura.noo...@gmail.com>

> >> wrote:
> >> > I'm still here too, was getting a bit worried about being behind as
> >> haven't
> >> > done much lately, then realised there are only five schweser books (had
> >> > thought there were six) so now I'm miraculously back on track. Doesn't
> >> say
> >> > much for my quants skills I know!
>
> >> > L
>

> >> > On Wednesday, March 14, 2012, Sonal Thakor <sonalw...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >> I'm still here! I'm running through EOC questions from the CFA
> >> curriculum
> >> >> to cement concepts now. I've done my first run through of the
> >> curriculum so
> >> >> it's time to really drill it in.
>

[Ben]

Yea equity is pretty lengthy. I should finish it up tomorrow. It seems that the schweser material really skims thru whats in the CFAI text. Don't really feel that it prepares you for all the curveballs. Hopefully I can get thru these last two schweser books by April 22 to give six weeks of review. If not, my slim chance of passing this exam just got slimmer. Not to mention, baseball season just started which is a huge distraction. We'll see what happens. Go rangers.

Sent from my iPhone

[Frank Jiang]

Keep it up, two months to go. I finished equity last week. I am just
trying to remember as much as I can. It's the first round don't get
bogged down. I am trying to finish SS14. No holiday today.

[Sonal Thakor]

Keep pushing! I feel like after the first run of all the material, concepts start clicking together, just have to get through the end. 

[Eileen Lee]

How much material do you think you guys remember? I just finished ss14 and I feel like I have forgotten almost everything...

[adam johnson]

I just finished SS 17 and feel like I retain less and less every single day. My hope is that once I get to focusing on problems everything will click. I know with the Level I exam, I daydreamed through the readings and then things clicked into place once I started doing problems. Hopefully this is the case again. It sounds like most of the people here have started to hit a wall. I know I have! The question is, do I take a few days or week off? or is it too late in the game to do that!

[Eileen Lee]

I am getting more and more anxious...there is just too much to catch up in so little time..and level2 is totally different story compared to level1! Btw, do you guys do questions when you go through the books? I didn't and maybe that's why it's difficult for me to retain what I've studied.

[Sonal Thakor]

This is my 2nd time at level 2, and doing questions is the way to go. It is hard to do them on the first round through the material, but yes, compared to level 2 if you don't grind out problems, the material will not stick. 

I'm trying to do as many questions as I can right now. I

[Frank Jiang]

What questions are you doing other than CFAI end of chapter questions?

[Sonal Thakor]

I'm using mostly analystnotes (an online study notes provider) and Schweser. I try to go to through the bluebox questions as well when I'm having particular trouble with a concept. 

[Eileen Lee]

Thanks.  I guess I have to switch my study strategy now... Do you do item sets questions or do the EOC questions?

[adam johnson]

Does anyone have a good formula sheet they can share with the group?

[Sonal Thakor]

I do all EOC questions to get an understanding which have some item sets within them. I'd focus on the biggest sections first. but I'm now starting practice exams to figure out where my weak areas are. I'm doing them early to focus my studying better. 

[Laura Noonan]

Am I the only one who's only using schweser? I haven't looked at the cfa notes at all, but I'm on derivatives now, so I may have time to go through the cfa notes for revision. Are there any particular areas where schweser notes are particularly weak, or where I should be looking to cfa notes too? Totally understand what you're saying about running our of stamina/interest, my last few weeks have been really poor, even when I find the time I find it really hard to concentrate. Hopefully once it gets nearer I'll get better.... 

Thanks!

Laura 

[martin]

Ugh, just finished alternative investments. About to start Fixed
Income and then finish up with Derivatives, Portfolio Management, and
Ethics.

Shooting for April 21 so that I have 6 weeks left to review this crazy
amount of material.

Any recommended purchases for the review? Elan doesn't appear to have
mocks, practice problems, or anything for Level 2 yet.

I was looking at the Schweser Final Review packet but have read that
their Qbank is not challenging enough.

Has anyone ever used FinQuiz??? They are significantly cheaper than
Schwescher, but anytime anyone asks about them on the analyst forum
they receive spam answers from people who work for the company. I'd
like to hear from a neutral party if anyone has used them here :)

On Apr 6, 4:07 pm, Laura Noonan <laura.noo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Am I the only one who's only using schweser? I haven't looked at the cfa
> notes at all, but I'm on derivatives now, so I may have time to go through
> the cfa notes for revision. Are there any particular areas where schweser
> notes are particularly weak, or where I should be looking to cfa notes too?
> Totally understand what you're saying about running our of
> stamina/interest, my last few weeks have been really poor, even when I find
> the time I find it really hard to concentrate. Hopefully once it gets
> nearer I'll get better....
> Thanks!
> Laura
>
> On Friday, April 6, 2012, Sonal Thakor wrote:
> > I do all EOC questions to get an understanding which have some item sets
> > within them. I'd focus on the biggest sections first. but I'm now starting
> > practice exams to figure out where my weak areas are. I'm doing them early
> > to focus my studying better.
>

> > On Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 1:47 PM, adam johnson <johnsonadam...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > Does anyone have a good formula sheet they can share with the group?
>

> > On Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 1:46 PM, Eileen Lee <eileen.lee1...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > Thanks.  I guess I have to switch my study strategy now... Do you do item
> > sets questions or do the EOC questions?
>
> > On Friday, April 6, 2012, Sonal Thakor wrote:
>
> > This is my 2nd time at level 2, and doing questions is the way to go. It
> > is hard to do them on the first round through the material, but yes,
> > compared to level 2 if you don't grind out problems, the material will not
> > stick.
> > I'm trying to do as many questions as I can right now. I
>

> > On Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 1:32 PM, Eileen Lee <eileen.lee1...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > I am getting more and more anxious...there is just too much to catch up in
> > so little time..and level2 is totally different story compared to level1!
> > Btw, do you guys do questions when you go through the books? I didn't and
> > maybe that's why it's difficult for me to retain what I've studied.
>
> > On Friday, April 6, 2012, adam johnson wrote:
>
> > I just finished SS 17 and feel like I retain less and less every single
> > day. My hope is that once I get to focusing on problems everything will
> > click. I know with the Level I exam, I daydreamed through the readings and
> > then things clicked into place once I started doing problems. Hopefully
> > this is the case again. It sounds like most of the people here have started
> > to hit a wall. I know I have! The question is, do I take a few days or week
> > off? or is it too late in the game to do that!
>

> > On Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 1:21 PM, Eileen Lee <eileen.lee1...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > How much material do you think you guys remember? I just finished ss14 and
> > I feel like I have forgotten almost everything...
>
> > On Friday, April 6, 2012, Sonal Thakor wrote:
>
> > Keep pushing! I feel like after the first run of all the material,
> > concepts start clicking together, just have to get through the end.
>

> > On Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 12:20 PM, Frank Jiang <frank.z.ji...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > Keep it up, two months to go. I finished equity last week. I am just
> > trying to remember as much as I can. It's the first round don't get
> > bogged down. I am trying to finish SS14. No holiday today.
>
> > On Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 5:52 AM, Ben <bcj...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Yea equity is pretty lengthy. I should finish it up tomorrow. It seems
> > that the schweser material really skims thru whats in the CFAI text.  Don't
> > really feel that it prepares you for all the curveballs. Hopefully I can
> > get thru these last two schweser books by April 22 to give six weeks of
> > review.  If not, my slim chance of passing this exam just got slimmer. Not
> > to mention, baseball season just started which is a huge distraction. We'll
> > see what happens. Go rangers.
>
> > > Sent from my iPhone
>

[martin]

Did anyone find Chapter 50: Valuing Bonds with Embedded Options to be
particularly difficult?

Maybe 5 AM isn't the time to tackle binomial node trees with backwards
induction to interest rate volatility assumptions but good grief I
just took strike 3 looking.

Out of nowhere I feel like the material just took a turn for the
worse. Not looking forward to SS #15. Or Derivatives & Portfolio
Management for that matter really.

[Sonal Thakor]

Derivatives is terrible . . .however, binomial node trees actually aren't bad. You just need to practice the process a few times and it will start clicking. 

[Laura Noonan]

There's light at the end of the tunnel too, I'm half way through ss18 and it's much much easier than derivatives :) 

[martin]

it could just be me but Elan guides seemed to do a terrible job on the
binomial trees. They'd put the tree on one page and the explanations
on the next page. Makes it impossible to keep flipping back and forth
to follow along. I think if i print it out maybe I could get it. I
may just consult the CFAI text for that chapter if I have time at the
end instead. Not knocking elan, they've been good overall but that
chapter was a disaster and if i have to choose between blaming me or
them, i'm throwing them under the bus.

Derivatives Im hoping for the best. I know a decent amount about
options and I didn't find Level 1 derivatives to be all that bad even
though many people seemed to... I'm hoping I have natural derivative
abilities. If not, these next two weeks are going to be ugly.

On Apr 11, 12:47 pm, Laura Noonan <laura.noo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> There's light at the end of the tunnel too, I'm half way through ss18 and
> it's much much easier than derivatives :)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, April 11, 2012, Sonal Thakor wrote:
> > Derivatives is terrible . . .however, binomial node trees actually aren't
> > bad. You just need to practice the process a few times and it will start
> > clicking.
>

[martin]

By my count we have 50 days. So if you haven't started studying yet
just put in 8 hours each day and you'll get the recommended 400 study
hours haha.

I am dying to get through Portfolio Management and Derivatives so I
can just begin the review. I feel like everyday I learn new material
I'm probably forgetting more and more from the previous chapters geez.

[martin]

PS. I added my "review" strategy in the "Planning the review"
thread. It was helpful for me to map my review in writing and I also
succeeded in procrastinating from actually studying for an hour so
that's always good.

[Eileen Lee]

Is that just me? It took me longer time to go through the derivatives ss16-17 and I still not quite get some concepts... Advice needed...

[sona...@gmail.com]

It's not just you, I had the time so I spent a week on derivatives and I'm just starting to get it...swaps and arbitrage still not completely understood though! Do the end of chapter problems, it helps to cement the concepts from basic to advanced. That's the only way it started to click for me.

Sent from my iPhone

[Eileen Lee]

Thanks! I got really confused when the swaps combined with options, cap and floor, call an put...I guess I need do more questions to understand thoroughly.

[Sonal Thakor]

Eileen, I think I'm finally getting the hang of derivatives. If you need any help, feel free to shoot me an email if you need any clarification on questions. I just did the EOC questions in derivatives and it really helped to build my knowledge base.