Even though I understand all of them I need horrendous time to figure out max. loss or breakeven or whatever question. I needed almost 35 minutes for each of the topic tests, and even though I answered correctly most of the time it’s not possible to spend this much time on the exam.
Would have made more sense to punt the whole derivatives topic and go for guessing.
You know all I’d recommend to get these nailed down is google some online resources that discuss option spread strategies and their risk profiles… maybe you’ll find someone that just explains it better than the curriculum or Kaplan did. Best of luck!
Are you computing the max gain, loss, breakeven using the formulas or logically? For me it’s easier to logically walk through them and it doesn’t take all that long.
Either way you should probably re-read the chapter or re-do questions to get a better grasp. But honestly, 35 minutes per topic test with correct answers isn’t all that bad. If you conceptually understand everything you’ve got a month to shave some time off the 35 minutes it’s currently taking you.
Also, if you have Schweser there is a great on-demand video that helps to explain the mechanics.
I don’t see anything wrong with skipping some of the long calculations and just focusing on the “easier” derivatives things. You can probably pick up some points in this section even if you have to guess on all calculations and you end up guessing them wrong. Chances are there will be a mix of easier concept-type questions and harder calculations. No reason to skip derivatives entirely.
I’m calculating using logic and drawing the payoff curves, that’s why it takes so long. Maybe it’s just an age thing I’ 43 years old unfortunately. :-((
Well, I won’t skip it because I have already invested a large amount of time, plus it’s not dfficult, it’s just time consuming for me.