rohufish Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Etienne Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > > If you are memorising an 8 page formula sheet, > you > > really don’t get it. You made it a memory test. > > > All the calcs related to futures, options, > swaps, > > bonds, etc. - none of those need to be > committed > > to memory if you’re understanding is up to > > scratch. The thought of you spending the time > > made me smile. > > etienne, you staying awake till 2am the night > before the exam, and getting up at 5am to “go over > the whole curriculum once over” as i think you put > it, didn’t exactly bring tears to my eyes either. > > i’d love to see your resume, and see what it is > that you always seem to assume you have that > others don’t have. the only thing obvious to me so > far is deep rooted insecurity. > > sigh…i hope i don’t read about you in the papers > when the next financial crisis breaks… I think reviewing everything on the day of the exam is part of the reason I am not playing the blame game right now. If the worst happens, you might want to consider it next year…
100% agree with Etienne. The people who are whining about L3 now are similar to the ones who were whining about L2 last year – they are the people who thought they could accurately predict what specific questions would be on the exam, hyper-focused their studying on the “big” topics, and neglected the kind of complete understanding (rather than memorization or formulae) that allows somebody to deal with a curveball on the exam. The exam is/was not a crapshoot. It’s also not just supposed to be a measure of how many hours you studied or how hard you tried.
twdavid Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > there are some of us who suggest that whoever > complaint about the time contraint is somehow > inferior in the understanding of the material. > > Suppose we brought in a university professor in > finance, gave the person the CFAI notes, ask the > person to study it for 15 weeks and focus on LOS, > and then tested the person using the LIII exam. > What do you think this person would do? Could this > person be able to handle the CPPI calculation? > > let’s review the LOS related to CPPI > > LOS 42.h > explain the performance consequences, in up, down, > and nontrending markets, of (1) rebalancing to a > constant mix of equities and bills, (2) buying and > holding equities, and (3) constant-proportion > portfolio insurnace (CPPI). > > LOS 42.I > distinguish among linear, concave, and convex > rebalanccing strategies > > Now tell me, do these LOSs require making the > actual calculation for the CPPI method? the LOS > only states “explain the consequenses”. the CFAI > command word “explain” require “To give the > meaning or significance of; to provide an > understanding of; to give the reason for or cause > of”. I don’t think the LOS requires us the do the > acutal calculation using the CPPI method. > > I follow the LOSs closely and I did not try to > practice the calculation of CPPI. When I was short > on time in AM, I forgo this question because I am > not familiar with it. But if it asked me the > consequences of the various methods in different > market conditions, you bet that I can answer them > right away. > > I am not complaining here. For the purpose of > passing the exam, we need to do whatever it takes, > including the assumption that the exam will always > have unexpected items. Before going into the exam, > I had assumed that AM will be tough, so I need to > make it up in the PM. I think I made enough > preparation to do just that. > > My point is: those guys who complain do have a > reasonable basis. If we want to discuss this, > let’s focus on facts and try to avoid > “overconfidence”, “confirming”, biases. While I bemoan overemphasis on tangential matters on the test, when they put questions on there that aren’t covered by an LOS, I get livid. I’m like you in that I focus like a laser beam on the LOS’s. The cash-and-carry arbitrage second part was an “identify and explain” LOS and the calculation shouldn’t have even been on the exam at all, as apparently the CPPI calculations shouldn’t have been.
Etienne Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > I think reviewing everything on the day of the > exam is part of the reason I am not playing the > blame game right now. If the worst happens, you > might want to consider it next year… dude, you are just a stud. the rest of us are all idiots who whine. we all need to learn how to study from you, or we’d all be flunks.
ROFL…this thread is turning out into nothing but BS…with ppl jusr cribbing… stop it guys I mean whether you like it or not CFA is the “Gold Standard” so if u are not satisfied with it…than move on and get a life!!! I havent found anything on the test that was not understood by me…and within each q minutes were mentioned…so if u choose to ignore the number of minutes…thats u fucking problem…not CFAI’s
communal griping is a social need, a bonding mechanism, a safety valve.
i mean i dont know why u guys are soo interested in CFAI bashing… the other day on L1 forum , a female was ruing the fact that her husband wanted her wife back but she culd not let him bang her coz of CFA L1 test gimme a break… i mean go and bang each other…why the hell did u enrol in CFA?
dude, you have a really interesting way of making your point…hey, as long as it works, right?
“her wife”? threesome? this is interesting…
rohufish Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > “her wife”? > > threesome? > > this is interesting… ya… an L1 candidate…her hubby…and his wife… lol
tell us more, dude…this is good
This was one of my favorite threads and just went all to heck.
sorry, didn’t mean to get sidetracked, its just that the story was so juicy…
If I had it to do again, I would practice more written answers and get better at being succinct and brief and doing that all very quickly (the tough part). As Mark Twain said…“I would have written you a shorter letter, but I didn’t have the time” Now, could we get back to the Level I three-way? Please?
Dsylexic Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > if it is not a memorization test, you are kidding > yourself. if you want real conceptual tests, take > the maths olympiad exam or something. I’m pretty confident that I passed this thing, finished all AM questions with time to spare, and I can officially say that for all three levels I never looked at a single flashcard or memorized a single formula. If you give yourself credit and trust yourself, the calculations they’re looking for just aren’t that in-depth. I feel like people choose to memorize formulas instead of conceptually understanding the desired result, and figuring out a decent approach to arriving at said conclusion…
Also, I hate to stoke the fire, but could you guys imagine going into an interview somewhere and not being able to explain a reverse cash and carry arbitrage? Or, if given the inputs (S, F, R, L) not being able to figure out how to make a risk free profit? Imagine if you were interviewing a candidate who claimed to have passed LIII who couldn’t answer those questions. How would that make you feel about the charter?
ahahah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Also, I hate to stoke the fire, but could you guys > imagine going into an interview somewhere and not > being able to explain a reverse cash and carry > arbitrage? i don’t have any problem imaging this. no one would ever ask this in any kind of equity interview (analyst / PM). i could say that about 90% of the rest of the curriculum as well.
asdffdsa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ahahah Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Also, I hate to stoke the fire, but could you > guys > > imagine going into an interview somewhere and > not > > being able to explain a reverse cash and carry > > arbitrage? > > i don’t have any problem imaging this. no one > would ever ask this in any kind of equity > interview (analyst / PM). i could say that about > 90% of the rest of the curriculum as well. agreed. This is a typical junior quant question at best.
Come on, never been asked fair value of dice? Played the “trading game”? Do you think a question on Put-Call Parity would be outside of the realm of questions used to determine basic financial knowledge?
ahahah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Come on, never been asked fair value of dice? > Played the “trading game”? Do you think a > question on Put-Call Parity would be outside of > the realm of questions used to determine basic > financial knowledge? we do ask Put Call parity and expected value of dice. We also ask other quant stuff, but we are quant/programming shop and not PM…