How do you people do this?

from the CFAI website Candidate Resources:
“You should expect to encounter questions that you will not be able to answer correctly. There is a great deal of material to master and exam questions are challenging. Standard setters and the Board of Governors (at all three levels) take account of exam difficulty in setting Minimum Passing Scores.”
So…I expect to encounter questions that I will not be able to answer correctly. A few of them. I expect to answer more questions right than wrong. I expect to do my best, RTFQ, and know what I know.
I’m glad I had my tantrum yesterday. Today I woke up elated at the thought of this being over very soon. I can pass this exam. And I respect it’s challenging nature, it’s what brings value to the charter, and what drives me toward achieving it.
Keep it up y’all….
Know what you know.
 
Currency swaps is tough . Especially since I’m thinking of shortcuts which prove to be dead-ends later. The thing is you need both initial fx rate and in-between or settlement rate to do the valuation right . I keep forgetting and land up in no-mans land , and have to do it over again. I’m trying NOT to memorize anything , as I will land in further trouble that way
 
janakisri Wrote:
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> Currency swaps is tough . Especially since I’m
> thinking of shortcuts which prove to be dead-ends
> later. The thing is you need both initial fx rate
> and in-between or settlement rate to do the
> valuation right . I keep forgetting and land up in
> no-mans land , and have to do it over again. I’m
> trying NOT to memorize anything , as I will land
> in further trouble that way
Just keep in mind the swap has to be valued in terms of a single currency, depending on what the question is asking for.
A swap in $1 is not the same in terms of a swap in SFR 1. You have to either convert the $ side to SFR at the beginning and current rates or vice versa in order to find your true value.
You can even value you it in terms of both currencies if that makes it easier for you.
 
bpdulog Wrote:
——————————————————-
> janakisri Wrote:
> ————————————————–
> —–
> > Currency swaps is tough . Especially since I’m
> > thinking of shortcuts which prove to be
> dead-ends
> > later. The thing is you need both initial fx
> rate
> > and in-between or settlement rate to do the
> > valuation right . I keep forgetting and land up
> in
> > no-mans land , and have to do it over again.
> I’m
> > trying NOT to memorize anything , as I will
> land
> > in further trouble that way
>
> Just keep in mind the swap has to be valued in
> terms of a single currency, depending on what the
> question is asking for.
>
> A swap in $1 is not the same in terms of a swap in
> SFR 1. You have to either convert the $ side to
> SFR at the beginning and current rates or vice
> versa in order to find your true value.
>
> You can even value you it in terms of both
> currencies if that makes it easier for you.
hence why changed to notional currency which is then adjusted by changes in the currency. BPDULOG! you gotta write these CFA books! you said it in 2 sentences….those books send us on a 3 page adventure to no-where explaining this concept.
 
I decided not to do any more mocks after Tuesday since they are somewhat draining and leave less energy to study. I had a nice upward trend on my mocks (67, 73, 82) so I’m feeling OK but not overconfident.
Something I remember from my days as a runner – when training for a marathon, it is usually counterproductive to run 26.2 miles in any one training session. Better to mix it up with varous training techniques and then spend your total energy on the race itself knowing that you didn’t needlessly drain yourself while training too close to the race.
I’m cementing via flashcards and continual review of the wrong answers I got on the three full mocks I did take. I’m also going to re-read the CFA ethics topics and examples and watch some Schweser videos.
Like many of you, now it’s all about ensuring we make as few easy mistakes as possible and get as many “freebie” points on the test as we can simply from knowing the price, valuation, and general characteristics of all investment types.
The CFA website says that L2 is generally about valuation so that’s my mindset!
Good luck everyone!
 
Back after finishing my 3rd full mock (all schweser)
Scored a 63%. Total. So my full mocks have gone 71, 67, 63… thats not good. Especially since I’ve been reviewing and (at least I thought) learning from my mistakes.
On another note, I don’t know if learning from your mistakes helps with all the Schweser exams. I think they space out the vignettes so that aside from ethics, you’ll never see the same type of vignette twice in all the exams. So you are just pushing other knowledge for future exams out when you are learning this one.
Thoughts?
 
Just based on my L1 experience:
All of the mocks from CFAI/Schweser/Stalla were harder than the real thing. Much harder. I’m hoping it’s the same for Saturday and will confirm once it’s over.
Of course the vignettes won’t repeat. The whole point is to cover the entire curriculum in exam format in 3-6 full exams(AM/PM). Seeing some permutation of a question at least once should help you remember something that’ll jog the memory come exam day. What helps me is to think of other ways the same question could be asked so one of the wrong answers is the right one next time. If you know why answers are wrong in addition to the right ones being right, you’re in good shape.
Always remember, you’re supposed to be able to pass this using ONLY the curriculum. And certain topics they don’t even have EOC questions for. I’m amazed some people still pass without the help of Schweser/Stalla etc and just using the samples and mocks. There’s a message there.
I hope……
 
I’m just reading through the answers on the Schweser mocks. Don’t have time at this point to actually take them. I think it really helps to simply understand the type of questions they are throwing at you and the reasoning for their answer.
Reading the answers also avoids the potential morale crusher when you “fail” one of these things. I hardly believe that the only point of these mocks is for you to “pass” them. Remember that they are simply learning tools and the ONLY test that counts in terms of passing or failing is tomorrow’s.
 
dapoopa Wrote:
——————————————————-
> I’m just reading through the answers on the
> Schweser mocks. Don’t have time at this point to
> actually take them. I think it really helps to
> simply understand the type of questions they are
> throwing at you and the reasoning for their
> answer.
>
> Reading the answers also avoids the potential
> morale crusher when you “fail” one of these
> things. I hardly believe that the only point of
> these mocks is for you to “pass” them. Remember
> that they are simply learning tools and the ONLY
> test that counts in terms of passing or failing is
> tomorrow’s.
Totally agree. If you still have more than 1 mock, don’t take 3 hours of your time anymore to solve each, and then another 1 to grade it. just read through them. The exam is so close now that your short term memory might store whatever your read. If you see a question that you don’t know how to solve, spend a few more minutes on it.
That’s what I’m doing anyways.
 
I just looked at the L1 book sitting behind me….those days…soo innocent.
 
ShintreH Wrote:
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> I just looked at the L1 book sitting behind
> me….those days…soo innocent.
Hahaha +1. L1 was so easy compared to this!
 
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