CFA Level 1 Schweser Vol 1 Exam 2 AM score

I scored 86%. I felt it was too easy. I am getting worried that the Schweser's exam is too easy as compared to the real thing.

9 days left & counting

Today receive the last newsletter from CFA before the exam. Wearing mask is permitted now in view of the Swine Flu. There are now 4 cases of Swine Flu in Singapore. Hope that this has no impact on this exam.

10 days left & counting

Classical, Keynesian, Monetarist View

I need to download the following into my brain:

Classical view:

* Economy self-regulating and always at full employment

* Aggregate demand/supply flunctuations: technology is the most significant influence

* Money wage that lies behind the short-run aggregate supply is instantly & completely flexible

Keynesian view:

* Economy if left alone would rarely operate at full employment

* Active help from fiscal policy & monetary policy is required

* Expectations are the most significant influence on aggregate demand

* Money wage that lies behind the short-run aggregate supply is extremely stick in the downward direction

Monetarist view:

* Economy is self-regulating and normally operate at full employment provided that monetary policy is not erratic and that the pace ofmoney growth is kept steady

* The quantity of money is the most significant influence on aggregate demand

* Money wage that lies behind the short-run aggregate supply is sticky

To do more questions or review text?

I am not sure whether should I continue to do questions or should I now concentrate to review text. It seems there are just too many kind of questions that can come up with.

11 days left & counting

I am running out of steam. I cannot wait for the exam to be over to get back to life.

CFA Level 1 Mock Exam PM

The above supplied by CFAI was horrible. I scored 77.5%! It is a terrible score for me. Either I have forgotten many concepts or it was really difficult. One particular calculation was not required (or at least the LOS did not say "compute") came out. And than the mock exam answer inserted a comment saying that the review board argued among themselves and decided that it should be tested ... and even say it could even come out on the LIVE exam! Aiyo...

Not many trick questions

After doing so many sample questions, i found that there aren't many trick questions. Many CFA questions are straight forward - either you know or do not know. Most of the questions are derived from the text and so it is not that you need a lot of extra help. For example, one question in the cfai level 1 mock exam i took is the question on how the short term and long term Philips Curve will change when the natural unemployment change. The answer is quite straight forward - both curves shifts! Those who did not study it will not know the answer.

However, I do realised that the FSA's Income Tax is one of the Readings that are the worst written. Some external help is required to understand Income Tax for FSA. The mock exam tested on deferred taxes. If you do not have external help, you can never answer it.

Body ache & pain

I think I am coming down with a flu. Body is ached and my leg is in pain. Seems to be swelling. Urgg!! Must be the "exam fever"!!

15 days left & counting

I think I am fully prepared for the exam. However, my health isn't. My foot and knee are painful. Not sure is it because I sat down in one position for too long or that I am coming down with a flu. My son just recovered for a nasty flu (after taking that flu jab!)

2009 Level 1 Mock Exam AM

Scored 87% !! Yeepee. The questions are mostly very easy. Like chicken. So far my week points are related to taxes in FSA. So will need to revise.

Also always fall into those trick questions which are usually double or even triple negatives. Here is a question with a triple negatives "least likely... unrealiability... anomaly" In one sentence there is 3 negatives!

For those who are not aware, this mock exam is provided by the CFAI itself and is meant to represent the same level of difficulty as the actual exam.

17 days left & counting

My son has a high fever. Looks like I am not able to practice as many quesions as I wanted.

Schweser Vol 1 Exam 1 PM

Scored 82%. This time seems that failed on the "Financial Reporting and Analysis: Techniques, Applications, and International Standards Convergence" part. Looks like I need to re-read this section.

18 days left & counting

As I completed the Schweser Vol 1 Exam 1 AM, I noticed that I am frequently trick by double negative questions such as

"... least likely more problematic"

Also am still grasping the effects on the cashflows & ratios for Finance type lease and operating lease for lessee and lessor.

Schweser Exam Vol. 1 Exam 1 AM score

I scored 77.5% over 120 questions. Will revised tonight the weak subjects and hopefully can do better tomorrow.

19 days left & counting

Previously I did the 60 samples questions from CFAI.

I noticed it tested on normalization of P/E with company size adjustments using BVPS. The Schweser Notes did not provide a detail example on how to do this. Had to refer to the main CFAI text. It looks to me that there are cases which the notes did not cover. I think I better look through the text thoroughly again.

Another area is the Working Capital for LOS 46.d. The question asked about the mismatching strategy but the Schweser Notes offer nothing on this area.

Still on another area is pertaining to the LOS 9.g which the latest errata from CFAI says that "construct and interpret a confidence level interval for a normally distributed random variable." has been deleted. Yet the sample question asked about the interpretation of the confidence level for normal distribution. How like this?

One frustrating thing about the sample questions is not able to view the question again after taking it. I can have all the answers and explanationatory notes but cannot review the question again. So it is almost as good as rubbish. Fortunately while I was taking the sample question test, I noted down which questions are problematic for me.

20 days left & counting

I just completed the CFAI's 60 sample questions. I scored 83%!! Yeah!

21 days left & counting

22 days left & counting

30 days Countdown to CFA Level 1

There are 30 days left to the CFA Level 1 exam. I have been studying everyday. I think I'll pass but I am having problem retaining memory. Thank goodness that I don't have much work to do since we are having one of the worst economic crisis. Singapore's GDP growth is projected to be -10% this year - looks like the economy is more like an emerging market country than a developed one!

I did found that ethics to be quite easy to pass. Just need to read the readings and notes a zillion times. No math involved and that's a good thing. I did not spent much time on it yet I could get above 70% on the Qbank. It consist of 15% in weightage and that's just second to FSA which is 20%. Indeed Ethics cannot be neglected as it is almost like a give away kind of topic.

By the way, couple of days ago I got up from sleep with a shock and it occured to me that I am in my final phase of the exam prepation.

Level 1 Ticket Received

Today the ticket for Level 1 exam is made available. That means that the cry for battle has started. The battle will be at Singapore Expo. I hope my brain can retain all the materials and also I hope the Swine Flu don't escalate.