Exam anlytics

[narayananvenkat]

David..


I have enclosed a spreadsheet that gives:

Domain wise AIMs ranked on 1. testabilty, a must coverage topics being colour coded.

these rankings are based on some of course providers perception based on their practice exmas, lectures etc. I gathered.

may I have your ranking in the spread sheet . I write with a disclaimer that these are only tools for guidance and i noway shpuld influence ones preperation.

I am sure i can take the liberty of your comments.

venkat

 

[David Harper CFA FRM]

Thanks venkat, but I will pass ...

the reason is simple: nobody can populate this meaningfully for Nov 2009 given GARP's (lack of) specific guidance ... it is "mission impossible" ... this XLS suggests a level of precision, fact base, track record, historical precendent and/or *intention* that, trust me, does not exist vis a vis the full 2009 exam ... I fully realize you want "prospective clarity" I really, really, really do appreciate that. If I thought either (i) that it would help or (ii) more importantly, that it were possible, I would fill this out ... but there is absolutely no basis for making such plans against the unknowable status of the 1st and only full L1+L2 exam ... for the full L2 2009, there can be no escaping a sense of uncertainty (for everybody) about what will be tested...the silver lining is: everybody is on the same playing field in this regard.

David

 

[narayananvenkat]

David..

Thanks for your candid reply. On the one hand the air of uncertainty and specifics haunts me on full exam coverage, I still go my intuition that there exist spread f qns that the dispersion will beneift to score in aggregate . Also in my case time element drags me to finish off FRM ASAP. So I do my prayers and continue my hard prep.

How about this:

Q) Assume that a hedge fund provides a large positive alpha. The fund can take leveraged long and short positions in stocks. The market went up over the period. Based on this information,
Choose one answer.
a. St1: If the fund has net positive beta, all of the alpha must come from the market.
b. St2: If the fund has net negative beta, part of the alpha comes from the market.
c. St3: If the fund has net positive beta, part of the alpha comes from the market.
d. St4: If the fund has net negative beta, all of the alpha must come from the market

venkat

 

[David Harper CFA FRM]

venkat,

sure thing...

I recognize the question b/c i submitted it to GARP as an example of a misuse of alpha
(as part of my ongoing effort to get them to use consistent and accurate definitions)
(and they agreed with me on this question, btw)
http://forum.bionicturtle.com/viewthread/893/
recommend ignore b/c alpha does not come from the market

David

 

[narayananvenkat]

David..

i also read today public blog in schweser that

"You can also take comfort in knowing that the exam is graded on a curve so even if you do not answer 70% of the questions correctly you still have a chance of passing."

???

venkat

 

[David Harper CFA FRM]

...since that is a hedged statement, my *guess* it that it's another way of saying "we don't know what the curve will look like." GARP hasn't shared any such numbers...David