luminouslogic.com

A Thin Three

Lumilog — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 20:20:02 +0000

So the day after I found out I passed CFA Level 2, I signed up for the Level 3 exam. Unlike in previous years, you now have the option of getting the volumes in electronic format in addition to, or instead of, the normal paper study guides. I chose the paper with the thought that [...]

CFA Level II Results

Lumilog — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:40:16 +0000

Those three little words I’ve been longing to hear… LEVEL II: PASS And below is my breakdown. Pass rate for Level II this year was 39%. var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-3779083-1"); pageTracker._initData(); pageTracker._trackPageview();

CFA Level 2: Part Deux Re-deux

Lumilog — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 21:37:09 +0000

So the CFA exams are over and I’m enjoying closing all the open windows on the computer containing PDFs of mock exam questions, answers, and errata. I was hoping that another year of study would make Level 2 a cakewalk this time around, but it was anything but that. Hard, hard, hard! The AM section [...]

Here Goes Something

Lumilog — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:50:24 +0000

Just a quick good luck wish to all fellow candidates gearing up for this Saturday. Here’s a snapshot from my green room as I prepare… Until about a week ago I felt resigned to another probable Level II fail just due to having too many irons in the fire between the engineering and financial analyst [...]

CAPM Fail?

Lumilog — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 19:53:28 +0000

I came across something funny in my stock screening this morning when I noticed something was odd with the discount rate that my (automated) valuation model was using for one particular stock, APOL. It was incredibly low, implying that APOL was a very safe investment. APOL may very well be a good buy. I don’t [...]

Mean Variance Optimization with Matlab

Lumilog — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:35:59 +0000

Today I’m just posting some starter Matlab code for those wishing to dabble with Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT). MPT is an elegant, academic solution to the age-old asset allocation problem: “what % of my money should I put into each stock or mutual fund available to me when building my portfolio?” And like most academic [...]

Bruce Greenwald on Shorting

Lumilog — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:03:47 +0000

I’m having trouble finding time to write longer articles so I’m thinking of doing more frequent bite-sized bloggings. Even if I had all the time in world, sometimes I just have something twitter-sized to share that’s not worth a whole article. Today’s snippet is a link to an interview by John Authers with the legendary [...]

Asset Allocation Performance for 2009

Lumilog — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:17:52 +0000

Just a post of some tabulated results today. You’ll recall that the CFA program spiraled me into a the more I learn, the less I feel I know paradox concerning individual stock analysis, so I basically decided to flee to asset allocation through indexing as a way to stay in the market while I caught [...]

New Beginnings

Lumilog — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:15:26 +0000

Well my LLC was recently awarded a new contract. Alongside my engineering consulting I’m now working as a stock analyst for a money-managing firm in New Jersey! Yaaaay Me! My official title is independent investment research contractor. I work with a smart guy, who is a Buffett-style large-cap value investor with decades of experience. He [...]

What’s in the Schweser Box

Lumilog — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:26:42 +0000

As the kiddies were dumping out their Halloween bags yesterday to see what goodies they got for free, I was dumping out my box of goods from Schweser, to see what I got for $599. If you’ll recall, I purchased their Essential Prep Package. And for the record, I don’t have an advertising relationship or [...]