I'm typing this on a plane on my way out to Phoenix to visit my best friend who moved out there recently. I wrapped up Study Session 9 this week which marks the midway point of the studies for Level 2 in June. I have to say, only halfway thru and this is already much harder than I anticipated and definitely a step up from Level 1. The material isn't difficult, it's just so much to absorb and master and a lot of it is brand new even for someone like me who has a MBA and a MS in Finance. I was lucky enough to see some of the Quant stuff in my MSF program and I'm hoping I covered some of the derivative and fixed income material as well. The accounting piece was brand new to me top to bottom which is probably why I struggled with it. I'll definitely have to go thru each SS again to really master it come exam time.

Since I have a 5 hour flight to sit thru, I'm using some slidess from Schweser that summarize the Level 2 material. I figure it's a good way to review the core concepts I've covered so far so I don't forget them. As I went thru the slides I noted what areas I felt weak on and would need to focus come review time.

Ethics - Overall strong area for me. Lots of problems will help drill this stuff home come exam time.

• Areas of Focus - Soft Dollar Standards, Prudent Man vs Investor, Research Standards

Quant - Another strong area for me. A lot of this I saw in my MSF courses but some of it is new.

• Areas of Focus - ANOVA table calcs, assumption violation(serial correlation etc), time series

Economics - Definitely my weakest area by far. Only one item set so not gonna get too bogged down here.

• Areas of Focus - entire reading. Probably just going to use the Secret Sauce to review high level core concepts and aim for the best.

FRA and Corp Finance - Decently strong here.

• Areas of Focus - Pensions, Intercorporate Investments

I also watched a lecture on Equity.