The exam isn't even nit picky. Only stupid people think it's nit picky. It's a stupid cash grab because the CSC knows that people have to take it. You don't even need a university degree to take the CSC. Bank tellers with high school diplomas do it!

The CSC gives you electronic materials. That's all you need.

There's maybe 20% overlap between the CFA and the CSC.. if that. They test completely different things. One is a canadian licensing exam that allows brokers to peddle their wares in the canadian securities industry whereas the other is supposedly prestigious designation that tests candidates on their ability to answer bullshit questions that never come up in real life.

CFA: Larry is a portfolio manager who drinks in the afternoons. He does his work in the morning. How should results be presented to clients?

CFA Answer: Larry's alchohol habit reflects poorly on his professionalism and violates CFA Code of Conduct. Had he not had a drinking habit, then results should be GIPS compliant.

Real world answer: No one cares that Larry drinks because his fund is a fully quant and generates returns in excess of 40% a year. In fact, clients love going to drink with him because he is fun.

:lol :lol so true

I have the csc books sitting at my house. I gotta read the stupid things. i think they give you a year to do it? I ordered my books in july so I guess I'll just read them in december

hahha... That I agree with you... only one small aspect of the CFA program that's BS... as for the most of it, you do see it in real life, especially measuring portfolio performance using quant. Well, there's also another section that's b/s, the CFA material tells you that CMO is supposedly a "safe" investment, hahaha... we all know how that went :rolleyes:

Thanks for the replies guys. I actually don't know who my instructor is at this point. I could probably check I guess. All I know is that it's weds nights 6-9.

I want to take this course because I still think I need to learn a lot of the little things (I haven't taken a lot of accounting classes). So ya I am pretty sure I need to take this course lol.

I will let you guys know how it goes :D

then it may very well be larry u get as an instructor.

he's actually pretty good, he's been a csc grader before and thus will point you towards what to expect, how much %chance there will be of each chapter being in the exam, and a realistic studying schedule to look into for the exam.

Thanks !SG, you've been really helpful.

Is the CSC website the only place to get the textbooks (Vol 1/2)?

Are there different editions?

I'm thinking of picking up a used copy

im sure u can get different csc books other than the ones from csi, BUT they may not be up to date, and they may not cover all the same material.

consider the CSI regulates the csc, by providing the course material, and conducting the exams based on those course materials, i wouldnt trust any other source. there are study helps, eg, oliver notes. here is the thing, u have to go thru csi to register ur exams. you have the option of buying the books from them, but either way, when u register, ur given access to their online versions of the books. even csi reconmends that you refer to the online tests as they are the most up to date versions of the csc course material. they do a revision of the books about once every other year. sometimes its as simple as changing 1 line out of the whole freakin book. but most times its to reflect the change in rules, tax brackets, limits...

www.csi.ca

Ohh awesome, thanks SG.

One the website, what I don't understand is, if I want to study on my own do I buy the textbooks for $90? And the exam costs how much?

I think I read on the website it either costs 960 or 880$, quite expensive :(

thats standard pricing. think of it this way, this is still cheaper than taking say the LSAT for lawyers.

registering on CSI just means u register to take the test. they provide the online course material. some ppl prefer to have a book, so they offer that as an option. if u decide that u need a little more help, then u can go to places like BCIT which offer tutorial courses. they require the books and a financial/business calculator.

its no different than any school, u register to take the course, you dont have to buy the books, but they sure help when the prof refers to page ###. you can learn off of a book the prof doesnt use, but if they refer to eg ### onpage ###, then ur screwed!

$1000 for a course is on par with just about every other school out there, other than community colleges.

!SG - I got Larry for my instructor! I just checked my course thing on myBCIT and my class is 6-10 not 6-9 haha (wednesdays).

Anything else you can add to this thread?

Anyone else taking this prep course?

he's a great instructor.

he will refer to bombardia A LOT!

he scared the shit out of me when he said, of the class of 35 we had, he expected 1/2 to take the test, and 1/2 of those to pass.

in all honesty, i didnt pass the first exam, i retook it. i was not ready for the level of questions they asked.

and yeah, i think ur right, it was 6-10. its a lot to absorb at one sitting, a chapter a class.

remember, all questions about ethics is based on "what is best for the investor" and not what is best for you, the Investment advisor... haha, keep that in mind every question u answer. i lost a mark for suggesting seg funds for a retired old woman... =P

do all the online prep quizes. they help more than u realize. and best way to learn is to try to apply everythign you learned to real live. if u dont already read the financial papers, do so. make mock investments.

a lot of the first few chapters is no different than econ 101 macro.

Thanks again !SG for all your advice.

I'll let you know how my class goes tonight haha weee

one last bit of advice, do not cheap on the calculator.

he teaches u how to use it for the exam, and he references to the Sharp Business/Financial Calculator (EL-738) i think the previous model is the one he references but its been discontinued

a lot of guys get the HP one. if ur willing to learn how to use it over the way he teaches to use the sharp one then thats fine. just 1 less headache.

Ok thanks. Haha I'm sitting in the classroom right now. I guess I will buy the sharp calculator tomorrow. There are 2 chicks in my class and 1 dude so far.

This school is very concrete/ high schoolish looking inside haha

If you're able to make 120% on OTCBB during times when fund managers are scrambling to be -30% or better, CSC is just a foot in a door to a mf company/bank gig.

Seriously though, ppl read the books for a week and take the test.. is it really that hard now??

I dunno. I'm taking the prep course because I am not familiar with a lot of the little things. I was +125% for 2008 on OTCBB's and pinks strictly. I am taking this course and I think it will help me out a bit.

Weds class was good. :)

in all honesty, it will confuse you.

TA and FA does not mix, since you are not suppsed to know the value, just the price for a stock under TA ;)

Whatever works I guess. TA told me DRYS was oversold to death. FA said that a shipping company should not be <0.5 P/E ratio. But yea FA told me DRYS was super cheap at 1 PE compared to the rest of the industry yet it fell more. TA said DRYS was still in downtrend.

lol I know TA and FA are two totally different ball games. I am aware of the changes and I am also familiar with FA even though I rarely use it in my personal trading.

I'm reading chap 4 right now which is basically intro to Econ.. most of the material here is just a refresher for me since I have taken macro and micro already in school.

remember in the back of ur mind, u must assume u are acting in the best interest of ur client. not for urself... hahaha, the answers will come easier when u force urself to adopt that mentality.

For what it's worth, I failed my CSC twice and I'm now a CFA graduate.

honestly though, i donno if its the BEST time to get ur CSC, just because there is and will be so many changes to the markets to prevent investments such as mortgage funds from failing again.

look at hedge funds, they wont allow short selling anymore, isnt that the point of hedge funds?

No.

No Shoei, the point of a hedge fund is to hedge. Of course, reality is different from the ideal. Everyone however should read this.

http://www.leveragedsellout.com/2008...d-hedge-meant/

I especially like how you think you're this expert when all you've done is the CSC which is a dinky little licensing exam that high school graduates take.