studying for april 2007

[anakin]

Q1.16 in Q&A Part 1: i am quite sure that the terms we are asked to define in this question are not in the course notes - however, they are probably in Hull.

Question: should I bother to read the course notes, or Hull is the one required and enough?

 

[monkey catcher]

Core reading - or is it?

Hi Anakin

I assume you've seen ActEd's general comment on April 2007 ST6 Core Reading at: http://www.acted.co.uk/Html/help_and_advice_ST6.htm

In particular, this notes that This year, Subject ST6 is moving away from the traditional "Core Reading" approach. Instead, the majority of the Core Reading is being replaced by references to two text books... As a result ActEd's Course Notes are not intended to be used as a standalone course. Instead the notes aim to summarise the key principles and results and to explain in more detail the most difficult topics in the syllabus.

I managed to pass under the old system where there was Core Reading AND you needed to read the non-Core Reading textbooks, I would imagine that having Hull as a first port of call would do no harm, though (CAVEAT) I haven't talked to people doing the new-style course for April.

GOOD LUCK!!

 

[anakin]

hull books

I can understand the onerous reason of having two separate textbooks for Hull (one with questions and a separate one for solutions). Well, not fully, but ...

My question is why doesn't Acted sell them together? In fact, to begin with: why doesn't Acted sell the Solutions book at all ? ...

 

[David Hopkins]

Hi Anakin

I'm guessing you were looking at Q1.16 from the 2006 Q&A Bank, which is now Q1.9 in the 2007 version of the ActEd course. The three terms in part (i) of the question (settlement price, open interest and volume of trading) are described on page 34 of the textbook Hull.

We have completely rewritten the ActEd course materials for 2007 to fit in with the new ST6 course structure and syllabus. The ActEd Course Notes are now intended to complement the textbooks, rather than to be a stand-alone course.

We held our first ST6 tutorial under the new system this week and I don't think the students had found studying the topics too onerous! There was roughly an equal split between those who had read the ActEd Notes first and the sections from the textbooks afterwards, and those who did it the other way round.

The reason ActEd are not offering the Solutions Manual as part of the Combined Materials Pack is that we thought that a lot of students would not have time (or the inclination!) to do the questions at the end of the chapters in Hull (which are not part of the official reading) and so might be unhappy about paying for an extra book they wouldn't be using. The Solutions Manual is readily available from "all good bookshops", or you can order it through an online bookstore such as Amazon.