Series 31 study plan

Define the mechanics of a futures contract: specification, tick size, contract unit, margin, and daily mark-to-market.

Compute daily variation margin, cumulative P&L, and margin calls for long and short positions.

Distinguish initial margin, maintenance margin, and performance bond calls, and explain what triggers a liquidation.

Explain the roles of the clearinghouse, FCM, and clearing member in trade settlement and guarantee.

Explain hedging with futures, including long and short hedges, and calculate the effective price achieved.

Compute and interpret basis and change in basis, and describe how basis risk affects a hedger.

Differentiate speculative, spread, and arbitrage strategies and identify the risk each carries.

Describe order types, delivery and cash-settlement procedures, and position accountability and limit concepts.

Define calls, puts, premium, strike, intrinsic value, and time value for options on futures.

Compute breakeven, maximum gain, and maximum loss for the four basic positions from scratch.

Explain how moneyness, time to expiration, and volatility affect premium.

Sketch payoff and profit diagrams for covered and uncovered positions without reference materials.

Differentiate vertical, horizontal, and ratio spreads by outlook and risk profile, and compute spread breakevens.

Explain delta, gamma, theta, and vega qualitatively and describe how each changes as expiration approaches.

Describe exercise, assignment, and expiration mechanics for options on futures, including American versus European style.

Summarize margin treatment of long and short options and how short options interact with futures margin.

Distinguish CTAs, CPOs, and trading advisors from each other by function, client relationship, and registration trigger.

Outline the required contents of a CPO disclosure document and the update and delivery obligations.

Describe commodity pool structure, subscription and redemption mechanics, and how pool funds must be segregated.

Compare fee structures across management fees, incentive fees, and expenses, and compute an investor's net return from a simple fee schedule.

Interpret performance presentation requirements, including past performance, hypothetical results, and the required cautionary statements.

Explain the rules governing promotional material for pools and programs, including what must be filed and when.

Compute net asset value per unit and pool participant allocation in a simple multi-period scenario.

Identify conflicts of interest and prohibited practices in pool and program operations.

Map registration categories to required forms, capital requirements, and filing deadlines.

Apply recordkeeping, advertising, and sales-practice rules to short fact patterns and identify the violation.

Explain arbitration and dispute-resolution procedures available to customers, including award and appeal basics.

Apply anti-money laundering, ethics, and supervision obligations to scenario questions.

Integrate all four domains by working full-length timed mock exams under test conditions.

Rank remaining weak areas by error frequency and re-drill the top three.

Re-derive key formulas and rule deadlines from memory in a single condensed sheet.

Practice pacing to finish each section with time to spare for flagged items.