Thirty-eight percent of the December™ Level I™ test-takers test-takers learn by email today that they're one step closer to being able to guarantee investment results. As for your humble correspondent ... he passed. Go team!

The good news: For 38% of you, this is the first step on a 4-year road to spectacular wealth and professional fulfillment. For me ... struggling a bit. I'm not sure that 1/3rd of a CFA credential + blogging experience is the the first step on a 4-year road to anywhere anyone would particularly want to be, though as an experiment we're going to start a Dealbreaker Investing Tips newsletter, slap CFA logos all over it, and charge $600 a month to subscribe. The main advantage for me is not having to write a post saying "I failed, have at it!"

The bad news: For 62% of you, this is the first step on a ... 6-month road .... to taking Level I again? Or just give up? I don't know, missing out on this particular prize doesn't seem life-ruining, unless you did something dumb like predicting your likelihood of success to the internet. For me ... does this mean I need to do two more of these? Because, that sucks. I'm sort of assuming that I can get by at Level II with somewhat less diligence than I devoted to Level I - true? Surely with Level I to weed out the no-hopers and Level III to maintain the high standards of Charterholdering™ with its, ugh, essays, Level II is just a soft creamy middle filled with fees for the Institute. But then they go and fail 57% of Level II takers, which seems harsh.

Anyway, the floor is yours: share your happiness/sadness/freaking out at passing/failing/not having received your email yet, or, if Level I is just a fond memory for you, give me advice on whether passing Level II will require me to ruin a whole week of my summer.