The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) puts out the Series 7 exam. The exam has 260 questions in total. 125 for each part and 10 pre-test questions that do not count towards the exam grade and are not indicated in the exam. A passing score is 70%. The questions are in multiple choice format on the Series 7 exam.
If you’re fascinated with the stock market and high finance, and you’ve decided to become a stock broker, you’ll need to take and pass the General Securities Representative Exam (Series 7), which is administered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
This is the test that anyone who wants to become a full fledged stock broker must pass before obtaining their securities license. As such, it’s a very lengthy and comprehensive exam-it takes 6 hours to complete the test, which is broken into two 3 hour segments, and it costs $250 to register for the Series 7 exam.
You can take it at many different testing centers all over America on any regular business day, and there are no prerequisites for taking it. Each segment of the test has 125 questions, for a total of 250 questions.
You’ll be thoroughly tested on your knowledge of stocks and stock markets, government securities, municipal and corporate bonds, options, indexes, mutual funds, rules for acquiring customers and handling their accounts, general economic theory, the business cycle, interest rates and how changes in them affect the stock market and debt instruments, rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the different stock exchanges, the over the counter and bulletin board market, mortgages, ethics and insider trading, puts and calls, selling short, margin accounts and their requirements, fiduciary responsibilities of brokers and dealers, and much, much more.
The Series 7 exam is one of the most difficult tests you’ll ever take, but the rewards for passing it are great, and by studying and preparing for the exam you can be one of the thousands of people who become licensed stock brokers every year in America.
Series 7 Exam Topics Include:
- Fiduciary Accounts
- Hypothecation
- Roth IRA
- Insider Trading
- Short Selling
- SIPC
- FINRA Code of Procedure
- Discretionary Brokerage Accounts
- Fannie Mae
- Certificates of Deposit
- SEC Act of 1934
- Cyclical Industries
- Short Interest Theory
- 401k Plans
- Foreign Mutual Funds
- New York Stock Exchange
- Combination Privilege
- Stock Split
- Margin Trading
- Benefits of Stock Ownership
- REITs
- Authorized Stock
- Company’s Net worth
- Book Value vs. Market Value
- Stock Certificate
- Warrants
- American Depositary Receipt
- Dividends
Click Here for Series Test Breakdown.