Open Exam Prep

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to distinguish federal law under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 from state provisions under the Uniform Securities Act. - Key differences between investment advisers, investment adviser representatives, broker-dealers, and agents. - How to recognize distractor traps related to qualified client thresholds under SEC Rule 205-3. - Why charging an advisory f...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: * How the official NASAA Series 66 exam outline breaks down across four weighted content areas. * Why relying on Series 7 investment product knowledge alone can lead to exam failure. * How to apply the rule of proportional weighting to structure your total study hours effectively. * How to avoid the trap of spending equal study time o...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to strategically focus on Function 3, which accounts for 73% of the Series 7 exam. - A method for dissecting customer profile questions to determine the most suitable investment recommendation. - Common traps embedded in options and bond math problems, including breakeven and yield calculations. - The importance of nuanced keywords like 'liquid...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The primary suitability case for common stock (growth) versus bonds (income). - The key distinction tested on the exam between ETFs (intraday trading) and mutual funds (once-daily pricing). - Why illiquid investments like Direct Participation Programs (DPPs) are unsuitable for the average retail investor. - The tax treatment of variable annuity e...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) raises the standard of conduct beyond simple suitability and how this is tested with scenario-based questions. - The key elements of prohibited conduct such as churning, selling away, and unauthorized trading, including the specific red flags to look for in exam questions. - The critical r...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The critical difference between a stop order, which guarantees execution but not price, and a stop-limit order, which guarantees a price but not execution. - That Regulation SHO requires a broker-dealer to locate shares for borrowing *before* executing a customer's short sale. - How the ex-dividend date, typically one business day b...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - All communications must be fair, balanced, and disclose risks alongside potential rewards. - Misleading performance data, such as showing returns from only favorable periods, is a violation. - The Options Disclosure Document (ODD) must be delivered at or before account approval. - For municipal securities, all material information must be disclosed a...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Why a rollover recommendation is a suitability determination under FINRA Rule 2111 and Regulation Best Interest. - How to compare 401(k) and IRA features, including fees, investment options, and services, to avoid common exam traps. - The critical differences between direct and indirect rollovers, focusing on the 20% withholding rule and the 60-day w...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The suitability of mutual fund share classes (A vs. C) based on time horizon and investment amount. - Why placing a variable annuity inside an IRA is a major suitability violation. - The key differences in liquidity and pricing between ETFs, closed-end funds, and mutual funds. - The investor profile and p...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Common stock is the top choice for aggressive growth and capital appreciation but carries the highest risk. - For safety and income, U.S. Treasury securities are unparalleled, offering default-risk-free payments exempt from state and local taxes. - Municipal bonds are most suitable for high-income investors in high tax brackets due t...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - To calculate breakeven for calls (strike + premium) and puts (strike - premium). - The covered call breakeven is stock cost minus the premium, with max gain limited to the strike price. - A protective put's breakeven is stock cost plus the premium, with unlimited maximum gain. - Straddles have two breakevens (s...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Index options are cash-settled, meaning no underlying securities are exchanged upon exercise. - Most index options are European-style and can only be exercised at expiration. - Broad-based index options are used to hedge diversified portfolios against market risk. - Gains on broad-based index options receive favorable 60/40 tax treatment. - The contract m...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Regulation T requires customers to pay for securities in a cash account within two business days of the settlement date. - Freeriding is the prohibited practice of buying and then selling a security without ever depositing funds to pay for the initial purchase. - The direct penalty for a freeriding violation i...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The critical distinction between a broker-dealer acting as an agent (broker) versus a principal (dealer). - How commissions are charged in agency transactions, and markups/markdowns in principal transactions. - The application and, more importantly, the exceptions to the FINRA Five Percent Policy. - Key confirmation disclosure requirements for different types o...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - That the buyer of a bond pays the accrued interest to the seller. - How to calculate the accrued interest period: from the last coupon date up to, but not including, the settlement date. - The difference between the 30/360 day count for corporate and municipal bonds and the actual/actual day c...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Municipal serial bonds are typically quoted on a yield-to-maturity (basis) basis, while term bonds are quoted in dollars. - MSRB rules require disclosing the 'yield to worst' on confirmations: yield to call for premium bonds and yield to maturity for discount bonds. - Accrued interest for municipal bonds is calculated based o...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The critical distinction between a 'firm commitment' (underwriter as principal, takes risk) and 'best efforts' (underwriter as agent, issuer retains risk) underwriting. - How the underwriting spread is calculated and distributed among the manager, syndicate members, and selling group. - The purpose and benefits of a shelf registration under SEC Rule 415, a...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - A tender offer must remain open to shareholders for a minimum of 20 business days. - Stock splits and reverse stock splits do not change the total market value of a shareholder's position; they only adjust the number of shares and the cost basis per share. - Mergers and acquisitions typically require s...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - A penny stock is an unlisted (non-Nasdaq) security trading under $5 per share. - For solicited penny stock sales to new customers, a firm must provide a risk disclosure document and receive a signed suitability statement before the trade. - The signed suitability statement rule is waived for unsolicited trades and for "e...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - A customer complaint must be in writing (e.g., email, text, letter) to be officially recognized under FINRA rules. - All written complaints must be immediately forwarded to a designated supervising principal for review and handling. - When a customer changes their address, the firm must send a confirmation of the c...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Why young accumulators with long time horizons should focus on growth-oriented investments like mid-cap stocks. - The importance of tax-advantaged investments, such as municipal bonds, for high-income professionals. - How to construct a suitable portfolio for a retiree focused on income and capital preservation, using a mix of bonds and dividend-paying s...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The different tax treatments for ordinary income, qualified dividends, and tax-exempt municipal bond interest. - How holding periods determine whether a capital gain is short-term (taxed at ordinary rates) or long-term (taxed at preferential rates). - The critical rules for adjusting cost basis, including return of capital, gifted securities (carryover basis), a...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Why owning many stocks in the same sector isn't true diversification and how the Series 7 tests this concept. - How to use correlation, from -1 to +1, to select assets that maximize diversification benefits. - The critical distinction between unsystematic (diversifiable) risk and systematic (non-diversifiable) market risk, a frequent exam topic. - T...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Systematic risk is undiversifiable market-wide risk, while unsystematic risk is company-specific and can be reduced through diversification. - Interest-rate risk and bond prices have an inverse relationship; long-term bonds are more sensitive to rate changes. - Reinvestment risk is the danger of reinvesting at lower rates, often triggered by call risk w...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - A normal yield curve signals economic expansion, with long-term yields higher than short-term yields. - An inverted yield curve, where short-term yields exceed long-term yields, is a strong historical predictor of a recession. - A flat yield curve indicates economic uncertainty, with little difference in yield between short-term and long-term bonds. ...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The three primary tools the Federal Reserve uses to implement monetary policy: open market operations, the discount rate, and reserve requirements. - How the Fed's buying and selling of government securities through open market operations is its most common method for controlling the money supply. - The key distinction between the d...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. - Leading indicators, like building permits and the S&P 500, predict future economic trends. - Lagging indicators, such as the CPI and the overall unemployment rate, confirm trends that have already occurred. - During economic contractions, recommend defensive stocks (u...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The MSRB creates rules for the municipal securities market but does not have enforcement authority; enforcement is handled by agencies like FINRA and the OCC. - Political contributions by Municipal Finance Professionals (MFPs) are limited to $250 per election for candidates they can vote for, with violations triggering a two-year business ban f...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The required composition of a mutual fund's board of directors under the Investment Company Act of 1940. - The rules and restrictions surrounding transactions with affiliated persons of an investment company. - The key components and approval process for an investment advisory contract. - The three-part 'ABC test' used to define an i...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The core distinction between the Securities Act of 1933 (new issues) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (secondary market trading). - Key responsibilities of the SEC, which was created by the 1934 Act, including the registration of broker-dealers and exchanges. - The function of Rule 10b-5 as the primary anti-fraud provision, prohibiting manipulation, d...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The Securities Act of 1933 governs the primary market, requiring registration and full disclosure for all non-exempt new issues. - The key phases of registration are the pre-filing, the cooling-off period (where marketing is allowed with a preliminary prospectus), and the post-effective period (where sales can occur). - A final prospectus, containing t...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The SEC is the ultimate federal authority overseeing all securities market participants. - FINRA is the primary self-regulatory organization (SRO) that writes and enforces rules for broker-dealers. - A common exam trap is that the MSRB writes rules for municipal securities but has no enforcement power; FINRA and banking regulators enforce i...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Material nonpublic information is information a reasonable investor would find important that has not been publicly disseminated. - Both the 'tipper' who shares inside information and the 'tippee' who trades on it can be held liable for insider trading. - Broker-dealers must establish Chinese Walls and restricted lists to prevent the m...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Churning involves excessive trading to generate commissions, requiring proof of broker control and excessive activity. - Unauthorized trading is executing trades in non-discretionary accounts without client approval. - Front-running is trading for personal gain based on knowledge of a large pending customer order, while insider trading involves using material, non-public information. ...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The role and requirements of a Trusted Contact Person under FINRA Rule 4512. - The specific conditions and timelines for placing temporary holds on disbursements and transactions under FINRA Rule 2165. - How to identify common behavioral and financial red flags of senior investor exploitation. - The critical steps of escalation and documentation w...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The four essential pillars of a broker-dealer's Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program. - The four key pieces of information required under the Customer Identification Program (CIP) to open a new account. - How to identify beneficial owners of a legal entity, including the 25% ownership threshold and the control prong. - Key red f...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The quiet period for IPOs is 10 days for all participants, while for follow-on offerings, it is 3 days and applies only to managers. - Research analyst compensation cannot be directly linked to specific investment banking transactions to ensure objectivity. - Investment banking personnel are strictly prohibited from supervising research analysts or having a...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The key differences between correspondence, retail, and institutional communications based on the number of retail investors. - The specific principal pre-approval requirements for retail communications and the exceptions for other types. - When retail communications must be filed with FINRA, distinguishing between pre-filing and post-filing requirements. - The 'fair and balanced' s...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How SEC Rule 15c3-3 requires broker-dealers to segregate fully paid and excess margin securities. - The specific calculation for determining excess margin securities that a firm is prohibited from rehypothecating. - The SIPC coverage limits of $500,000 per separate customer, which includes a $250,000 sublimit for cash. - The critical distinction between w...

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The primary function of market makers as liquidity providers and the obligation of a 'firm quote'. - How a Designated Market Maker (DMM) on the NYSE operates in a dual capacity as either an agent or a principal. - The key differences between a stock exchange like the NYSE and an O...