Customer Reviews

Series 7 Stockbroker NASD Exam (Arco Professional Certification and Licensing Examination Series)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I was in the process of preparing for my Series 7 exam. Bought the Arco book because I saw it at a local bookstore and thought it was more affordable than others. My first impression of the Arco book seems was clear and simple. After spending 2 weeks studying the first 120 pages, I've found that the book was confusing at times, organized in a way that does not utilize some of the "best known methods" of a exam-prep book. From my frustrations, I cross-referenced the PASSTRAK Series 7 book by Dearborn at a local bookstore, found that the PASSTRAK book was much more in detail and organized in a way that I can easily understand the subjects, no only the stated facts, but also the underlying concepts. In addition, the PASSTRAK book provides numerous "test tips", and highlights of the concepts and typical test question types. The PASSTRAK also has great quiz and end of chapter questions that are clearly written with answers that go into detail to explain. These are what I consider exam-prep book's "best known methods" to prepare an exam candidate.

Conclusion: better off spending a bit more money for the PASSTRAK. I wish I didn't buy the Arco book, because after studying the PASSTRAK book, all the flaws in the Arco book became so appearant. Good luck!

The CD has lots of errors. I was very disappointed and will return the book.

This book will give you a basic understanding of the type of material you will need to know in order to pass the series 7. However, the keyword is basic. It is in no way in depth enough. Do yourself a favor and get the real thing. I have used two other study programs and they are MUCH, MUCH better(American Investment Training and Securities Training Inc). They do cost a pretty penny (about $200) but are well worth it. As far as the CD is concerned, don't waste your time with it. Many of the answers are wrong and it does not provide explanations.

This Arco edition is much better than the Barrons, which I also purchased. You get what you pay for, and more in the case of the CD ROM version. Getting the CD ROM edition gives you an idea of the format of the true test (which is on a computer.) I passed on my first try...and didn't pay the for the NASD book. An up to date volume as well.

I ended up using a computer disk program from american investment training. They are in hauppauge ny. The disk was awesome, it had over 3000 questions and answers with exam taking tips. They also have instructors available to answer any questions that I had. I found them to be very helpful in helping me. I saw their text course too and it looked huge.

Overall the book is very good, BUT be careful, especially with the CD-ROM version because I have found a few WRONG ANSWERS in the practice tests. If you carefully read the answer explanations you will see that they are contradicting themselves. I wouldn't use this book as my only source.

The book is comprehensive and should go a long way to helping me pass the exam. One caveat- The questions and answers are sometimes wrong.

The STC home course while very expensive, is much better.

While this book is thorough in its coverage of the Series 7 topics, some of the information in the book is so out of date it would appear that the book hasn't been significantly modified since its original publication in 1988.

For example, the financial statement section doesn't include Statement of Cash Flows, there is no mention of the difference in treatment of long and short term capital gains and finally, according to this book shorting against the box is still an accepted trading strategy for individuals!

Unfortunately, the text also contains several errors in the end of chapter exams. Sometimes given answers are not among the original choices or are simply incorrect. This problem is not pervasive, however, and does not materially impact the utility of the end of chapter exams.

This book may be a nice introduction to the topics covered in the Series 7 exam but I now find myself looking for a more current text to supplement my studies.

You get what you pay for here. I was using it and a friend of mine told me that you pretty much have to spend around $200 for a real home study course. He used the American Investment Training course that was supplied by his firm but you can get it directly. I saw it and it was huge and put together really well and it came with 5 books. They had Computer programs for it too. .... It was much better from what I saw and his firm has been using them for years. Good luck

Sloppily written, poorly organized and inaccurate. I'm a quick study and a good test taker, but I was unable to derive meaningful information from many of the chapters. The material was not presented in a way that lent itself to learning and memorization and was instead more or less a regurgitation of facts in no particular order. The programs included on the CD that came with the book did not work correctly. I could answer one or two flash card questions and then the buttons to move forward or backwards stopped working and I had to start over. I contacted the publisher for a replacement CD but never received it. Examples in the text and answers to many of the questions are wrong: 4 * 4000 = 18000 in one case, 24000/14400 = 9600 in another. These inaccuracies are glaringly obvious. What about the ones you don't catch? Unfortunately I already shelled out the money for this book. I'm putting it on the shelf (or in the trash) and buying one of the other books recommended on this site.