Securities Licenses

There are certain securities license requirements that you should keep in mind if you plan to be into the securities industry, sell investment or work for a broker-dealer. The first step in being in this field whether it is a registered representative or investment advisor is obtaining the right securities license. People who are in college for courses relevant for this will also be required to get some securities license training completion before working in the field.

The FINRA (NASD)

All securities licensing procedures and requirements are being handled by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (used to be known as National Association of Securities Dealers). Members of this self-regulatory organization must have their employees licensed depending on their job functions. FINRA also administers many of the examinations needed by professionals to pass to be licensed. They offer licenses needed by supervisors and representatives in the field and each license corresponds to a business or investment. Several kinds of licenses are offered and listed below are just some of them and their correspondence:

·         Series 6 – limited-investment securities license. Allows the holder of this license to sell packaged investment products (i.e. mutual funds, unit investment trusts, variable annuities). This license is required for insurance agents that sell variable products as well.

·         Series 7 – general securities representative (GS) license. Allows the license holder to sell individual security (common and preferred stocks, call and put options, bonds, packaged products-except those requiring life insurance licenses to sell).

·         Series 3 – commodities specialty. Holders can sell commodity futures contract (riskiest publicly traded investment).

·         Series 63 – uniform securities agent license. All series 6 and 7 license holders must possess this license as well as it allows the holder to transact business within the state.

·         Series 65 – registered investment advisor. The license is for financial advising – financial planners or advisors. 

Students or professionals who want to be in the securities or investment field must pass the examination for each of the securities license depending on what type of business or investment they are at. The best way to be prepared for the exam is by taking up the right training course for them.

A lot more of other licenses are required to be in the securities industry and they are all related to specific business or type of investment. To know more about securities licenses and to get resources such as series 6 license study material, you can visit http://www.securitiescampus.com/ - your provider of online securities training.

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Do Not Read This Blog Later

Give me a minute of your time and I'll tell you how to kick the procrastination habit.

Wait. Where are you going?

Think you're too busy to read a quick blog that can help you better manage your time? Don't you realize that if you manage your time better, you might not be so busy all the time?

Let's get to it. A lot of these tips are common sense, but if you keep them in mind and put the principles behind them into practice in your daily routine, there's no doubt you'll be rewarded with a more efficient, less stressful schedule that perfectly balances your work, your family, your goals and your passions.

Make a list. Do you feel overwhelmed? Procrastination, for many of us, comes from being intimidated by the magnitude of work we face. Here's the trick to keep up your sleeve: write a to-do list. Making a list of the things you need to do compartmentalizes your time and your effort. It gives you a road map. It transforms a monumental workload from one never-ending journey into a finite series of manageable steps.

Set deadlines (and keep them). What good is a to-do list without deadlines? The road from A to B may be straightforward, but if you stop at every pit stop along the way, you’ll never get to your destination. Go back to that list you made and give every item a deadline. To continue with the automobile analogy, you can think of each deadline as being a mile further from a crowded, polluted metropolis. The more deadlines you put behind you, the fresher the air becomes.

Ditch the distractions. Speaking of pit stops—get rid of them! Distractions cause project delays and derailments. Facebook, Reddit, Twitter and Pinterest are great for brief diversions that let your brain recharge. But those diversions have to be few and far between—and they have to last only a few minutes. If you don't have the self-discipline to keep your online gallivanting to a minimum, unplug completely. Or, if your job requires being online, use a website blocker to eliminate the temptation to goof off.

Get with the go-getters. Look around the office. Who are the achievers? Who has the kind of work ethic you would like to have? Partner with them whenever you can, because great work habits are contagious. The battle against procrastination is half-won when you're eating lunch with the Employee of the Month.

Wage war on inertia. Long ago, survival was the ultimate goal humans set for themselves. If we had food and shelter, there was really no good reason for us to stick our necks out and risk everything for some esoteric goal. There's a part of your brain that seems to cajole you any time you dream big. It's the part of your brain that sends doubt and fear down like rain on a parade. There's no way to turn it off, so you have to practice overcoming it. Being safe and having food isn't enough for you any longer. Being productive and successful, in a way, isn't natural. You'll have to go a few steps further to overcome the human tendency to take it easy.




More great tips on 360training.com - visit now!

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The Underrated Hazard of Combustible Dust

It’s hard to imagine that dust can explode. Unfortunately, it does—and with catastrophic consequences, depending on the type of dust involved and the circumstances.

In 1878, for instance, the Washburn A. Mill in Minneapolis was obliterated in an instant, killing 14 workers on the spot, destroying five other mills, and instantly reducing the city’s milling capacity by a full third. The cause? A spark had ignited the thick flour dust trapped inside the mill. Many other dust explosions have occurred since then, most of them coal-dust explosions in underground coal mines. From 1980 to 2005 alone, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) recorded 119 worker fatalities, 718 worker injuries, and substantial damage to many industrial facilities.

As those who have taken OSHA training probably know, a dust explosion needs five ingredients to happen:
1.    Combustible dust (surprisingly, including normally harmless materials such as flour and sugar)
2.    Dispersion or suspension at a high concentration
3.    Oxidant (typically, oxygen, but can also be other gases)
4.    Confined space
5.    Ignition source (usually a naked flame or electrical discharge, but can also be a hot surface, such as an overheated bearing)

When all five are present, the suspended dust cloud will rapidly combust and cause an explosion.

Such is the danger of dust explosions—and the inadequate attention given to it by some quarters across a number of industries, including mining, plastics, wood, and paper, as well as the less obvious ones such as food and grain—that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the work safety watchdog of the U.S. Department of Labor, is especially vigilant about infractions of OSHA guidelines concerning combustible-dust accumulation.

OSHA refers interested parties and stakeholders who want to know more about combustible dust to www.osha.gov/dsg/combustibledust/index.html.

Recently, OSHA found Carmen Creative Cabinets LLC in violation of several safety and health provisions, including those involving hazards associated with combustible-dust buildup. Following an inspection of the company’s manufacturing facility in Belton, Texas, OSHA has recommended penalties totaling $64,800.

Carmen Creative Cabinets employs some 30 workers and, in accordance with OSHA SOP in the case of violators, was given 15 business days to contest the findings, to ask for a conference with the OSHA area office, or to accept the findings and comply with the proposed penalties. An independent OSHA review commission will be convened in case the company decides to contest the findings.

Perkins pointed out that the proposed penalties were not just for discovered combustible-dust accumulation hazards but also for other safety and health violations. Specifically, OSHA reported the company’s failures to:
1.    Train and certify its forklift operators
2.    Install approved electrical equipment
3.    Put in place the correct conduit for compressed air
4.    Carry out what’s called a “hazard communication program and training” on proper handling and use of different chemicals
5.    Implement safety measures for nail guns
6.    Provide unobstructed access to circuit-breaker boxes and fire extinguishers

Included in the health violations reported by OSHA were the company’s failures to: supply its workforce with the mandatory personal protective equipment, keep its restroom facilities clean, and have available to its employees first-aid supplies.

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