The Jones training really is very good.  They will give you some mnemonic tools that will help with the options.  I suggest you treat the training as a full time job and spend at least 8 hours a day on studying and test taking.  I don't know if they have a test bank now or not, but you could also purchase a Series 7 study set and test bank CD and do that as well.  Dearborn or Kaplan are a couple of companies that I have used for studying other licenses in the past.

I think they have a trainer assigned to you that you can call and ask questions about the options and margin accounts (study those too) and any other thing that is confusing to you.

As Vagabond says, you will never use options at Jones, but it is good to know about them and be able to discuss the concept.  Makes you look smart

This job is about sales and your past job experiences in that area will be a plus for you.

Good luck.

Have you had your conference call on options yet?  If not, it will really help.  Also, don't be afraid to talk to your study coach for help, that is what they are there for.

As BL and others have said, EDJ does have a great training program as far as passing the 7.  Everything after that is considered "just in time training".  My advice, once you pass the 7 and get into the biz is to read everything you can get your hands on about portfolio planning and pros/cons of each type of investment.

As far as the test goes, options is the most heavily weighted portion of the test.  So study hard, and good luck.

That being said, you'll never use options again at EDJ.

Thanks everyone...!

I never had a call on the Options from Jones.  Most of our conference calls are more overview of what is ahead and admin stuff.

I have taken notes on what ya'll have told me and I will definately read my stuff more times through.  I am confident that I will pass the 7.  I'm just unsure of myself (which is NOT me, and why I'm not centered) because this stuff is all new to me.  My military tarining was new...but at the same time it was a lot different than finance stuff.

Any tricks to remembering Options formulas?  I know the Jones one...anything that helped ya'll?

Thanks again...Kris

It may help to not call them "options" when you read them.

Instead, call them contracts, because that's really all they are. So, there are two types of contracts, a put contract and a call contract. Every contract has a strike price (the price to buy or sell the stock) and an expiration date (the date the contract is void). The person who sells the contract is the person who wrote the contract.

Call Contract - Gives the buyer the right to buy a stock at a certain price (and forces the seller of the contract to sell at that price)

Put Contract - Gives the buyer the right to sell a stock at a certain price (and forces the seller of the contract to buy at that price)

This may not help you at all, but helped me keep things in perspective. They're called "Options" but the only with any options is the buyer.

As mentioned earlier in this board, EDJ reps making nice bring home are

doing a ton of insurance business. Most are in small towns and are able to

compete with the products that ABC insurance co down on main street

offers, not to mention the ability to actually understand what variable

insurance is and what the risks are for clients.



A Shares and Insurance thats what it takes, and lots of it

What about Jones guys focusing on larger fish (100K+) like the other guys?  Is that doable?  My business model calls for doing a lot of seminars and home shows.  From ya'lls experience is that a smart way to go?

Its gonna suck if its not 'cause thats my plan...

K

[quote=valuebroker]As mentioned earlier in this board, EDJ reps making nice bring home are
doing a ton of insurance business. Most are...able to...actually understand what variable insurance is and what the risks are for clients.

A Shares and Insurance thats what it takes, and lots of it

[/quote]

I have a colleague at my firm now that came from Edward Jones. He said the felt like his training was very poor and everybody always told him that selling insurance was where the money was at but nobody ever showed him how. Would it be fair to say that if somebody went to Jones with a great foundational understanding of the different types of insurance and how to sell them, that they would have a deecnt chance of being successful at Jones?

Keep in mind that the payouts on insurance products are different at Jones.  When I came to LPL, I was amazed at the difference in payouts. I'm not talking about net to broker, I'm talking about gross from the insurance company to the broker/dealer.

I know there has been talk in the past on these boards about how Jones has an outside agency to make extra money, so I won't go into that. But, I know that if I sell the same Hartford 20-yr term product that I sold at Jones, my gross is higher (obviously the net is higher too).  Why is that? Do you really think Jones doesn't have as good a deal as LPL? I doubt that. That extra piece of gross commission has to go somewhere...

I was never trying to say that mother jones was not getting their cut, that is

why you obviously went INDY or a damn good reason why anyone does.

However, circling back to what nole was asking is yes I believe that if you

truly understand insurance and how to sell it as well who to market it to,

then; to answer your question, yes you can make that an extremely

profitable part of your business. Whether that is with EDJ or ABC wirehouse

or insert favortie INDY firm here is up to the individual to decide.