Stock broker - Citizendia

A stock broker or stockbroker is a qualified and regulated professional who buys and sells (trades) shares (in other words, stocks) and other securities through market makers or Agency Only Firms on behalf of investors. In financial markets, a share is a Unit of account for various financial instruments including Stocks Mutual funds Limited partnerships Software for Fixed assets management and Stock control developed in 2004. A security is a Fungible, Negotiable instrument representing financial value A market maker is a firm that quotes both a buy and a sell price in a Financial instrument or Commodity, hoping to make a profit on the turn See Investor AB for the Swedish investment company An investor is any party that makes an Investment.

1 Requirements
2 Services provided
3 History
4 Similar roles
5 Acting as a principal
6 Transactions by stock brokers in the US and UK
7 Brokerage terms
8 Explanation of a City Trader's Job
9 Famous stock brokers
10 See also

Requirements

In order to become a stockbroker in the United States, a candidate must pass the General Securities Representative Examination (also known as the "Series 7 exam"). The General Securities Representative Exam, commonly referred to as the Series 7 Exam, is a required exam to become a Registered Representative of a Broker-dealer

In the UK, brokers are required to pass the SII (Securities and Investment Institute link title) Certificate in Securities, this qualification is achieved by passing two exams: Either Unit 1 Financial regulations or Unit 6 Principles of Financial Regulation for MiFID compliant retail trading, and either Unit 2 Securities, Unit 3 Derivatives or Unit 4 for both Securities and Derivatives. Passing Unit 1 or Unit 6 identifies individuals as having attained FSA Approved Person Status.

Services provided

A transaction on a stock exchange must be made between two members of the exchange — an ordinary person may not walk into the New York Stock Exchange (for example), and ask to trade stock. A stock exchange, share market or bourse is a Corporation or Mutual organization which provides "trading" facilities for Stock The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. Such an exchange must be done through a broker.

There are three types of stockbroking service.

Execution-only, which means that the broker will only carry out the client's instructions to buy or sell.
Advisory dealing, where the broker advises the client on which shares to buy and sell, but leaves the final decision to the investor.
Discretionary dealing, where the stockbroker ascertains the client's investment objectives and then makes all dealing decisions on the client's behalf.

In addition to actually trading stocks for their clients, stock brokers may also offer advice to their clients on which stocks, mutual funds, etc. to buy.

History

Philadelphia was the centre of American finance during the first forty years of the new United States. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə In 1790, the country's first stock exchange was founded there and Chestnut Street was home to the nation's most powerful financial institutions. A stock exchange, share market or bourse is a Corporation or Mutual organization which provides "trading" facilities for Stock However, in the 1820s a shift to New York City began and for more than one hundred and fifty years Wall Street has been synonymous with the stock brokerage business. The City of New York Wall Street is a street in lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. Some sources suggest that historical top-level brokers and a number of other firms rose to prominence over that time, with the top-ranked brokerages in the early 1950s being:

Since the 1980s stockbroking firms have also been allowed to be market makers as long as the appropriate Chinese walls are put in place. Merrill Lynch & Co Inc () is a global financial services firm Paine Webber and Company was an American Stock brokerage and asset management firm that was acquired by the Swiss bank UBS AG in 2000 Morgan Stanley ( is a global Financial services provider headquartered in New York City New York United States The Goldman Sachs Group Inc, or simply Goldman Sachs ( is a large global Bank holding company that engages in Investment banking securities The Bear Stearns Companies Inc, based in New York City, was one of the largest global Investment banks and securities trading and brokerage A market maker is a firm that quotes both a buy and a sell price in a Financial instrument or Commodity, hoping to make a profit on the turn In business a Chinese Wall or firewall is an information barrier implemented within a firm to separate and isolate persons who make investment decisions from persons

With the advent of automated stockbroking systems on the Internet the client often has no personal contact with his/her stockbroking firm. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks The stockbroker's system performs all the stockbroking functions: it obtains the best price from the market, executes and settles the trade. Settlement (of securities is the process whereby securities or interests in securities are delivered usually against payment to fulfill Contractual obligations

Today, most of the once well-known corporate brand names including mid-sized firms such as Smith Barney have been swallowed up by global financial conglomerates. A brand is a collection of Images and ideas representing an economic producer more specifically it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and concrete symbols such as a Smith Barney is a division of Citigroup Global Capital Markets Inc Only a few firms remain independent, such as Edward Jones Investments, Stifel Nicolaus, Oppenheimer & Co, JP Turner & Company and Raymond James. Edward D Jones & Co LP, since 1995 simplified as Edward Jones is a brokerage firm based out of St Stifel Nicolaus is the largest subsidiary of Stifel Financial Corp Discount brokers (such as E*TRADE, Scottrade, TD Ameritrade, and Charles Schwab) have taken a large share of the business by offering highly discounted commissions. E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corporation ( is a Financial services company based in New York NY United States Scottrade is a privately owned discount Retail brokerage firm headquartered in St TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation ( is the ownerof TD AMERITRADE Inc The Charles Schwab Corporation, based in San Francisco, California is a company founded as a traditional (brick-and-mortar Brokerage house, and which Discount brokers may offer limited advisory services, but their primary focus tends to be servicing self directed retail accounts.

Similar roles

Roles similar to that of a stockbroker include investment advisor, and financial advisor. An investment advisor (or investment adviser is an individual or firm that advises clients on investment matters on a professional basis A financial adviser is a professional who renders investment advice and Financial planning services to individuals and businesses A stockbroker may or may not be also an investment advisor, and vice versa.

The Certified Financial Planner designation initially offered by the American College in Pennsylvania is considered by many to be the next educational step a stockbroker can take in order to be considered a legitimate and ethical financial consultant. The Certified Financial Planner (CFP designation is a certification mark for financial planners conferred by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards in the United Though not strictly true, it is still vital to assert the authority taken.

Acting as a principal

Stockbrokers also sometimes or exclusively trade on their own behalf, as a principal, speculating that a share or other financial instrument will increase or decline in price. Software for Fixed assets management and Stock control developed in 2004. Financial instruments are cash evidence of an ownership interest in an entity or a contractual right to receive or deliver cash or another financial instrument In such cases the term broker makes little sense and the individuals or firms trading in principal capacity sometimes call themselves dealers, stock traders or simply traders. A stock trader or a stock investor is an Individual or firm who buys and sells Stocks or bonds (and possibly other [A stock broker is just the main part of being a City Trader. Other types of City Trading include working in the Foreign Exchange.

Transactions by stock brokers in the US and UK

In the US: When acting as an agent, the stockbroker typically charges the client a flat fee and/or a percentage-based commission for undertaking the trade, and the price quoted the client must be the best price available in the market. The payment of commission as Remuneration for services rendered or products sold is a common way to reward sales people. When acting as a principal, the trade could be with another market participant or one of the stockbroker's clients. When trading in a principal capacity with client, the broker informs the client and charges the client a markup or markdown from the prevailing market price.

In the UK: Stock brokers act the same in the UK as in the US, except that when trading in a principal capacity with a client, the broker is obliged to inform the client and no commission is charged.

Other jurisdictions are thought to have similar rules.

Brokerage terms

Front office: This is a description of the part of a brokerage firm that is "client facing". In Business, front office refers To Sales and Marketing divisions of a company The sales staff, brokers and traders are part of the front office. Functions of the front office include acquisition and entry of orders, fulfillment of the orders, and all the regulatory reporting for the orders.

Back office: The back office is where the clearance processing of the trades is done. A back office is a part of most Corporations where tasks dedicated to running the company itself take place Transfer of securities and money and the tracking of "failure to deliver" is handled. Securities lending for a brokerage firm, wherein shares of a security that is being sold short are located to ensure they can be delivered, is usually included in the back office as well.

Bulls: A bull is a term used in the stock exchange market to refer to a stock market optimist who believes that share prices are likely to go higher, and who acts according to his investment operations.

Explanation of a City Trader's Job

Stock broker: A stock broker would deal with shares. Prime brokerage is the generic name for a bundled package of services offered by Investment banks and securities firms to Hedge funds and other professional investors A retail broker is a brokerage firm that caters to the average investor or in other words the retail sector of investors - as opposed to the institutional sector of investors A low-cost brokerage can be considered to be a special case ofa Discount brokerage which functions in a similar way to a Dividend reinvestment plan. A boutique brokerage is a type of brokerage company that acts much the same as a Boutique shop Shares and stocks have the same definition; a share is a section of a company that a stockbroker can buy and sell if he/she has a suitable amount of money. Specifically, a stock is a piece of money – a share of a company – that a few years ago were represented on a document, and nowadays spreadsheets are often used to keep the record. For example, a share can be worth 25p, but can be multiplied by 40 to create the total desired value on the document – in this case it would therefore be worth 1000p. The stockbroker possesses a number of shares; however he or she can choose how many of these he or she wishes to trade, so that perhaps some can be kept for him or her. Keeping an amount is understandable, because stock-broking is a risky business. This is because the prices that shares are worth are constantly increasing and decreasing, depending on how much money the company you are dealing with, is producing. For example, say a stockbroker buys a share from a dealer, for $1, and then sells it to a client for x sum of money. The next day, the price for that same share value, decreases (the company is not producing as much money), so that it’s now worth 50p. The stockbroker had spent $1, however, which was 50p too much: he or she has just lost 50p. That’s how stockbrokers lose money. They then continue trading at what they think are suitable times – when it is unlikely for the price of a share to alter (to start with he or she could buy that share back for 50p and sell it again, to another client).

Foreign Exchange Members: These city traders deal with currencies. Their clients are usually called "market makers" (literally makers of markets: shopkeepers are a common example) and are the people they use to earn money. Currencies are traded, for example: the stock broker can give his/her client $1, and the client can give him/her £1 in return, as long as such a deal was discussed and agreed to (as mentioned previously, the person who makes the final decision as to what the deal is going to be depends on the position of the stockbroker - in Advisory dealing, for example, the investor makes the concluding decision. ) In this case the city trader gains profit (because he/she gains £1, that is worth more than what he/she gave [$1]), but indeed often the market maker does too (that's how they earn their money). For example, it would be perfectly possible for the city trader to hand over £1 and let his/her client give back only $1. N. B: You have to bear in mind that very large sums of money - NOT the example of $1 and £1 above - are exchanged.

Bond-dealers:A bond-dealer is a city trader who lends a sum of money to a stock (section of a company). If a company owns £1,000,000, and this was due to a million bondholders each lending £1 to the stock, than each bondholder lends a bond of £1.

In such ways, city traders trade via market makers, but they are also trading for a group of people - the investors. These are people of a higher status than city traders, for example: chartered accountants. An investor has the right to use money from his brokerage firm if there is a crisis involving him/her losing a sum of money. This doesn't change the fact that city can at the same time be allowing the usual currency/stock deals to take place, enabling them to gain money while providing the investor with money.

You have to bear in mind that these city traders do not have clients at their desk(s) to perform the deal - the Foreign Exchange (for example) keep aware of the various money-exchanges through softwares on the computer, a particular and more popular one being known as "CREST". Other methods of dealing include using the phone. There are other occupations within the title of being a "city trader", but these are the main three, in order of which is most common, the most common being the first in the list.

Famous stock brokers

Larry "Buster" Crabbe - Actor and former Olympic swimmer, Crabbe became a stockbroker and businessman after a career in film. Buster Crabbe ( February 7, 1908 &ndash April 23, 1983) The Olympic Games is an international Multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games
Brian Dennehy - An actor, Dennehy worked as a broker for a time at the same firm as Martha Stewart. Brian Mannion Dennehy (born July 9 1938 is an American two-time Tony Award -winning Actor who has appeared in movies, on television and performed Martha Stewart (born Martha Helen Kostyra; August 3, 1941) is an American Business magnate, Television host, author
Jerry Doyle - Known to many as "Michael Garibaldi" on Babylon 5, was a stock broker for 10 years. Jerry Doyle may refer to Jerry Doyle (radio host, an American radio host conservative political commentator and television actor Jerry Doyle
Christopher Gardner - A man who averted homelessness and became a multi-millionaire, his struggle to attain his first job as a stock broker is the subject of the 2006 Will Smith film, The Pursuit of Happyness. Christopher Paul Gardner (born February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee Wisconsin) is a self-made Millionaire, Entrepreneur, Motivational Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Pursuit of Happyness is a 2006 American Biographical film directed by Gabriele Muccino about the on and off-homeless salesman-turned-stockbroker
Paul Gauguin - French Impressionist Painter of the late 19th Century initially worked as a broker as a young man in Paris. Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903 was a leading Post-Impressionist painter. Impressionism was a 19th-century Art movement that began as a loose association of Paris -based Artists exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s
Edward Francis Hutton - Founder of the firm known for its slogan: "When E. Edward Francis Hutton ( September 7, 1875, New York City - July 11, 1962, Westbury, Long Island, New York F. Hutton talks, people listen. " In the late '20s and early '30s, Hutton was married to cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. Marjorie Merriweather Post aka Marjorie Merriweather Post Close Hutton Davies May ( March 15 1887 – September 12 1973) was a leading Hutton's daughter with Post was actress Dina Merrill, the one-time wife of actor Cliff Robertson. Dina Merrill (born December 9, 1925) is an American Actress and Socialite. Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III (born September 9, 1925) is an Academy Award - winning American Actor with a Hutton's namesake firm imploded into bankruptcy in the 1970s.
Jérôme Kerviel - Rogue trader who caused a 7 billion dollar loss to his employer, French bank Société Générale. Jérôme Kerviel (born January 11 1977) is a French trader who has been charged in the January 2008 Société Générale trading loss incident Société Générale ( is one of the main European financial services companies and also maintains extensive activities in others parts of the world
Nick Leeson - Rogue trader whose unchecked risk-taking caused the biggest financial scandal of the 20th century. Nicholas Leeson (born February 25, 1967) is a former derivatives trader whose unsupervised speculative trading caused the collapse of Barings
Michael Milken - The financier came to fame at Drexel Burnham Lambert in the 1980s. Michael Robert Milken (born July 4, 1946 in Encino California) is a criminal American financier and philanthropist who almost single-handedly Drexel Burnham Lambert was a major Wall Street Investment banking firm which first rose to prominence and then was driven into bankruptcy in February 1990 by its
George Murphy - Silent film and early talkies star Murphy worked for a time as a Wall Street runner. George Lloyd Murphy ( July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American Dancer, Actor, and Politician. A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image as opposed to a Silent film. Wall Street is a street in lower Manhattan, New York City, United States.
William A. Paine - co-founder of Paine Webber. William Alfred Paine (b January 29 1855, Amesbury Massachusetts - d Paine Webber and Company was an American Stock brokerage and asset management firm that was acquired by the Swiss bank UBS AG in 2000
Hemish Shah - Late English poker player, who left stocks for poker, going on to win a World Series of Poker bracelet. Hemish Shah ( 7 April 1968 - 5 September 2001) was an English Stock broker before he became a professional England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland World Series of Poker (WSOP is the largest set of Poker tournaments in the world
Martha Stewart - After she gave up modeling in the late 60s, Stewart worked as a broker on Wall Street for 7-8 years before launching her lifestyle business. Martha Stewart (born Martha Helen Kostyra; August 3, 1941) is an American Business magnate, Television host, author
Warren Buffet

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