Securities Industry Essentials Exam: Expert Guides and Resources

The Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam is the starting line for anyone looking to build a career in financial services. To help you prepare, this cheat sheet provides simple SIE exam prep that takes the mystery out of the test and sets you up for success. We explain exactly what the exam covers, break down the main topic areas you’ll encounter, and offer easy study habits that turn complex financial ideas into information you can actually use.

Because of the number of questions that could be asked, the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam is a beast of a test that poses questions in many different ways. You have to deal with multitiered Roman numeral nightmares, open- and closed-ended sentences, and killers like except and not. Straightforward question types on the SIE Straightforward question types include a group of sentences with the facts followed by a question or incomplete sentence; you then get four answer choices, one of which correctly answers the question or completes the idea.

The Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam is your starting point to becoming a registered representative. The SIE must be passed before you can take some of the top-off exams such as the Series 7. The SIE Exam tests your understanding of the basics regarding securities, the market, rules, and such.The SIE Exam is by no means easy and requires a lot of concentration and preparation.

Although most analysts use some combination of fundamental analysis and technical analysis to make their securities recommendations, for the Securities Industry Essentials Exam purposes, you need to be able to differentiate between the two types. This article discusses fundamental analysis.Fundamental analysts perform an in-depth analysis of companies.

Technical analysts look at the market to determine whether the market is bullish or bearish. They look at trendlines, trading volume, market sentiment, market indices (S&P 500, DJIA, and so on), options volatility, market momentum, available funds, index futures, new highs and lows, the advance-decline ratio, odd lot volume, short interest, put-to-call ratio (options trading), and so on.

After all the time, effort, and sacrifice you put into studying, elevating the importance of the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam to an unrealistically high level is easy. Step back for a moment. Keep it in perspective. This situation is not life or death. If you don’t pass the test the first time, the worst thing that happens is that you have to retake it.

For the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam, make sure you have a good handle on bond basics. Review basic bond terminology and some bond characteristics. © Andrii Yalanskyi / Shutterstock.com Remembering bond terminology The SIE exam designers expect you to know general bond terminology. This article reinforces the information you may have already learned from a prep course or study material (or are in the process of learning).