This course prepares you for the Securities Trader Qualification Examination, commonly called Series 57. It contains 17 units across four chapters, aligned to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) content outline, plus a Final Review chapter for the last days before the exam.
The Series 57 registration is for traders. It applies to transactions in equity, preferred or convertible debt securities effected otherwise than on a securities exchange, and you need it if you:
- Engage in proprietary trading, execute transactions on an agency basis, or directly supervise those activities
- Are primarily responsible for designing, developing or significantly modifying an algorithmic trading strategy in those securities
- Are responsible for the day-to-day supervision or direction of that algorithmic work
The Course Map
FINRA publishes weights by function only: Function 1, Trading Activities, is 41 of the 50 scored items (82%), and Function 2, Books and Records, Trade Reporting and Clearance and Settlement, is 9 (18%). Chapters 1 to 3 split Function 1, so their weights below are CertFuel planning estimates.
| Chapter | Weight | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1. General Trading Practices | about 38% | Market making status, order types, market access, clearly erroneous transactions, display and trading systems, prohibited trading activities, and the quotation and trading-halt rules |
| 2. Trading Specific Products | about 30% | Trading around initial public offerings (IPOs) and secondary offerings, non-listed and penny stocks, options trading, and short sales |
| 3. Handling Customer Orders | about 14% | Best execution and the other obligations owed on a customer order, prohibited practices with customer orders, and Regulation NMS (the national market system rules) |
| 4. Books and Records, Trade Reporting and Settlement | 18% | Reporting trades to the right facility, the required order and transaction records, and clearance and settlement |
Chapters 1 and 2 together carry about two thirds of the exam. Give them most of your study time.
The Exam at a Glance
- Questions: 55 total, made up of 50 scored items and 5 unscored pretest items mixed in at random
- Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
- Passing standard: 70%, which is 35 of the 50 scored items
- Format: Multiple choice, four answer choices each
- Co-requisite: you must also pass the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam
- Guessing: there is no penalty, so answer every item
Exam Tip: Gotchas
- The pretest items are unmarked. You cannot tell a scored item from an unscored one, so treat all 55 the same way.
- The exam tests numbers inside rules. Percentages, time windows and price thresholds decide many items, so learn each one with the condition that triggers it.
A Practical Study Loop
Work through the chapters in order on a first pass. The order types and trading systems in chapter 1 are the vocabulary for everything that follows, and the customer-order and reporting rules in chapters 3 and 4 assume you know them.
For each unit:
- Watch the unit's videos and listen to its podcast.
- Take the unit's Study Quiz and run its Flashcards before you read.
- Read the Learn material and mark each section complete.
- Repeat the Study Quiz and Flashcards, then move forward.
- After the first pass, take a full Practice Exam every week to find the highest-value gaps.
The goal of the first pass is breadth. After that, let your practice results point you at weak areas while you keep chapters 1 and 2 warm.
Next Step
Start with the app overview, then move into chapter 1: