Recently we spoke to someone at FINRA about the new five-hour, 175 question Series 79 Investment Banking Representative exam, and while FINRA still won't divulge what a passing score for the exam is, their representative did tell us that a passing score on the Series 79 is in the "low seventies" like their other exams. This score "will fluctuate over time." We have been told by someone who took the Series 79 exam and who has been in compliance for decades that it is "not an easy exam."

The two and a half hour, 100 question NASAA Uniform Combined State Law Examination (the so-called "Series 66" exam), is designed to qualify candidates as both securities agents and investment adviser representatives. If you need to take this exam, there's no easier way to study than with the new Solomon Exam Prep iPhone app. Just go to iTunes and type in "Solomon Exam Prep" or "Series 66." It's a perfect complement to our #1-selling Series 7 iPhone app and these two exams are corequisite exams that must both be completed before a candidate can register with a state.

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Effective January 1, 2010, NASAA and FINRA will raise the passing grade for the Series 63, Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, from 70% to 72%. The new raw passing score will be 43 out of 60.

Research at Northwestern University, published in the journal Science, suggests that playing a reinforcing audio while sleeping might improve retention of information already learned.

Studying for the Series 7 exam has never been easy, but the Solomon Exam Prep Series 7 iPhone app makes it easier to study on the go for this hardest of all FINRA securities licensing exams.

Effective January 1, 2010, the NASAA and FINRA will raise the passing grade for the Series 65, Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, from 68.5% to 72% and for the Series 66, Uniform Combined State Law Examination, from 71% to 75%.