I would like to conduct a stock trading seminar. I was wondering if you needed any credentials to do so, such as taking the series 7 exam. If so is there any disclaimers or warnings you can give to avoid having to take the exam?
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If you want anyone to take you seriously, you have to have at the very least a verifiable track record of success or some other credentials (MBA, CFA, etc.).
If you conduct seminars open to the public and give specific recommendations to buy or sell securities and are not a licensed investment advisor or credentialed analyst, you certainly can be subject to legal action if your advice is taken and turns out to be bad. As far as disclaimers are concerned, sure, you can disclaim all you want and there are hundreds of examples of boilerplate disclaimers on financial websites all over the internet. If all you plan on discussing in these seminars is a method of buying and selling shares and don’t give specific advice regarding which securities to buy or sell, then you aren’t stepping on any regulatory toes. Again, you just want to have your attendees take you seriously.
You can not take the Series 7 exam or any other securities license exam unless you work for a broker/dealer that will sponsor you.
There are no restrictions from giving investment advice on the internet, however. It happens all the time, including here on Yahoo Answers. Anybody with a keyboard and a mouse can pretend he is Warren Buffet and dispense investment suggestions with little worry of running afoul of regulations. It’s when you get in front of people directly and/or present yourself to the public as some sort of expert and dispense specific ADVICE that you must be careful.
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To run a seminar all you need is people willing to listen to you. It helps when you have credentials so people take you seriously though.
No you don’t need any credentials, SEC certifications or NASD licenses to conduct stock trading seminars. But if you have no credentials, artificial or otherwise, you may not get any investors (or suckers) to come through the door to attend the seminar. Look at Wade Cook. He is from the Seattle area and his claim to fame is that he was a taxi driver and one hell of a salesman. His theories on stock trading though stank.