Weiss Capital Securities, Inc.

Investment Alternatives

If history has taught us anything, it's that there isn't anything predictable about financial markets. So as a investor, you need to be prepared for the unpredictable – seeking out investment products and services that should stand up to the test of time – regardless of changing interest rates, the strength of the economy or geopolitical events.

As Weiss Capital Securities, we offer a broad range of investment products, including traditional and unique investments, that we believe will help you to weather the storms that are sure to come along when we least expect them.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Money Market Funds A money market fund is an open-end mutual fund that invests in commercial paper, banker's acceptances, repurchase agreements, government securities, certificates of deposit and other highly liquid and safe securities, and pays money market rates of interest. (While it cannot be guaranteed, money market funds strive to maintain a net asset value of $1 per share.)

Certificate of Deposit (CD) A CD is a debt instrument issued by a bank that usually pays interest on a periodic basis. Maturities typically range from a few weeks to several years. Interest rates are pegged to prevailing market rates.

U.S. Treasury Bills Commonly called T-bills, a Treasury bill is a short-term U.S. government security that is sold at a discount from its maturity value. Maturities range from three and six months (auctioned weekly by the U.S. Treasury), to nine months and one year (auctioned monthly). Treasury bills are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.

Fixed Income

U.S. Treasuries and Government Bonds Like U.S. Treasury Bills, U.S. Treasury notes and bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Treasury notes range in maturity from one to 10 years and from $1,000 to $1 million, or more. Treasury bonds are long-term debt instruments with maturities of longer than 10 years issued in minimum denominations of $1,000.

Bonds issued by U.S. government-sponsored agencies, such as Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) and the Federal Home Loan Bank, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

Tax Exempt Municipal Bonds Issued by state and local governments, these debt obligations are issued to support general governmental needs or special projects. The interest earned from Tax Exempt Municipal Bonds is exempt from federal income tax, and state income states from the state of issue. (A portion of the interest income earned from municipal bonds may be subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax [AMT]. Please consult with your tax advisor for additional information.)

Corporate Bonds Issued by corporations, these bonds typically have four distinguishing features:

the interest paid is taxable to the bond owner;

they have a par (face) value of $1,000;

they come due at one time and are paid for out of monies put aside by the issuer for the purpose of paying off the debt;

they are traded on a major exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange, with prices published in the newspaper or available through a broker-dealer

Equities

Stock represents ownership in a corporation that is expressed in shares. Shares are a claim on the corporation's earnings and assets. The most commonly issued classes of stock are common and preferred.

Common stock usually entitles the shareholder to vote in the election of directors and other matters taken up at shareholder meetings or by proxy;

Preferred stock generally does not confer voting rights but it has a prior claim on assets and earnings – dividends must be paid on preferred stock before any can be paid on common stock.

Shares of publicly owned companies are typically traded on major stock exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange or NASDAQ.

Mutual Funds

According to the Investment Company Institute, investors have placed more than $8.1 trillion in the more than 8,300 open-end mutual funds available in the marketplace today. Mutual funds are operated by investment companies, which invest in securities such as stocks, bonds, options, indices, money market instruments and currencies. Mutual funds offer investors the advantages of diversification and professional money management. Mutual funds are typically categorized as load, no-load and no-transaction fee.

Load funds charge the investor a fee, or sales charge, to invest in the fund. Load funds are usually sold through broker/dealers and the sales charge is paid to the broker for selling the fund.

No-load funds are typically sold directly to the investor, by-passing a broker or financial professional.

No-transaction fee funds are no-load funds that are sold through various broker/dealer investment programs

Mutual funds, regardless of whether they are load, no-load or no-transaction fee funds levy other fees such as 12B-1 fees and management fees. Some fund families also charge a fee to move, or exchange, from one fund to another with the fund family.

Unit Investment Trusts

Unit Investment Trusts (UIT) are similar to mutual funds in that they offer a convenient way to invest in securities pooled together, i.e., stocks, government bonds, corporate bonds or municipal bonds. Unlike a mutual fund, whose portfolio is actively managed, the portfolio of a UIT is fixed and thus does not change over time. (UITs that invest in bonds, self liquidate over time as the bonds mature and capital is returned to the unit holder.) Units in the trust, which usually cost $1,000 per unit if bought at the time of issuance, are sold to investors by brokers for which a sales charge is assessed.

Options
(Minimum of $25,000 net account equity required to open an options account.)

Stock Options A stock option is the right to buy or sell shares of stock at an agreed upon price, in a specified period of time. If the option contract is not closed out or exercised before the expiration, the option expires and the holder of the option forfeits the money spent. The two most common options are calls and puts.

A call option gives its buyer the right to buy 100 shares of the underlying stock at a fixed price before a specified date in the future – usually three, six or nine months. For this right, the call-option buyer pays the call-option seller, called the writer, a fee, or premium, which is forfeited if the buyer does not exercise the option before the agreed-upon date. Call buyers think the price of the underlying stock will go up.

A put option, which is the opposite of a call option, gives its buyer the right to sell a specified number of shares of stock at an agreed-upon price within a specified period of time. Put buyers expect the price of the underlying stock to go down.

The risks of trading options can be substantial. Options are not suitable for all investors. Please read carefully the options disclosure document, Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options, for a complete outline of these risks.

Index Options Index options are similar to stock options, except they are puts and calls on indices of stocks rather than the stocks themselves. Index options are traded on the New York, American and Chicago Board of Options (CBOE), among others. Broad-based indices, such as the Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500), cover a wide range of companies and industries, whereas narrow-based indices consist of stocks in a particular market of industry group.

World Currency Options A contract that grants the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell currency at a specified exchange rate during a specified period of time. The exchange rate is the expression of the value of one country's currency in terms of another country's currency. The exercise price of a currency option thus represents an exchange rate. The currency in which the premium, the price of the option contract and exercise price are denominated is referred to as the trading currency. The currency to be purchased or sold at the exercise price is the underlying currency.

It is possible to lose your entire investment if an option isn't sold or exercised prior to its expiration date.
Source: Investopedia.com

Source for all definitions (other than World Currency Options): Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms (Barron's Financial Guides)

WCS Commission Schedules and Fees
Commission schedule is subject to change without notice.

Choice Account Commission Schedule Commissions sited are for online trades only. Please call us at 800.242.8092 for Broker-Assisted commission schedule.

Market Orders shares	1 - 500 shares	501 - 999 shares	1000 shares and above
Online Equity Orders	$18.00	$25.00	$30.00 +.02

Limit Orders/Special Orders	1 - 500 shares	501 - 999 shares	1000 shares and above
Online Equity Orders	$23.00	$30.00	$35.00 +.02

Option Orders	1 - 9 contracts	10 - 49 contracts	50 - 100 contracts
Online Option Orders	$35.00 + $2.00 per contract	$35.00 + $1.75 per contract	$35.00 + $1.50 per contract
Option Exercise	$35.00 minumum, subject to regular commission schedule

Fixed Income
US Treasuries	$55.00
All Bonds	$4.00 per bond subject to a $40.00 minimum trade

Mutual Funds
FundVest^®	$25.00 purchase & redemption
No Load	$25.00 purchase & redemption
Front-end Load	$25.00 redemption
Back-end Load	$0.00

Margin Interest Rates
$0 - $9,999	BCLR + 3.25%
$10,000 - $29,999	BCLR + 2.75%
$30,000 - $49,999	BCLR + 2.50%
$50,000+	BCLR + 1.75%

ProCash Plus™ Account Commission Schedule

Market Orders shares	1 - 500 shares	501 - 999 shares	1000 shares and above
Online Equity Orders	$18.00	$20.00	$25.00 +.02

Limit Orders/Special Orders	1 - 500 shares	501 - 999 shares	1000 shares and above
Online Equity Orders	$23.00	$30.00	$35.00 +.02

Option Orders	1 - 9 contracts	10 - 49 contracts	50 - 100 contracts
Online Option Orders	$35.00 + $2.00 per contract	$35.00 + $1.75 per contract	$35.00 + $1.50 per contract
Option Exercise	$35.00 minumum, subject to regular commission schedule

Fixed Income
US Treasuries	$55.00
All Bonds	$4.00 per bond subject to a $40.00 minimum trade

Mutual Funds
FundVest^®	$25.00 purchase & redemption
No Load	$25.00 purchase & redemption
Front-end Load	$25.00 redemption
Back-end Load	$0.00

Margin Interest Rates
$0 - $9,999	BCLR + 3.25%
$10,000 - $29,999	BCLR + 2.75%
$30,000 - $49,999	BCLR + 2.50%
$50,000+	BCLR + 1.75%

WCS Ancillary Account Fees

Return Checks	$30.00
Stop Checks	$30.00
Margin Extensions	$15.00
Transfer and Ship	$50.00-$100.00
Legal Transfer	$50.00-$100.00
Reorganization Fees:
Voluntary	$30.00
Mandatory (in account)	$20.00
Physical	$50.00
Foreign Receive and Deliver Fees (per item)	$100.00
Bond Redemptions:
In Account	$20.00
Physical	$50.00
Inactive Custody Fee	$50.00
Safekeeping	$5.00
Foreign: Safekeeping	$10.00
Wiring of Funds	$25.00
ACAT TOA Fee	$50.00