Subject: File No. S7-25-99
From: Carole L. Rowe
Affiliation: Retired R.N.

August 27, 2004

I understand that the brokerage firms want to be in the financial advice business but do not want to be regulated or held accountable for the financial advice they give in selling their securities to clients.

Clients need to be aware that the brokerage firms have an axe to grind and may not be acting in the clients best interest while they are pushing securities.

If they want to be advisors they should be acting for the client first not themselves. They have got an inherent conflict of interest. Clients need to be aware of it and the brokerage firms need to be regulated just like everybody else if they are representing themselves as Advisors.