1.   Brown, focus on underwriting stock for rapidly growing companies.

2.   First Union wants to offer customers services ranging from checkbooks and loans to underwriting stock and bonds.

3.   In the last few months, the Fed has loosened some of the rules that restrict banks from underwriting stocks and bonds.

4.   Merrill also had strong gains in revenue from underwriting stocks and bonds and from advising on mergers and acquisitions.

5.   Morgan Stanley is one of the top U.S. securities firms, ranking fifth in underwriting stock and bonds last year.

6.   Processing trades is also much less alluring than the high-fee investment banking practices of underwriting stocks of new companies and advising corporations on mergers and acquisitions.

7.   Prudential also stopped paying brokers more to sell in-house products -- mutual funds, annuities, unit trusts or underwriting stocks and bonds -- in April.

8.   Revenue from underwriting stocks and bonds, trading gains and commissions all increased.

9.   Securities firms generally earn significantly bigger fees for underwriting stocks than debt.

10.   Shares of other investment firms are up, reflecting gains this year from underwriting stocks and bonds, commissions for selling them and income from trading them.