Well just comparing the 7 to the 66, they are totally different.
The 6 and 7 are basically similar in that they cover much of the same material, but again the 7 is much more detailed and broader in scope as well. I took both in the past. The 7 has stocks, options, etc. I remember on the 7 there were many questions where you had spreads, straddles, etc that had to be calculated, etc.
The 66 is basically combining the 63 and 65, and allows one to be a registered "Investment Advisor", charge a management fee, do managed / "wrap" accounts, etc. In fact, an investor who is not giving their $ to a hedge fund who likes to trade more frequently and who has at least 6 figures to invest would be better served with a "managed account" at an institution than a traditional "transactional" account that charges a fee for every trade. This would probably even be better than a discount brokerage account for the bigger money client who is either not quite accredited or not going to an unregistered hedge fund, because the client would only be charged a flat management fee (usually 1% at the big firms) for the ability to make unlimited buys and sells of stocks, mutual funds (institutional share classes), bonds, etc without getting hit with transactional fees left and right, and they would also get the benefit of having an advisor to guide them, share research info from the firm, etc.
This type of account does not work so well for the smaller investor / trader with 5 figures or less though because of the way the fees are structured. Smaller investors with 5 figures who are willing to take on at least a little short term risk and who will not need the $ anytime soon should probably consider investing that $ in something such as C-share mutual funds, which I think can still be sold after a year without a penalty. They also charge typically around 1% per year generally, but their advantage over the more traditional "A-share" is that you don't have to pony up a hefty 5%+ upfront fee - so you are investing more $ right away with a C-share, and you can also sell all or some of the shares off in a year or 2 or 3 without having wasted that $ on an upfront fee on something you eventually chose to scale out of.
The smaller investor can also purchase stocks, but one thing I've learned is that most people (not everybody, of course) don't pick stocks or other investments very well. The average person doesn't have the time or aptitude, even though some may have the desire and passion for it. It often comes down to the emotions - fear, greed, ego. They buy what they "like", or what their drinking buddy or barber tells them to buy. They don't diversify - they buy one or 2 stocks they "like", or load up on company stock in their 401ks or whatever - and therefore subject themselves to a huge amount of risk. Nobody would have thought 10 years ago that General Motors (or Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Lehman, etc) would have gone bankrupt, and their stock and bonds would be worthless. But it does happen. Of course such concentration CAN make one wealthy, but the risk is far greater.
To me, the average person who is unsophisticated / unaccredited (and even many more sophisticated investors who want to minimize risk) who is willing to take on at least a little risk (but minimize that risk!) and is not needing to liquidate their $ any time soon would be much better off spreading out their $ among several investments like these rather than try to pick their own stocks:
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=BRUFX®ion=USA
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=YAFFX®ion=USA
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=SGIIX®ion=USA
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=OSFDX®ion=USA
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=PRPFX®ion=USA
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=TGBAX®ion=USA
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=MALOX®ion=USA
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=FPACX®ion=USA
Most of these funds have averaged at least low double figures over time, and have done far, far better than the market. They've also exposed their investors to far less risk than the overall markets. While the Dow, S&P, etc were down 37-38% in '08, these funds were down FAR less, and one or two even made a little $ in '08. These funds are also mostly unrestrained (with the exception of the bond fund, which does not invest in equities) in that they can allocate $ however they choose (stocks, bonds, cash, alternatives, commodities, etc) and invest anywhere and everywhere. I have much of my retirement account $ in most of those funds and a few others, while I have separate larger accounts I invest my other $ and client $ in where I invest in individual securities myself. But I'd recommend any novice investor (and even most typical experienced investors) put their $ in those funds before they'd "trade" or otherwize haphazardly invest any of their $ based upon their (or their friends' or relatives') limited knowledge and experience.
There are other funds that are even more aggressive and tend to do even better than most of these in bull markets, but they also tend to do worse in bear markets.
EDIT: I do agree with a point you made previously about options not being for the novice investor. If an investor doesn't understand them, or doesn't have at least a million dollars (or both), they probably don't need to have any of their $ in options.
