Recently, I had the chance to ring the bell at the New York Mercantile Exchange, where traders buy and sell natural gas, crude and heating oil, gasoline, precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum, and other commodities such as coffee and sugar as well as a variety of options.

Electronic trading has reduced the number of people on the trading floor—a change borne of technological progress. Indeed, much has changed since trading markets multiplied more than 100 years ago and dotted the landscape for farmers to sell their products. At one point there were as many as 1,600 exchanges. Today there are only six.

The landscape of regional brokerage firms has taken a similar path. About 15 years ago, there were more than 200 of these firms. Now there are fewer than two dozen, reports senior editor Donna Mitchell in this month's cover story, "The Vanishing Regionals." For regional firms, progress increasingly means consolidation, specialization, or in many cases, acquisition by a larger firm with a national footprint. We talk to the experts who predict whether the regional firm—as we know it—can continue to be a viable business model or merely become extinct.

Among the biggest changes in the brokerage industry in recent decades is the entry of women into this workforce and their advancement into the upper ranks. On July 10, On Wall Street hosted its first Women Advisor Forum, which was kicked off by Muriel "Mickie" Siebert, the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.

The keynote speaker for the event was Sallie Krawcheck, chief executive officer of Citi Global Wealth Management. In an informal, wide-ranging and often humorous speech, she offered insights on how to move up the corporate ladder as well as her assessment of the prospects of the U.S. and global economies. "The U.S. will grow 3% to 3.5%," she said. "Outside the U.S. you have 100 economies growing at 4%. China has grown at 10% a year for the past 30 years with government help, India has grown at 9% despite the government." She added: "China today is more important to growth than either the U.S. or Europe." With that, she said: "If you're not talking to your clients about the global nature of the markets, you're doing them a disservice."

And in light of the economic difficulties hammering the U.S. economy, Krawcheck offered more practical wisdom for every financial advisor, regardless of gender. "Right now, clients need us and they know it." To see and hear more of her comments and excerpts from the conference such as our "Rainmakers Roundtable," go online to: http://www.onwallstreet.com/wafblog.