wall street chronicle - november 2013.pdf

8/14/2019 Wall Street Chronicle - November 2013.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/wall-street-chronicle-november-2013pdf 1/10

NOVEMBER 2013

WALL STREET CHRONICLE

Wall Street Chronicle Issue 3 November 2013

In This Issue President’s Corner 1 Australia’s Growing Gender Pay Imbalance 2 Currency Swap: The lucrave world of foreign exchange 3 The US Debt Ceiling 4 The LIBOR Scandal 4 The Commodity that Calls for Aenon 5

Rate Watch: RBA Aempts to help Australian economy

nd its Mojo 6 How to Network 7 Meet the Experts: Adam Richardson 7 The Rumour Mill 8 The Analyst Bootcamp 9 Curn Wall Street Club Debate 9 News and Editorial 10

President’s Corner Matt Brennan, President - Curtin

Wall Street Club

As 2013 draws to a close and exam preparation begins to take

centre stage, the Curtin Wall Street Club (WSC) wishes to

reminisce on the year that was.

Our marquee event from semester one was Management

Consultant Jake Hammer’s illuminating foreign exchange

trading workshop which packed out the trading room and set

the tone for the rest of the year.

Semester 2 really was a symphony of epiphanies, where

bright ideas coagulated flawlessly with effort to produce

stunning results. It was Albert Einstein who said “genius is

99% perspiration and 1% inspiration”, and without the

immense amount of sweat (effort), our marquee events for

semester 2 including The Analyst Bootcamp¸ the Meet the

Expert Series and the debate against the debating society

would not have been possible.

A special thanks to all our guest speakers who did a superb

job in educating and entertaining our members – Jake

Hammer (Oyster Consulting), Anthony Ravi (PwC), Felix

Hudson (PwC), Matt Masters (KPMG), Sarah Grove (PwC),

Scott Shuttleworth (GE Capital) and Adam Richardson

(Woodside Petroleum). Enormous gratitude is extended to the

members of the Brand Development & Promotions team for

doing such a terrific job with marketing and adding value to

the Curtin WSC brand, The Wall Street Chronicle Publication

team who have set the benchmark for quality under the

stewardship of our newly appointed Editor Tim Wong, ourDirector of Photography Scott Price whose photographs

always manage to tell the story of the night, our Vice-

President Jardee Kininmonth, our Club Secretary Matthew

Kinna, our Treasurer Jon Scholtz, Dan Lines who continues to

run insightful workshops on campus using the Bloomberg

Terminals, Curtin and Curtin Business School for providing

the Trading Room as our headquarters and assistance

throughout the year, and the Guild who have endorsed the

Curtin Wall Street Club as an official Guild club.

Finally, a huge thanks to all members of the Curtin WSC. For

those reading about the Curtin WSC for the first time

membership is free through filling out the form on the ‘Curtin

Wall Street Club’ Facebook page and even after you graduate,

you can still be part of the growing network that is the Curtin

WSC. Our goal is to be the premier economics, finance,

accounting and management club on campus with our

ultimate mission being to make you a better graduate. The

Curtin WSC strives to achieve our mission through creating

the events you talk about long after they occur; an intellectual

hub where like-minded students can discuss business and

finance and gain direct access to unique opportunities which

will shape your career for years to come.

Let’s work together to make 2014 even better!

Disclaimer: Wall Street Chronicle is a student run publicaon, not a licensed nancial adviser. The opinions and recommendaons

published in the Wall Street Chronicle are not intended to inuence you in making nancial decisions and should not be taken as such.



Australia's Growing

Gender Pay

Imbalance

Storm Crow, Wall Street Club

Member

Australia prides itself on the post World War II liberation of

women and their integration into the workforce. Despite this,

there is a continuing pay imbalance between the men and

women that currently sits at an all time high.

In 2009, Australia was sitting at a 14.9 percent pay

imbalance; Now in 2013, only four years later, the gap has

grown to major heights of 17.5 percent with no signs of

improving. If a male worker was to earn $60,000 a year, a

common graduate marketing student salary, then a female

worker would be paid on average $10,500 less, or an

equivalent of $49,500.

In 2009, The National Centre for Social and Economic

Modelling measured a major negative impact on Australia’s

macro economy due to a growing gender pay imbalance. The

study was measured under the Melbourne Institute, whichestimated a $93 billion cost to the economy meaning the

income which was not being provided to females was

reducing potential spending across Australia. The Melbourne

Institute also measured the outcome of women earning an

equal salary to that of a man, and in this situation, it was

found that an additional “$56 billion or 5.1 per cent [could be

added] to annual GDP.”

The gender pay imbalance in Australia is, without a

doubt ,becoming an increasingly sophisticated issue

underpinned by many causes and effects. This issue affects

more than those working in lower skilled sectors as it remainsrelevant to those in senior positions in mining, financial, and

professional sectors. In 2013, figures provided by the

Workers Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) indicate that men

were paid on average 31.4 per cent more (refer to table 1)

than their female counterparts in the Financial and Insurance

Services. Similarly, women in professional, scientific and

technical services, were earning 30.1 per cent less than their

male counterparts.

Why is this? It could possibly be due to managers

experiencing unconscious or stereotyped role segregation

when allocating positions. Female positions are allocated with

their traditional mother roles in mind and so this results in less

demanding work with a smaller salary. Moreover it is

interesting that female dominated occupations still see men

earning more than women. For example the ABS recognises

women earning a weekly median wage of $999 compared to

men who earn $1150, in fields such as nursing and child care.

Leadership or management positions are also a great

indication of the widening gender pay imbalance. Results

from the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) indicate a 21.8 percent difference between male and female pay in this

category. See table 2 below for a full breakdown of the unfair

discrepancy between male and female earnings.

Traditionally, these role have been dominated by males so

there are high barriers to new entry for females. With the

ABS identifying three percent representation for women in

these roles, the fight or gender equality in the workforce

evidently still continues.

In a bid to recognise how much harder females are continuing

to work to achieve their equal rights and their salaries,

September 3rd

has been labelled Equal Pay Day. This dayrepresents Australia’s inequality in the workplace, as a

woman currently earns 77 cents for every dollar a man earns.

The day marks sixty-four days after the end of the financial

year and only then, after fourteen months in comparison to a

traditional twelve month year for a man, can a woman say she

has earned a salary to that of a man. No longer will the

women of Australia be taken advantage of and no longer

should they have to accept wage exploitation from companies.

With Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop recently

commenting that “women [simply] can’t have it all”, there is

little hope left for the driven and inspiring women of

Australia. Remember folks- it was only in 1902 that women

were granted recognition to vote and we have definitely come

a long way. But have we come far enough?

Table 1: Gender pay gap by industry, May 2012 – May 2013

(Source: Workplace Gender Equality Agency)

Table 2: Mean weekly earnings in main job (full-me), and gender

pay gap, by occupaon of main job (Source: Workplace Gender

Equality Agency)

Featured Arcles




Currency Swap: The

lucrave world of

foreign exchange

Matt Brennan, President - Curtin

Wall Street Club

Being just shy of 6’2”, Alasdair Taylor - Newman, or Al as he

is known by his friends, is someone a lot of people look up to

in life. But it is his intricate knowledge of the foreign

exchange (forex) market, combined with his ability to profitregularly that makes him the oracle of the forex world. Al

speaks with a Morgan Freeman-esque narrative tone, and at

social functions he is often like the quarterback, with

everyone huddled around him transfixed as he holds the floor

on anything from table tennis, to Gyroscopes latest album,

and of course, the foreign exchange market.

“It is almost too easy to set up an account.” Al uses the

trading platform forex.com/au, where after providing basic

proof of identification documentation to authenticate the

process, investors are one step closer to the world of forex.

Unlike share trading, where brokerage provides an initial

hurdle before trades can become in the money, forex has no

fees. The only entry cost lies in the bid/ask spread, where if

an investor wishes to enter the market immediately, they must

set their order, their bid, above the current quoted price of the

currency they wish to buy.

To illustrate this, I’ll use the fourth most traded currency pair,

the AUD/US. A currency pairing refers to the fact that in

order for an investor to buy one currency, they must

simultaneously sell another. When this article was written, $1

AUD could be exchanged for $1.0583 US dollars, but at the

time, if the investor was looking to enter immediately, they

could only acquire $1.0567 US dollars with their AustralianDollar. This 0.16c bid/ask spread may seem insignificant, but

most trading platforms require a minimum order of $10,000,

which from the example, equates to a $16 price differential

the investor has to make up before the trade is profitable. The

bid/ask spread is only exacerbated when exotic pairings are

traded such as the US Dollar/Vietnamese Dong combination,

and this is due to low volumes of trade and a greater

distortion in perceived value of the Vietnamese Dong by

investors.

Some investors may be slightly worried since they do not

have a spare $10,000 to complete the transaction. This factstands out like a Goth at a Wiggles concert, and is the area

which leads to the primary trap of foreign currency trading:

Leverage. Foreign currency trading platforms vary, but most

will allow up to 200 times leverage on a common currency

pairing. This level of leverage allows the investor to reach the

minimum investment requirement of $10,000 with just a $50

note, or alternatively, with a $10,000 or greater investment,

allows them to achieve 200 times the profit of someone with

no leverage. Or 200 times the loss. Al remorsefully recounts

that he made the “rookie mistake” of leveraging at 200 times

when he first started currency trading. Fortunately for Al, he

was wise enough to set an appropriate stop loss, which

allowed him to lick his wounds and try again.

Al carries many financial battle scars from forex trading,

although his victories greatly outweigh his losses. He

gleefully regaled the time he made $200 between his walk

from the Curtin Tavern, to the Bankwest ATM and back

again. Although a hefty amount of the profits were consumed

that night, this was only one of many success stories from Al.

Here’s one Al was particularly proud of, “I was in the 402

labs and gold was on a hot streak… I saw some momentum

and jumped on the trend and the beauty of forex.com/au is

that it allows you to trade on unrealised profits, which enabled

me to use the profits from the first trade to make a second

trade, and so on until I had three simultaneous trades all pushing in the same direction, I made over $1,000 that

afternoon.”

Foreign exchange is not limited to currencies; Al explains that

he even exploits trends in soybeans, wheat and corn. “I use

the Dow Jones Newswire which sorts upcoming

announcements into degree of impact, which I then combine

with my fundamental analysis on the commodities.” This

approach is reflective of Al’s broader strategy: “I do not base

my decisions solely on when one line crosses another; I like

to think that it was my reasoning which got the trade home.”

This reasoning is backed by his continual acing of examswhich have set him on the path to becoming a fully-fledged

financial broker, as well as the 78% he achieved in his

derivatives unit at Curtin, one of the most feared amongst

economics and finance students alike, being indicative of his

university results.

The foreign exchange market is deep and liquid, with data

announced recently from the US Central Bank suggesting

more than $4 Trillion US is traded daily. In 2012, the

Australian share market (ASX) had an average of around $59

Billion AUD* traded daily (this figure is for domestic trades

only, but these comprise the vast majority of all trades).

Regardless of size differential, profits can be made when the

market moves in any direction, even when the market is

stagnant, which allows investors to even profit on an entity’s

or indeed an entire country’s fiscal collapse. Profits can also

be made from the poor decisions and naivety of investors who

are misfortunate enough to jump on a trend too late or sell a

stock or currency way too early, allowing exit/entrance for

another investor. In the share market, if the trading conditions

were likened to chess, there is a healthy balance of experts

and beginners who beat each other on a regular basis.

However, be wary in forex trading, as there are very few

novices, the speed of the game is so much faster, the stakesand potential gains are so much higher (especially with

excessive leverage) and the opponents are akin to Russian

chess champions whom will checkmate the rookie quicker

than you can say Gorbachev.

Featured Arcles




The LIBOR Scandal

Michael Frigger, Wall Street ClubMember

Ever heard of the Illuminati or Rothschild? These are both

secret societies believed to be the controllers of the world by

some internet folk, often the tin foil hat kind. Forget them both.

Want to know who really controls the world’s money and its

money? Join one of the big banks and become its CEO.

Over the last few years, there have been a series of fraudulent

activities connected to the London Interbank Offered Rate

(LIBOR). For those who are unaware of what the LIBOR is, it

is basically an interest rate set by the British Bankers’

Association (BBA) at which banks borrow from other banks inlarge quantities. It is the world’s most widely used benchmark

for short-term interest rates and currently underpins upwards of

$500 trillion in derivatives. Yes, trillion. Knowing that banks

have the ability to manipulate this much money for their own

personal benefit becomes a bit daunting now, doesn’t it?

Recently in 2012, Barclays Bank was fined a mere $200

million, out of their massive $9.86 billion 2012 profit, in

relation to the attempted manipulation of the LIBOR rate by

the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Even though

they were only fined for the ‘attempted’ manipulation,

Barclays officially agreed that “the manipulation of thesubmissions affected the fixed rate on some occasions”. Was

anyone charged? You guessed it, nope. The CEO simply

resigned and went on with his life.

It doesn’t stop with a single bank. Days after Barclays was

fined, the Serious Fraud Office in the UK announced that they

had opened up an investigation into the manipulation of the

LIBOR. The investigation has spread to at least ten different

countries in two different continents. More than 16 banks have

been named in the investigations and various court cases. It

begs the question - is there really anything we can do to stop

them?

In September this year, various US and UK authoritiesannounced that the world’s largest broker of interest rate

swaps, ICAP, was fined $87 million for its role in manipulating

the benchmark interest rate. However, this time, former

employees of the $2.5 billion company face criminal charges.

The DOJ has charged 3 brokers with conspiracy to commit

wire fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Each faces a

maximum penalty of 30 years. For the three that have been

caught, how many will remain free?

The Financial Times published an article last year in which a

former trader stated that LIBOR manipulation has been

common since 1991. Only 20 years later have we started touncover the mischief that the banks have been getting up to. It

really makes you wonder what type of extravagant schemes the

banks are pulling off now which we will discover again in

another 20 years.

It would seem the golden rule still applies - the man with the

gold makes the rules.

Featured Arcles


The US Debt Ceiling

Hadrien Bostnavaron, Wall Street

Club Member

This year was off to a flying start, until the government

partially shut down for 16 days. The ongoing bickering within

US Congress threatened the ability of the country to pay its

bills on time; This included, servicing debt obligations and day

-to-day running expenses. An agreement was finally reached

on 17th October between the two major political parties,

raising the debt ceiling and pushing back the deadline to early

February. For some time, institutions were scared that the

USA would default on their obligations. A payment defaultfrom the US would have left an unprecedented impact on the

global economy and the US credit rating.

The world financial models are based on the stability of the

USD and US economy. Some fierce political debates inside

both the American governmental bodies left us hanging for

about 16 days. As analysts predicted, a default was very

unlikely to happen, for the abovementioned reasons. As many

of us would imagine, Greece’s financial management model

isn’t a good one to follow.

The immediate impacts of the shutdown on the world markets

were minor. In fact, the S&P500 gained a few percentage points during the shutdown despite an increase in the volatility

index.

The actual impacts of the shutdown might not be seen until the

long to medium term, the extent of which is anyone’s guess.

Some economists have predicted that the recent government

shutdown will put a dent in US economic growth in Q4. As for

the long run impact of the US government shutdown, the

world is waiting on the further progress of the government to

deal with their debt. For now, the provisory budget has swept

the issue under the carpet until next time.



The Commodity that

Calls for Aenon

Max Vining, Wall Street Club Member

Whilst it is hard to choose a stock that will effectively make

you money, it is even harder to find the right commodity that

will generate a healthy return or possibly even double your

money. Enter iron ore.

Iron ore is an essential variable in the mining equation and

without it, WA would be a lot poorer. Where is my proof?According to the Financial Review “Iron ore is the single

largest export earner for WA and contributes around 20% of

revenue to the WA state budget”. Many consider iron ore to

be the essential indicator for growth; being a key ingredient

for the production of steel. It can also be suggested that in

terms of the building and construction industry, iron ore plays

an important role.

If eight years ago you had placed a substantial amount of

money on this important commodity you would currently be

found sipping champagne in Hawaii basking in a considerable

amount of wealth. Why is this? Between February 2006 and

March 2008 the spot price of iron ore more than tripled,

increasing from $65.2 per tonne to $197.12 per tonne. Even

now the current spot price is still a rich $133 per tonne, just

16% lower than its 12 month high of $158 per tonne reached

in February this year.

When considering iron ore, Chairman of Fortescue Metals

Group (FMG) and billionaire Andrew Forrest subsequently

comes to mind. In September 2012, the company publically

found itself in debt negotiations with key creditors, and with

its future looking uncertain, its share price hit a record low of

$2.80 per share. But with Forrest's charisma and strong

reputation the company recovered and its share price was re -

established at $5 per share shortly six months later. When

Fortescue Metals is doing well you know the iron ore market

is on an upward trend.

Mount Gibson Iron Ore (MGX) has reported record growth

this quarter, also showing a sign of more positive things to

come. Its cash and term deposits increased to $420 million

and September quarter sales were relatively strong. “Mount

Gibson has made an excellent start to the 2014 financial year,

achieving our second best ever quarterly sales result”, said

Chief Executive Officer Jim Beyer. With these strong

performance indicators, Mount Gibson looks stable and very

likely to grow.

Atlas Iron (AGO) also produced optimistic quarterly resultswith a healthy EBITDA and strong customer demand for

2014 contracts. According to Managing Director Ken

Brinsden, “The continued strong iron ore price coupled with a

focus on cost control and expanded production has enabled

Atlas to maintain cash on hand at $378 million”. With a 16%

increase in its share price over the last month the company

could be one to look out for in the future.

On a global scale, China is the backbone when it comes to

iron ore. Patersons Securities Robert Brierly speculated that

the iron ore price will moderate towards the end of the year

and therefore doesn’t expect the price to drop off the cliff too

soon. He believes China is moving into a slower growth

phase; however its need for steel will remain fixed.

At the end of the day, iron ore is just as important as any other

commodity. With the leading companies performing well

however, iron ore looks strong and positive, making it a

commodity to look out for in the next few years.

The Curtin Wall Street Club (WSC) is the premier economics,

finance, accounting and management club on Curtin's Bentley

Campus. It was launched in April 2012 with Commsec's Chief

Economist, Craig James as our inaugural guest speaker. The

WSC harnesses Curtin's state of the art trading room facility

which now has 16 Bloomberg (the exact software used on

Wall Street) Terminals. The Curtin Wall Street Club aims to

produce excellent all-round graduates, providing students,

both alumni and present, with the opportunity to foster

professional skills through our events and publications. Curtin

WSC continues to gain visibility in industry as it attracts and

contributes to the development of an outstanding network of

future business leaders.

Featured Arcles


About the Curn Wall Street Club



Rate Watch: RBA

Aempts to help

Australian economynd its Mojo

Matt Brennan, President - Curtin Wall Street Club

For some people, there is the same amount of interest in the

RBA’s (Reserve Bank of Australia) interest rate decision as

there are prawns in prawn crackers. Others though deem the

first Tuesday in November to be the second last interest rate

decision of the year, as opposed to the day of the Melbourne

Cup. Wherever you may sit on this spectrum, the degree of

influence RBA chairman Glenn Stevens and his band of

merry men and women have on altering the purchasing

decisions of Australian consumers has not been seen since the

infomercials first appeared for the ShamWow!

Interest rates are not controlled by the government in power;

rather the RBA is a totally separate body whose main purpose

in life is to keep the inflation rate between a two to three

percent band. This ensures that the government in power does

not self -medicate its way out of political mediocrity by using

interest rates as a tool to garner votes pre-election (that’s what

tax cut promises are for.)

It is in achieving the right balance, which the RBA has

determined to be between two to three percent, that is deemed

the healthiest level of inflation, as ultimately inflation is an

excellent way of taking the pulse of an economy in a stablegeo- political environment. Whilst not as damaging as

Zimbabwe’s hyper -inflation (recall the issuance of a 100-

trillion note in 2009), Japan’s deflationary (negative inflation)

environment caused by a lack of domestic economic activity

could prove to be a snapshot of the Australian economy in 20

years’ time; as Australia’s ageing population combined with

an expected increase in life expectancy will vacuum funds out

of the economy, and as individuals will work less and be

thriftier as their wealth has to last, on average, a few decades

after retirement.

The collective noun for a group of owls is called a parliament,oddly enough; these birds of prey give two hoots more about

Australia’s economy than those bestowed with the title of

public servants. Resembling neither a party nor a democracy,

the Labor government has torn the Australian economy to

shreds like a boa constrictor swallowing a chainsaw.

Meanwhile Tony Abbot’s stagnated approach in handling this

mess may lead some people to believe that he is in fact a

statue. Fortunately for the Australian community, the RBA

have been on the sidelines doing some swift damage control,

lowering interest rates to their lowest level since their

establishment in 1959.

But there may come a time when this approach is no longereffective. The RBA has been given a hammer and whilst they

hit the monetary policy nail on the head every time, the

Australian economy has a few screws loose and a hammer

won’t be particularly useful if economic morale continues to

sag.

That’s the downside; however the upside of the RBA flexing

the interest rate to 2.5 percent is quite extraordinary. Existing

wealth from savings accounts and term deposits now provide

such meagre returns due to the low interest rate that there is

now the avenue for those pessimistic about Australia’s growth

to invest in property with low borrowing rates and/or chaseyield stocks. For those optimistic about the future there is now

the option of pursuing long growth plays on a plethora of

stocks that are near or at their 5 year low. Additionally, price

competition, particularly in the airline and retail space, has

seen companies desperately undercutting each other in a bid

to satisfy consumers; just look at Scoot, the latest low-cost

player in the airline industry. Whilst this hurts company

margins, the benefit to consumers is incredible, and after all,

we are all consumers.

Featured Arcles




How To Network

Timothy Wong, Editor- Wall Street

Chronicle

“It’s not what you know, but who you know.” That’s the

common catch phrase of networking. Networking is the

process of connecting with other people to exchange ideas

and opportunities. People commonly ask me how to network.

The truth is, there isn’t a set way to network as it is more of

an art than a science. You might be surprised to know that

you already have a network of family and friends. These are

people that you can call on for advice or information. At the

same time you are a point of contact for friends and family to

seek help and advice. Professional networks work in a very

similar way, but unlike personal networks, the interaction iskept at a professional level.

There are some simple rules and protocols that you should

adhere to if you would like to make new contacts.

1. Active listening: Practice listening to what the person

is actually saying and show it by participating in the

conversation. You could participate by asking relevant

questions, or perhaps paraphrasing what the other

person said. People enjoy talking about themselves.

2. Strike while the iron is hot: Remember to follow up

with your new contacts within 1-3 days. You could

send them an email and/or add them on LinkedIn. In

case you’re wondering what your message should say,there is not a strict recipe; You could recap one or two

points of the conversation that you both connected

with.

3. Remember that networking is not just a one off

exercise to find a job. Genuine networkers have an

interest in meeting and keeping in touch with people.

In the long term. Networkers also take it a step further

and act as connectors, that is, they opening introduce

their contacts to their other professional connections if

they can see an opportunity to benefit others.

With practice, you should become more confident and

proficient at networking. Networking is an important skill to

have throughout your professional career.

Good luck and happy networking!

Adam Richardson, a star Curtin Business School Alumni who

currently works as a Commercial Analyst at Woodside

Petroleum shared his thoughts on his transition from studying

and teaching at Curtin Business School to working in the

private sector.

Adam completed his Bachelor of Commerce (Economics and

Management) at Curtin in 2009. He then pursued further

study, receiving his Masters of Finance at 21 years of age.

Adam has taught and lectured many units in the School of

Economics and Finance, until in 2011 when Adam applied for

graduate employment opportunities in Perth.

The presentation began with a crash course of the Oil and Gas

industry, to set the scene. More often than not, graduates who

move into industry immediately after academia find

themselves in a whole new world. They face challenges with

being immersed in a world driven by much wealth, politics

and opportunity. The attendees were grateful that Adam was

able to share his insights working in the oil and gas industry,

the challenges faced by graduates and students, and the

development opportunities.

Adam candidly shared his views on how a commerce and

business degree aligns with the needs of industry.

Interestingly, there is a difference between what industry and

academia consider to be Finance and Economics. What

academia refers to as Accounting is commonly referred to as

Finance in industry and Finance in academia is referred to as

Economics in industry.

The audience appreciated Adam’s passion for the oil and gas

industry and Curtin Business School students. As Adam put it,

Curtin Business School is a special place that he enjoys

volunteering his time and efforts.

Careers

Meet the Experts: Adam Richardson




Brayden Kennedy, Wall Street Club

Member

What’s Hot?

OzForex: Having just listed on the ASX in October,

those who have not heard of its god-like exchange rates

must give it a look. OzForex offers extremely

competitive rates that clearly rein superior over the

banks. If you plan on going overseas or need to transfer

funds to gang warlords for a recent drug deal, then

head to http://www.ozforex.com.au

Google: The worlds largest search engine cracked the$1000USD price after reporting and 36% jump in third

-quarter reported earnings. The website which has

replaced human intelligence. “I don’t know, just

Google it” - has generated concern regarding its recent

fall in average ad prices. However a 26% increase in

the “paid-clicks” helped to offset this fall.

Peppermint Grove: a recent report from RP Data which

listed the cheapest and most expensive locations in

Australia has confirmed for us that those living in

Peppermint Grove do so on the most expensive land in

Australia. The suburb topped the list with a medianhouse price of $3,869,724, beating Sydney’s most

expensive suburb by nearly $700,000.

What’s Not?

USA: We all love our fair share of American idiocy. It

was well and truly on display over recent weeks when

the government was forced to shut down after a deal

could not be reached to raise the debt ceiling. It has

raised the concerns of some over the largely

Americanized state of the global economy. It even led

our friends in China to call for a “de -Americanization”

of the world economy. After all China is just looking

out for the interests of everyone aren’t they?

Leighton Holdings: Nothing soothes the sole like a

good corporate corruption story, especially when it

involves paying bribes to win contracts. Even though

Leighton has told the media its directors have “at all

times executed their duties with the appropriate care

and diligence”, company documents supporting the

contrary have surfaced. With three key executives

stepping down, it will be a nervous wait to see whether

the Feds will be knocking on their doors.

Gina Rinehart: Many would have thought that richestlady in the land, would succeed in winning her very

public legal fight with her children. However it is true,

Gina is backing away from the legal fight and folding

to the demands of her children to remove her as trustee.

Now comes the battle of appointing a new trustee. Will

it be someone who coincidently has the same view as

Mrs. Rinehart herself?

Rumour Mill

The Rumour Mill


$10.81

Ticker: CRZ

Sector: Software & Services

Return on equity: 60.38%

Dividend Yield (gross): 3%

Franking: 100%

Revenue growth 1 year: 15.5%

Net profit after tax FY2013: $83.5 millionEPS FY13: $0.35

Forecast EPS FY14: $0.41

PE ratio: 23.1

Having just come off the back of reporting its 2013 earnings,CarSales.com represents excellent value for a long term growthstock. Its strategy in recent years of accumulating cash on the

balance sheet for future investment has proved fruitful thisyear. An $88 million investment in Webmotors, Brazil’snumber one automotive classifieds site, and also a $13 millioninvestment in iCar Asia which holds the number one and twocar portals in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are paying off.Both investments are seeing increased growth, with iCar Asiagenerating 33% growth in Indonesia and 10% growth inMalaysia. Another highlight for CarSales.com is its envious

cash flow. The company increased its net cash flow fromoperations by 22% and its FCF by 29%. With a FCF yield of3.6% for a company with growth prospects like CarSales.com,this represents a perfect time to buy.

Disclaimer: Curtin Wall Street Chapter (CWSC) provides general

information, not individually targeted personalised advice. Advice from

CWSC does not take into account any investor’s particular investment

objectives, financial situation and personal needs. Investors should assess

for themselves whether the advice is appropriate to their individual

investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs before

making any investment decision on the basis of such general advice.

Investors should make their own assessment of the advice or seek the

assistance of a professional adviser.

Stock Review- CarSales.com



The Analyst

Bootcamp


The Analyst Bootcamp is the brainchild of the Curtin WallStreet Club and Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) ConsultantAnthony Ravi, designed to give students insight into financialmodelling.

Anthony graduated from CBS in 2010 with a Bachelor ofCommerce (BCom) Honours majoring in Economics andFinance. Motivated by his own experiences as a student andwhile seeking employment, he believes it can take more thana degree to stand out after graduation.

“Over time the job market has become extremelycompetitive,” Anthony said.

“Employers want people with experience and saying that youwere involved in something like the Analyst Bootcamp (andlearning some jargon and inside tips and lingo along the way)can really help in interviews,” he said.

“It can enable graduates to have more meaningfulconversations with their interviewers.”

The program attracted 20 business students who were splitinto four separate groups and were given a mock case to dealwith. Each group was given a comprehensive information

pack prepared by Anthony, and were required to act asconsultants and provide a takeover offer to a board ofdirectors. What makes it even more relevant to industry is thatthe mock case students were given was also occurring in real

time whilst the Analyst Bootcamp was progressing.

Informative presentations were also delivered to the studentsin the lead up, which provided key insights into how toelevate a PowerPoint presentation from good to great. Thishelped the participants when they presented their argumentsto four Directors from PwC, who were acting as the fictionalexecutive directors of the board.

The students who took part in Analyst Bootcamp gained:

Exposure to a real world scenario

Opportunities to meet people currently working in the

industry

New skills in financial modelling, presenting, researchand time management

A certificate from Curtin Business School.

News and Events


Curn Wall Street

Club Debate


The debate against the Curtin Debate Club was a highly

anticipated event which promised high calibre arguments,

professionalism and free pizza. The event delivered on all of

its promises and more as students from both clubs addressed

the following question:

“Should higher education in Australia be free?”

The adjudicators on the day were Michael Lamb from the

Department of Education; Sam Cavallaro, the President of

Left Action; and the President of Curtin Unity, Liam O’Neil.

The Curtin Wall Street Club argued the many reasons why

higher education should not be free in Australia. A very

convincing argument in relation to Australia’s current skill

shortage and academic surplus was delivered by Jon Sholtz,

Matt Brennan and Matthew Kinna. In addition, the heavy tax

burdens which would fall upon the middle class of Australia if

this policy were to be implemented were discussed.

With the audience vote split right down the middle, the judges

had a tough decision ahead of them. Alas, whilst the Curtin

WSC debaters were quite gallant in their arguments, the

winning team was the Curtin Debate Club. A congratulations

is in order as their team delivered a great set of arguments for

free higher education in Australia. This ties the debating score

between the two clubs at 1-1.

The event concluded with both teams and the audience

heading down to the Tav to enjoy some free pizza and a few

beers. We look forward to the next debate!



Meet the Experts:

Part 1


The Curtin Wall Street Club gave students the opportunity tolearn from three recently graduated and very talented students

who discussed their journey into the professional community.

Each of our guest speakers gave relevant insights and the rare

opportunity for our members to ask the questions that all

students really want to know. With their unique perspectives

and being fresh out of university life, each presenter was able

to connect with the audience and deliver tangible advice that

will help participants take the next step in their careers.

About the speakers:

Sarah Grove (PwC) International Executive Services (IES):

Sarah is a Law Commerce graduate with extensive accounting

and professional service experience. Sarah has previously

worked a year in London in a key finance role.

Matt Masters (KPMG), International Executive Services

(IES): Matt is an Accounting & Finance graduate specialising

in Fringe Benefits Tax. Matt has worked over four years in theaccounting industry and had yet to turn 22 when this

presentation was delivered.

Scott Shuttleworth (GE Capital) Credit Risk Analyst: Scott is

completing his Masters in Quantitative Finance and is an

important member of the GE Capital team. Scott is

particularly interested in Foreign Exchange trading.

News and Events


From the Editor

Timothy Wong

What a year! I hope you have enjoyed reading this edition of

the Wall Street Club Chronicle. We had a lot of fun

organising this year’s events and look forward to building on

our foundations in 2014.

I would like to thank Matt Brennan, the 2014 Curtin Wall

Street Club president for his great leadership and our

volunteer team for all of their help year. Thanks must also goto Kenny Wong for his help editing this newsletter. The

events held by the Curtin Wall Street Club simply do not

happen on their own; It is the product of hard work by our

committee members.

I have really enjoyed meeting and working with the Curtin

Wall Street Club Chapter. What really makes this group

special is the level of energy enthusiasm and drive shown by

our team of volunteers.

We are always on the lookout for talented volunteers to jointhe team. If you enjoy working in a team and making a

difference within the Curtin Business School community,

please shoot Matt Brennan an email at

[email protected].

If you are on Facebook, why not join us at:

www.facebook.com/wallstreetclubcurtin

See you in 2014 and all the best with your exams.

wall street chronicle - november 2013.pdf

Documents