Bad Bets – The downfall of Enron 20 years later.
“Every forecast takes a number from today and multiplies it by a story about tomorrow.”
Morgan Housel – author of The Psychology of Money.
Podcast
Bad Bets
I think this is the first time we’ve led with a podcast recommendation. The first season of Bad Bets from the Wall Street Journey goes deep into what happened at Enron, 20 years after its collapse. It’s reported by the same journalists who led the investigation and broke the stories that led to Enron’s downfall. It’s a brilliant combination of investigative journalism and long-form narrative podcasting. Essential listening for anybody working in finance. Listen here.
Excel
The tyranny of spreadsheets
This FT article by Tim Hartford gives an excellent history of the spreadsheet and a discussion of where users go wrong. Will be familiar ground for many of you but worth a read nonetheless as it goes into some recent uses and abuses. Thanks to Jerome Brice of Mazars for sharing. Read more.
Courses
Project Finance Institute open day
The Certified Project Finance Analyst (CPFA) programme delivered by the Project Finance Institute is a new kind of PF training programme. Instead of dry lectures, you’ll participate in a simulated renewable energy deal from start to finish over 8 weeks. They have a “CPFA virtual Open Day” on November 18th. This will be an opportunity to review course material, attend live events, speak to CPFA alumni and see if this is a good fit for you. Register here.
Article
How credit cards make money
Patrick Mackenzie works at Stripe and knows a thing or two about the intersection of finance and technology. This article is an excellent technical breakdown of all the component parts of the credit card industry – how it works, and how it makes money. Good if you are into the detail. Read more here. He’s also worth following on Twitter.
Modeller’s Miscellany Jobs
If you have a financial modelling related position you’d like us to include, please email miscellany@fullstackmodeller.com.
Featured:
Assistant Manager and Manager (Business Modelling & Analytics) – Deloitte – Birmingham or Manchester, UK
Junior Database Modeler – Kforce Inc – Coral Gables, FL, USA
Modeller – Illion – Melbourne, AUS
Finance Analyst – Boeing – Bristol, UK
Financial Analyst – Amazon – London, UK
Data Engineer Financial Services – Advance Thinking – Melbourne, AUS
And finally…
Analysis of email response times
