6 Free Financial Modeling Lessons...and More.

I'm currently a Private Equity Analyst in Shanghai, China. Academically, I graduated from a target school majoring in Economics and Chinese. I also spent my time at college as the president of an on-campus student organization related to Finance and Economics and a volunteer for a local school program. I have always had a nose for digging deeply into matters that I can't grasp as first, and thus trying to make sense of financials and business strategies in China seemed like a perfect challenge after college.

After spending some time as an Analyst for a publicly-listed Chinese company, I networked my way to my current position through meeting a few members of the firm and eventually the stars aligned. At this point my role is mostly in portfolio company management and deal screening, but have strong exposure to the Directors and Investment Managers in the firm as well. I'm happy to speak about the daily life of a private equity analyst here in Shanghai, differences between PE in the U.S. and China, networking in China, and general topics related to finance in Asia.

For better or for worse, there’s a very unique feeling when everything goes completely according to plan yet nobody seems to care or notice. Such is the case with our favorite company of the moment, Tesla Motors. For those unaware, TSLA has rocketed upwards since its Q1 earnings release, mostly the result of the auto industry’s biggest short squeeze since the VW/Porsche debacle, and currently sits at about $90 and a $10+ billion valuation. While I wish I could spend all night listing the million and one reasons why nothing has changed with this company except for its obscene price tag, I have no incentive to really do so, but my investors know and can be assured that everything we have predicted for this company has been 100% spot on. So, for their benefit, I will recap and add to the observations that have kept this business from ever really accomplishing anything close to worthy of its current valuation.

With the latest earnings, Tesla seemingly fulfilled its promise that it would achieve “full profitability,” whatever that was supposed to mean, when it reported an approximately $11M net income on the wings of $6M in foreign exchange gains and a $10M non-cash reversal of the liability they were carrying associated with the DOE’s future right to buy shares of the company. Tesla said they delivered approximately 4900 cars in the quarter, which net of credits, put their average price tag in the mid $90K range… still significantly higher than the base price on the higher-capacity battery Model S offering. Tesla said in their news release that they earned about $68M in 100%-margin regulatory credits sold to other car companies, and came away with a total gross margin in the 17% area.

Mode note: Blast from the past - "Best of Eddie" - this one is originally from December 2010.

Monty09 may have gotten the best plug yet for his Energy Rodeo in Houston next month, and it came from none other than the New York Daily News. The Daily News piece on the ridiculous cost of living in New York pointed out that it takes six figures just to make it into the middle class in the city, and a New Yorker has to earn $123,322 a year just to match the lifestyle $50,000 a year buys in you Houston. On top of that, $60,000 a year in Manhattan is the equivalent of just $26,000 a year in Atlanta - just over the poverty line.

What the article doesn't mention, however, is perhaps the most compelling reason to choose Houston or another southern city over the Big Apple: GRITS.

No, I'm not talking about the delicious breakfast staple. I'm talking about Girls Raised In The South.

Editor's note: SAT scores for all of South Korea have been invalidated because of rampant cheating. Many students are leaving the country to still take the test. More here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014241278873237...

Editor's note 2: SB to anyone that can give a compelling reason as to why you shouldn't cheat (other than getting caught)

My question: Why not cheat ? Prevailing anti-cheat wisdom asserts that a habitual cheater will eventually run out of options and that his misdeeds will eventually catch up to him. In the real world, this doesn’t appear to be the case. Morality and afterlife concerns aside, where are the disincentives? Consider the following examples: