All Black sells juice to Asahi for $101m

PARENTS told to start saving now if they want their children to get a degree, with costs set to soar up to 50 per cent in the next decade.

• Poll: Overseas students welcome to stay

What the collapse of Hastie Group can teach us

THE $630 million collapse of engineering firm Hastie Group last year led to the axing of 1500 jobs across five countries. But directors don't necessarily get off easy.

Millions of dollars lost to fraud

BUSINESSES have lost more than $373 million to fraud over the last two years - and that's considered only a sliver of actual losses, KPMG says.

BRAIN FREEZE: How to unlock a business idea

DREAM of being the next Zuckerberg? Your idea doesn't have to be big to make a difference. Three entrepreneurs tell us how they came up with their business idea.

Tinkler settles tax debt cases

MILLIONAIRE Nathan Tinkler has had ATO cases against the Newcastle Knights and his Hunter Sports Group dismissed in the NSW Supreme Court.

Want to know what everyone in your office earns?

IF you knew how much your colleagues earned, would it make you work harder? Businesses are throwing open the books in an attempt to motivate staff.

Four rules to a successful mobile app

EUREKA! You have your idea for a mobile app to build your business, and you're ready for success. But where do you start?

Clean up your online reputation: Is it possible?

HAVE you ever Googled yourself? Chances are others are - and you might not like what they find. Here’s how to optimise your digital DNA.

How to put a price on your business

LIKE any good Jedi, business owners are being told to "unlearn" the pricing mistakes of the past.

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Skirts 'key to success for women'

THE trouser suit may be the uniform of choice for the power-dressing career woman. But she'd be better off in a skirt, research shows.

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Fight for your rights at the checkout

Shoplifting costs retailers millions each year.

THE average family spends more than $200 a week on groceries and knowing your consumer rights in the supermarket could save you money as well as some embarrassment.

Paying attention to the correct price of items as you shop and as they are scanned at the checkout means you are less likely to be overcharged, and you may also get a refund.

Under Australian consumer law, if an item scans at a higher price than the displayed price, the business is required to refund the difference.

However, most major supermarkets - including Woolworths and Coles - are signatories to a voluntary national scanning code of practice, which means if an item scans incorrectly it is given to the customer for free.

"Where there are multiple items with the same bar code, the first is free and the rest charged at the correct price," says the chief executive of the Australian National Retailers Association, Margy Osmond.

Exceptions to this are liquor and cigarettes, items more than $50 and any manually entered by the checkout operator.

"The code was developed to offer consumers protections when computerised final point of sale scanning systems were introduced into Australian supermarkets," Osmond says.

Consumers also have rights when it comes to bag searches in shops, but so do retailers.

Shoplifting costs the Australian retail industry $7.5 billion a year and one of the ways it is prevented is by bag searching of consumers.

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman says consumers have a right to know before they enter a store that it conducts bag checks.

"Checking means that store personnel can look, but not touch," he says.

The retailer cannot check a personal handbag unless it is larger than a sheet of A4 paper, or they are certain it is being used to steal goods.

Retailers can also ask you to pay if you break things in their store, but Mr Zimmerman says accidental breakages "are not usually a major issue".

"Retail stores use their discretion when it comes to breakages and are mostly able to take on the cost using their store insurance, or being able to return the goods to the supplier as 'faulty'," he says.

Woolworths spokesman Benedict Brook says both Woolworths and Big W stores display signs at the front of the store to explain the bag check policy, while breakages are considered as they occur.

"Big W and Woolworths approach breakages on a case-by-case basis," he says.

View the original article here

10 mind-boggling Wall Street interview questions

How many tennis balls are there in New South Wales was a question an investment banking candidate was asked. Picture: File Source: news.com.au

• Investment bankers subjected to bizarre interview questions
• Makes you think creatively, show personality
• See 10 mind-boggling questions below

IF you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and trapped in a blender, how would you get out?

Could you weigh an elephant without using a scale, guess the number of tennis balls there are in New South Wales, or bricks on residential buildings in Shanghai?

If so, you may have what it takes to be an investment banker.

These are some of interview questions potential investment bankers are asked - they are tough, very tough, and some even border on the ridiculous.

But there's method to the madness.

According to investment banking recruiter Jason Hutchins from Anton Murray Consulting investment banks are looking to determine three things about candidates:

1.    Are you smart enough
2.    Can you handle the work

3.    Do they like you

He said that while interviewers will of course focus on candidates technical ability, commercial awareness and previous experience they will also gauge their response to one or two more obscure questions.

"For example an associate interviewing with UBS was recently asked how many tennis balls there were in New South Wales," said Mr Hutchins.

"Whilst you can't be expected to know the exact figure, interviewers want to see what approach you'll take to answering the question, and what steps you'd take to reach this number."

A similar question asked in an interview with British bank Rothschild was: Why do you think only a small portion of the population makes over $200k per year?

"Not only does this test your economic understanding and thought process but could be an opportunity to gauge political views and dare I say it, any exaggerated self-opinions," he said.

"Whilst these may seem a little left field, they are in fact vital to understanding how you'll consider the different variances involved in complex valuations," he said.

Then of course there are the banking interviews questions that sound simply ridiculous.

US giant Goldman Sachs asked the question: If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and trapped in a blender, how would you get out?

"Bankers like these types of questions, as it makes you think creatively and shows them your personality, will you just be dismissive to the question or use it as a chance to show you're not just a number cruncher and have the sense of humour and quick thinking to fit in to the team," said Mr Hutchins.

Here are 10 mind-boggling questions investment bankers have been asked:

1.    If you had five red balls that contained four red balls and those red balls contained the original five red balls, then how many sets of sets of balls would I take to have a double set of red balls of varying sizes inside each next largest red ball?
2.    How many tennis balls are there in New South Wales
3.    Why do you think only a small portion of the population makes over $200k per year?
4.    If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and trapped in a blender, how would you get out?
5.    You have 2 buckets. One full of white marbles and the other full of black marbles. How do you allocate the marbles into buckets in a way that maximizes your probability of picking 2 white ones when you pick 1 marble from each bucket?
6.    Explain to me what has happened in this country during the last 10 years.
7.    How many bricks are there in Shanghai? Consider only residential buildings
8.    How do you weigh an elephant without using a scale?
9.    Using a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself on how weird you are?
10.    And finally: You are given two eggs. You have access to a 100-story building. Eggs can be very hard or very fragile means it may break if dropped from the first floor or may not even break if dropped from 100th floor. Both eggs are identical. You need to figure out the highest floor of a 100-story building an egg can be dropped without breaking. The question is how many drops you need to make. You are allowed to break 2 eggs in the process.

Have you been asked a crazy interview question? Tell us below

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Sydney Airport returns to profit

SYDNEY Airport has swung back into profitability as retail and car parking revenue grew and airlines added more flights.

The airport made a net profit of $179.2 million in the 12 months to December 31, up from a $239.9 million loss in the prior corresponding period.

The calendar 2011 result was affected by a $361 million charge relating to the sale of company's stake in two European airports. Excluding the charge, net profit was up 47 per cent from the prior year.

Revenue in 2012 rose 1.3 per cent to $1.06 billion, Sydney Airport said today.

Retail revenue rose 5.3 per cent, property and car rental revenue was up 8.3 per cent and ground transport and commercial services revenue was 8.9 per cent higher.

"Successful implementation of the new car parking strategy, completed in September 2012, has expanded the product choice and enhanced the value proposition for customers," Sydney Airport said.

"Additional capacity, advanced technology, tailored products and new online booking systems all contributed to a strong second half and established the basis for ongoing business revenue growth."

International passengers rose 5.6 per cent in calendar 2012, with existing airlines boosting flight frequencies to Sydney and new carriers such as Air Asia X and Scoot starting services to the NSW capital.

Domestic passengers were up 2.7 per cent, as Tiger Airways opened a base at the airport with four aircraft and Jetstar added significant capacity.

Sydney Airport said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 7.4 per cent to $848 million.

Chief executive Kerrie Mather said 2013 had started strongly, with international passenger numbers up 3.9 per cent so far.

"Management will continue to market Sydney Airport to our airline customers and work closely with our industry and government partners to drive tourism growth," Ms Mather said.

"When combined with new business initiatives and our prudent management of expenses and capital, we remain committed to delivering EBITDA and cash flow growth significantly above passenger growth."

Sydney Airport declared a full year distribution of 21 cents per stapled security.

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Don't be thrown by sharemarket bulls

There are bound to be some bumps along the way in the sharemarket's recovery. Source: Supplied

GLOBAL financial crisis? What global financial crisis?

According to global sharemarkets, the world is just hunky dory and it's party time.

Take a look at the figures. Australia's market is up 17 per cent since November, a 9 per cent rise this year to four-year highs. America's S&P 500 index is up 7 per cent this year to five-year highs.

The start of 2013 has been a boom time for share investors and this has flowed through to strong superannuation returns. This psychological impact has rippled through to better business and consumer confidence.

Everyone is starting to feel wealthy again and that worries us.

Take a deep breath and think about a couple of things:
* Your shares may have gone up in value but you haven't made a profit until you sell.

* The market can't possibly keep up its current pace because, over the year, that would translate into a 70 per cent gain that's not going to happen.

* Over the past 20 years the average annual rise on the Australian sharemarket has been 11.7 per cent, 11.5 per cent over the past 10 years and 2 per cent over the past five years.

As investors we find it incredibly easy to buy a stock but incredibly difficult to sell and, hopefully, make a profit. Most seem to marry their stocks and ride them up, then down.

It's times like these that many investors lose their discipline and almost become emotionally attached to rising prices. No matter the state of the market, it's important to stick to your individual strategy and to bank profits.

The best strategies are always to get good advice and keep yourself well informed, but there are benefits in developing a strict investment strategy using specific disciplines or formulas to take the "emotion" out of investing.

The first major formula strategy is the percentage plan, with its emphasis on care in bull markets and courage in bear markets. Buy as prices rise and switch, or sell as they fall.

How does it work? First, decide what percentage of your investment portfolio should be in shares and how much in fixed interest and property.

Under this strategy, at appropriate time intervals (say, six months), buy or sell shares to restore or maintain the ratio you have set, no matter what the level of the sharemarket.

Suppose you start off with $20,000 and decide to have 80 per cent in good quality shares and the remaining 20 per cent in fixed interest.

Six months later the market has risen and the portfolio is now worth $23,000. The shares are worth $19,000, about 83 per cent of the total. Under the plan, sell $600 worth of shares to cut the holdings to $18,400, the pre-determined 80 per cent of the total $23,000. The $600, less commissions, goes into fixed interest.

Likewise, if the market declines over the next six months and the portfolio is worth only $18,000, with the shares valued at $14,000, buy more shares.

The shares are only 77 per cent of the total, so take $400 from the cash trust to bring the shares back to 80 per cent.

The key is to follow the plan, however nervous or frightened you may be that the market could drop further.

With all formula plans, learn to accept that falling prices are a chance to invest more at lower prices to compensate for paper losses. It is not easy.

As a more conservative approach, the 10 per cent rule can be applied sell a stock when the total value drops more than 10 per cent below its most recent high, and start buying again when the value rises to 10 per cent above the most recent low.

So-called stop orders can also be useful. When you reach a share selling point in a rising market, place stop orders to sell a few points below the current market level. Then, should the uptrend continue, you won't sell the shares too soon.

A big mistake many investors make is they are either completely in or out of a stock. Smart investors may sell 10 per of their holding in a stock if it's up, say, 20 per cent. They might sell another 10 per cent if it's up 30 per cent and so on. They are constantly banking profits.

If you are wondering how to pick the right stocks to use in these investment plans, find a good broker and be prepared to do some homework. Read the finance pages for news on company results and prospects.

THINK ABOUT SELLING WHEN:
* A stock has a very high price-to-earnings ratio.

* The company's competitive advantage is in danger.

* There's a drastic changes in its direction or leadership.

* Sales are falling.

* Profit margins (and earnings) are shrinking.

* It's dividend payment is cut.

RATES CHOICE
IF YOU'RE waiting for another interest cut next month, don't hold your breath. The minutes from the most recent Reserve Bank Board meeting show that it will need another major financial crisis in Europe to prompt any further cuts.

At a time when the major banks are cutting fixed-rate home loans to stimulate borrowing (with some anticipating two or three rate cuts this year), the RBA minutes show the board is very happy with the way our economy is performing.

The RBA also praised Chinese authorities for the way they engineered a "soft" landing for that economy and they're also pleased with the signs of recovery from the US.

So it looks as though the RBA will be on the interest rate sidelines for the foreseeable future.

But, as hard as it is to believe, there is a strong chance the major banks will independently cut their loan rates.

Funding costs of the banks are falling and they need to stimulate more borrowing from conservative customers.

View the original article here

Banks launch technology war

Managing money is getting a boost from technology. Source: National Features

TECHNOLOGY advances that make it easier to manage our money have become a new battleground for banks and other financial institutions.

Only 20 per cent of Australians receive full financial advice, and an explosion of online tools and apps is under way that will help fill the void.

The Commonwealth Bank this month launched MyWealth, which targets Australia's three million self-directed investors with an online platform that lets them do banking and invest in shares and funds with one login.

CBA expects competition and chief innovation officer for equities and margin lending Lisa Frazier says the way people manage their wealth is changing.

"The technology is the core enabler," she says. "This is just the beginning and we are now working on property and superannuation.

"Customers tell us: 'We are in control and make the decisions'."

A sticking point in managing money online has been the fact many people use multiple providers for their banking, shares and super, and the providers don't share data.

However, this is likely to change and Frazier says sharing is already happening in the US.

New apps are being rolled out regularly with a growing list of features. National Australia Bank's new Money Tracker app "learns" from its experiences with its users, remembers transactions for use in the future, and suggests budget targets for them.

NAB executive general manager direct banking Sam Plowman says people want helpful and intuitive automation.

"A customer can forecast what their financial position will be in 10 years based on current income and expenses," he says. "They can then input 'what if' scenarios, such as 'what if I got a pay rise of $5000 in year three and then purchased a house in year seven'."

New research by State Custodians Mortgage Company found 83 per cent of Australians prefer managing their money online, and 73 per cent are using apps to manage their finances.

"People want to be able to use their mobile phones to access their financial information and fast," says State Custodians chief executive Heidi Armstrong. "Australians are technology-savvy and expect financial advice or information within a matter of minutes."

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