Here’s what you need to know today

• Sydney real estate is expected to have its worst weekend since 2022 as the AFR report auction clearance rates have come in at just 40%. This comes as a growing number of experts suggest house price growth across Australia will slow to around 5% over the next 12 months. (AFR | AFR)
  
  

• We are certainly not out of the woods yet in the housing crisis, with Mirvac CEO suggesting the housing crisis could last another 8 years as record spending on government infrastructure and on data centres has made it hard to secure builders for residential projects. The Housing Industry Association believes Australia needs 30% more tradies to meet the Federal Government target of 1.2 million new homes over the next 5 years. (AFR)
  
  

• The four-day workweek is coming to the largest companies in Australia. Insignia Financial, the Superannuation and financial advice giant formerly known as IOOF, has agreed to trial the new working week. They are not the only ASX 200 business to trial the arrangement, with Medibank announcing they would be expanding a 4-day workweek trial from 250 to 500 employees. (Financial Standard)
  
  

• America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced it will be investigating Tesla’s ‘fully self-driving’ system after a crash in low-visibility conditions killed a pedestrian. Tesla, in response, has reiterated that the system cannot drive itself and humans must be ready to intervene at all times. (AP News)
  
  

• Netflix shares were up 11% on Friday, after the streaming giant reported it added another 5 million subscribers and revenue grew 15% year-on-year. The company now has 282.7 million global subscribers. (NY Times)
  
  

• Also on Friday, Flight Centre shares fell 17% after it gave a vague update at an investor conference. While the company said it was trading ahead of where it was the same time last year, the vague statement that didn’t include actual revenue and profit numbers saw investors sell off the shares. (Travel Weekly)
  
  

• The European Central Bank has cut interest rates for the third time this year and the first time in back-to-back meetings since 2011. European rates peaked at 4% and are now back at 3.25% as the Eurozone’s inflation slowed to 1.7% for the 12 months to September. (NY Times)

What the…?

A recent survey out of America found that 10% of electric vehicle owners regretted their EV purchase. Here’s the surprising fact: the most regretted EV purchase - with 20% of purchasers regretting it - was BMW. That is far higher than the 2nd most regretted brand - Kia - with 15% of purchases. (Quartz)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

This is an excerpt from our conversation with Bill Browder titled ‘Expert Investor: Bill Browder – Putin’s #1 Enemy’ (Spotify | Apple | Website)

We like to begin our interviews by hearing about people's first investments, as they often have valuable lessons or interesting stories. Could you share yours with us?

A bit of background first: I’m the grandson of the head of the American Communist Party. During my teenage rebellion, I decided to dress up in a suit and tie and become a capitalist. I attended Stanford Business School and graduated in 1989, the year the Berlin Wall fell. As I contemplated my future, I thought, "If my grandfather was the biggest communist in America and the Berlin Wall has come down, I’ll aim to become the biggest capitalist in Eastern Europe."

My first job after business school was at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in London. I told them I wanted to be their Eastern European guy. Initially, there wasn’t much happening in Eastern Europe, but then one day, a partner called me in and said my chance had come. They sent me to a small town in Poland, six hours from Warsaw, where a collapsing bus factory had been hired by the World Bank for assistance.

I was at this failing bus factory, with no experience in buses or manufacturing, and I had a translator with me. One day, I noticed he had a newspaper under his arm that featured the first privatisations in Poland. Curious, I suggested we discuss it in a conference room. He laid out the newspaper, and I began to ask about the numbers presented. 

He explained the shares outstanding and the price per share, which allowed me to calculate a market cap of eighty million dollars. I inquired about the net profit, which was reported at one hundred sixty million dollars. Immediately, I recognized an opportunity: buying a company at half a year's earnings. I realised that if the company just stayed in business for half a year, I would recoup my investment.

At that time, I had two thousand dollars in American Express traveller’s checks, which I converted to Polish zloty. With my translator, I subscribed to the first privatisations. About a year later, my two thousand dollars grew to twenty thousand dollars. I can tell you that having your first investment be a ten-bagger is the financial equivalent of crack cocaine—you just want to keep experiencing it. At that moment, I knew I wanted to scour Eastern Europe for cheap privatisations, which is exactly what I went on to do.

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