Happy Monday!

Syllabus week is officially over. No more messing around; it’s time to lock in and start the grind for this semester. We’ve got New Year resolutions, too - let’s start this week with a bang.

In this week’s episode:

• Bitcoin & ETFs: The SEC has approved Bitcoin-backed ETFs. What does this mean, and what’s to come?

• Internship Opportunities: You’ve got to get an interview eventually… right?

• Phone Time: My brain is cooked - here’s how I will fix it.

• Student Profiles: What happens if you don’t go the finance route?

• Real Estate Run-Down: Let’s learn something new!

• Social Ledger: Where are we sending this week?

Career Compass

Market Changes

Bitcoin ETFs:

For all of you who follow us on Instagram @divsanddown, you know that we were excited enough about Bitcoin ETFs that we couldn't wait until today’s newsletter to talk about it. As mentioned in the post, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission approved Bitcoin-backed ETFs, significant news for cryptocurrency enthusiasts. For those who live under a rock, Bitcoin is the world's most popular cryptocurrency or a decentralized method of payment that’s free from government regulation or oversight(at the moment). I like to think of it as an open-source currency. A bitcoin ETF is essentially a basket representation of Bitcoin that allows investors to own “shares” of bitcoin without directly owning it. 

What does this mean for investors?
Most importantly, it allows investors to trade Bitcoin in a centralized and secure market environment. Given the decentralized nature of Bitcoin, public perception of the coin hasn’t been the best, so the introduction of these ETFs should increase investor credibility in cryptocurrency securities. In addition, we could see increasing popularity and valuations of various cryptocurrencies as the financial world becomes more comfortable and familiar with introducing cryptocurrency into the financial system.

With all this said, it’s important to scrutinize when investing in bleeding-edge industries like this. Many analysts believe only a few Bitcoin ETFs will flourish and survive in the industry, whereas the others are closed or consolidated. 

Microsoft Briefly Overtakes Apple: Apple enjoyed a year and a half of being the world's most valuable company until Thursday morning when Microsoft hit a 2.9 trillion dollar market cap, surpassing Apple’s 2.89 trillion. Microsoft’s time at the top was over before the end of the day, but investments in AI and advancements in Office 365 set up the Windows OS manufacturer to follow Apple in the 3 trillion dollar club. 

Layoffs: Citibank lays off 20,000 employees (8% of the workforce)  after a 1.8 billion dollar loss in a disappointing Q4 of 2023. Google laid off 12,000 employees in 2023 due to cost-cutting strategies and phase-outs of underperforming sectors such as voice assistant engineers, Fitbit, and augmented reality. Amazon laid off 27,000 employees in 2023. In 2024, all these companies state job layoffs will continue to happen as they adjust business strategies. The weird part? Google and Amazon both have had excellent years filled with growth, so these layoffs are being seen as needless and unjust in the eyes of many unions. 

If you don't care to read all that (your loss), here’s a TLDR:

• Bitcoin ETF approved, crypto is becoming popular again

• Microsoft does AI well, inches closer to the 3 trillion dollar club

• Job hunts in the tech sector are tough at the moment

Sources:

ETF’s

BITCOIN

LAYOFFS

Still need a Job?

Looking for a job this summer? It’s not too late. Here are some of our favourites that are still open!

BMO - Commercial Banking Credit Analyst Internship (Summer 2024)

AON - Commercial Risk Intern, Summer Internship Program

RBC - 2024 Insurance Hybrid Sales/Administration Student

Enterprise - Management Trainee

Internship Pick of the Week

Are you looking to get into banking post-grad? This Summer Student Internship opportunity at RBC is a great stepping stone for undergraduates aiming to carve a career in banking. This role provides practical, hands-on experience that is perfect for students looking to build their skills in this sector before graduation and who are passionate about banking.

• Pay: Salaried

• Hours: 37.5 Weekly

• Application Close Date: 2024-02-19

Academic Alley

I have become increasingly reliant on my phone for the past five years. My current daily screen time is creeping up around six hours. However, this statistic alone doesn't fully capture the significance of how much time that is. To put this into perspective, let's consider the following calculation:

Assuming I began regular phone use at 13 and maintain an average of six hours daily, by the time I reach 80, a staggering 16.75 years of my life will have been spent engaging with my phone. At 18 years old now, this means that by the end of my life, I will have devoted nearly as much time to my phone as I have currently lived.

In the past week, I've dedicated some of my spare time to personal research on the impact of phone usage on different aspects of our lives. I want to clarify that I'm not advocating for a "Dopamine Detox." In my opinion, the culture and stigma surrounding this trend can sometimes be counterproductive; Fads on YouTube does an excellent job explaining that in one of his videos

There are four stages to a habit. Cue, Craving, Response, and Reward. I won’t go into depth but check out this link to learn more about habit formation. To reduce the time I spend on my phone, I will attempt to minimize these. Here are the changes I am making:

1. Silent Mode & Do Not Disturb - Cue: I'm addressing my habit cycle's 'Cue' stage by putting my phone on silent and enabling 'Do Not Disturb.' This removes the immediate notifications and sounds that often tempt me to check my device, effectively cutting down on the initial trigger of my habit loop.

2. Turning off Notifications - Cue: I'm further disabling notifications to alter the 'Cue' stage. Without constant alerts, my impulse to reflexively check my phone significantly decreases, helping me break the initial habit trigger.

3. Removing Non-Essential Apps from Home Screen - Cue: I'm reducing the visual cues that might otherwise lure me into using my phone more often than necessary by removing non-essential apps from my home screen.

4. Turning off both Tap & Raise to Wake - Cue: Turning off Tap & Raise to Wake should reduce mindless pickups and ensure my phone usage is intentional.

5. Deleting Brain Rot Apps - Routine: This is easily the most important of the list. At the end of the day, I can make as many aesthetic changes to my phone as I want, but I’m just dancing around the real issue. I'm deleting every app that I find unproductive. This change is about limiting the actions, like mindless scrolling, that I am even able to perform.

6. Greyscale Colour Filter - Reward: Lastly, by applying a greyscale colour filter, I'm targeting the 'Reward' stage of the habit loop. This makes the screen less visually stimulating and much more entertaining, which decreases the satisfaction I get from looking at it, thus curbing my desire to use it.

Two weeks from now, on our last release of the month (January 29), I am going to do an update on this post, summarizing what I have learned, what changes I made to my routine, and the results I’ve seen in my life.

Professional Profile

This week, I had the honour of meeting with Nirek Brahmbhatt. Nirek is a polymath and one of the most organically intelligent individuals I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. He is the only person I know who I can confidently say would thrive in Quant Finance. He has the skillset and the mindset to survive in a high-intensity environment. However, Nirek has focused his career on research. Although future Professional Profiles will be centred around business students or working professionals in the field, I wanted to introduce this section with a message Nirek conveys very well. That message is that doing what you enjoy is infinitely more important than anything else. Even if you think you are doing something because it will “pay off” later in your life, think about how it is paying off RIGHT NOW. We only get to live for so long, and it’s vital to maximize not only shareholder value but also your happiness. Now, with the inspirational speech over, let’s learn a little bit about how Nirek is giving up his $1,000,000 Quant salary to be a teacher.

TLDR:

• Name → Nirek Brahmbhatt

• Age → 19

• Fav Coffee/Caffiene→ Green Tea

• Program → Combined Major in Honours Math & Physics

• Current/Incoming Position → Student Researcher

• Current/Incoming Company → Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute

• Greatest Achievement → Modeling a D+IS Superconductor

• End Goal → Teaching as a Professor

• One Important Resource → Deep Work by Cal Newport

• Advice → “You’ll always have free time, no matter how busy you are. Make the most of it.”

• Lessons → Do what you enjoy, not what you want to enjoy

STUDENT LIFE

Real Estate Run-Down

We are about two weeks into January, and not much has changed! Real estate is one of the least volatile investments due to its limited supply and immobility. If you ever come across a large amount of money (and I mean LARGE; we live in Vancouver), consider investing in real estate!

After a continuous interest rate climb, we are finally seeing mortgage rates slowly falter in 2024, potentially marking an end to the consistent decline in sales volume. But first of all, what is a mortgage, and how does it impact the market?

Mortgages

Purchasers rarely pay for their properties entirely with cash and often require external financing through a mortgage. Simply put, you borrow money from a lender (e.g. a bank) and purchase your home. Over the contract term, you will make monthly principal and interest payments (think 293). At the end of the term, you will either repay the total outstanding amount or continue with another term, often referred to as refinancing. Failure to comply with timely payments may result in foreclosure of your home, which is usually listed as collateral in the contract. Rates are hovering around 5%-7% depending on the loan type, but with rates forecasted to go down, we may experience an uptick in sales transactions.

Typically, purchasers can scrounge up whatever money they have in the form of a down payment, reducing the size of the mortgage. This lowers your interest rates, as investors will favour mortgages with a lower "Loan-To-Value" ratio. For example, if your house (the collateral) is worth 1 million, and you're asking for 500k, that's a 50% LTV ratio. If you were to default on your mortgage payments, the investor would be receiving much more than they loaned out to you. If you were to borrow 1 million, they run a much higher risk and thus charge you higher interest rates.

Joey’s Pick of The Week

• 1 Bed

• 1 Bath

• 400 sqft

• $1,200 / month

At $1200 a month, this one-bedroom, bath apartment is perfectly economical for any student looking to maximize their value. Located near the West 10th bus stop, you can get to class in just under 25 minutes. It's not the most high-end of living conditions, but where else are you paying $1200 in the heart of West Point Grey? Utilities, internet, and laundry are all included, and you're within walking distance of Jericho Beach/Park.

Social Ledger: Get Sipping

This Saturday, the 20th of January, CASA will be throwing its first party of the new year at the Pit. They’ll be playing Hip-Hop and throwback hits from 9:30 to late (Likely two or until it dies, whichever comes first). All you need is a ticket and a white T-shirt with your red flags written on it. They also have an active giveaway for three free entries and a complimentary bottle of champagne on their Instagram waiting to be claimed (go tag all of your friends).

TLDR:

• Who? → The Pit x Casa

• What? → Red Flags Party

• When? → Saturday, Jan 20

• Where? → The Pit Pub UBC

• Why? → You’ve got nothing going on anyways - plus it’s on campus, just walk over from IKB

• How? (much) → Tiered System (Currently $13!!)

Social Ledger: Academic

CPABC Accounting Night in Canada

Accountants are always needed, and the job market is fantastic right now. If you want to specialize in Accounting (or even finance), pursuing your CPA is a popular career path (many CFOs are CPAs!). If you want to know more about the CPA route, this is the perfect introduction. In this session, CPABC plans to walk us through the admission requirements, explain the structure of the CPA program, and explain how you can connect with employers in the accounting sector.

TLDR:

• Who? → CPABC

• What? → Accounting Information Session

• Where? → Virtual (Link)

• When? → January 18, 5:30-6:30 PST

• Why? → Accounting is the most popular specialization for a reason

• How? (much) → Free!

WRAPPING UP

2024 In and Out

We’ve officially survived Syllabus Week, and I am sure you are all as excited as we are to start worrying about assignments and tests. Now that we’ve had a bit of a preview of the year, this is our team’s official list of things that are in and out for this year.

In

• Making money

• Getting an Internship

• Studying efficiently

Out

• Phone addiction

• 8-Leg Parlays (7 max)

Andddd…… we’re done.

Thank you for reading today’s edition! We’ve introduced some new segments and are shifting our focus and flow as we release these. We are constantly looking for new ways to bring value to you while keeping it short and concise. Have any feedback? We would love to hear from you.

[email protected]

See you next week!