Hello fellow AFers! I am looking for suggestions/books/courses I can take to learn the primers of energy/financial companies modeling. Any suggestions? I have zero knowledge whatsoever regarding both industries, so I would also appreciate any reading material suggestions that cover more qualitative aspects (industry dynamics, economic drivers, what constitutes competitive adv, etc).
Note: live bootcamps/workshops are out of the question since I don’t live in America.
Anyone tried BreakIntoWallStreet or WallStreetPrep industry-specific valuation courses? They seem legit… but they are somewhat expensive, so I’d appreciate your opinions on the subject before I spend that kind of money :D.
On a more general note, do you have a routine or a checklist that you go through when you’re first trying to get acquainted with a new industry from scratch?
Spend some time learning what blow-down NAV is. Also, netback, which I had to ask about the other day, and recycle ratios…
I just started at a buy-side O&G fund manager and am slowly beginning to learn this stuff… between technology, plays/formations/geology, valuation methods, it makes your head spin at first.
Read “Oil 101” by Morgan Downey. It’s worth absolutely every penny as pretty much every other source assumes you know what that book explains to you. If money’s no object you might as well buy “Energy Trading & Investing” by Davis Edwards, though it’s O&G section is only a small chunk of the book, and I found it incredibly elementary (keep in mind I’ve been in the industry since before university).
Sign up for SeekingAlpha’s energy investors digest. Read articles linked from articles on there, you’ll learn a lot if you follow the references (disclaimer: not all SA contributors were created equal)
Sign up for other newsletters (Baker Hughes, EIA, RBN Energy, etc.) They’re all pretty technical but by this point you should be able to take at least something away from them.
Read the energy news. BOEreport.com is decent for Canadian news. Oilweek and Oil & Gas Inquirer are both good magazines, but again for Canadian news. I’m sure there are American/International equivalents that don’t cost as much as a Daily Oil Bulletin or O&G Financial Journal subscription.
There’s also a couple Deutsche Bank O&G or Commodities primers floating around (WSO usually has them). Haven’t read them, but they are fancy little pdf’s that look nice on an iPad screen.
None of this will teach you modeling, but from what I’ve seen your models/analysis will be 100% useless if you can’t explain what everything going on in the background is. Throw CvM’s book in there somewhere to cover that base
I should also add re: Oil 101, the chapters on refined products, regulations and chemistry are incredibly boring and probably only useful if you’re an actual trader or engineer. Read them if you have time or are curious, but I took nothing away from them personally.
Your reply was exactly what i was looking for, so thank you very much ! I already ordered Downey’s and Edwards’ books (plus a couple more that picked my interest). Looks like i’m gonna have loads of fun with this stuff
When i finish studying these books i’ll start looking into what lord damodaran has to say about o&g. I shall lurk in WSO/elsewhere on the internet to try to find those Deutsche Bank primers on O&G.
And about those trade journals…, i’ll ask around and see if the employer is willing to pay for those.
! I already ordered Downey’s and Edwards’ books (plus a couple more that picked my interest). Looks like i’m gonna have loads of fun with this stuff