You are required to prepare a report for a potential investor setting out the financial strengths and weaknesses of David Jones Ltd, after:

1. Interpreting and analysing the financial reports of David Jones;

2. Interpreting and analysing the financial reports (including annual and half yearly reports) of at least two of David Jones's competitors;

3. Examining relevant government and industry statistics;

4. Analysing stock exchange and market information;

5. Analysing relevant media comments, and

6. Gathering other relevant information.

Your report needs to list the financial strengths and separately list the financial weaknesses of David Jones and to make a recommendation to the potential investor. The potential investor must be an individual who is not a professional investor, accountant, stockbroker or financial planner.

Details of your interpretations, analyses and examinations must be attached to the report.

The annual reports and other relevant information of David Jones can be found on the David Jones website.

The due date for submission of the assignment  is 4pm Monday 9 May 2011.  Assignments will be marked and returned in tutorials in the final week of the semester.

Although the assignment should not be completed until the end of the week commencing 28 March 2010 it is important that you start collecting data as soon as possible. Experience shows that many students needed to spend at least 40 hours competing similar assignments.

• The quality and impact of the report, including its English expression, will be taken into account in the assessment.
• The report should be based on the deductive structure described in Emerson's Figure 6.1.

• The assignment is to be word-processed.
• Each page of the assignment must contain your student ID number and the name of your tutor, in either the header or footer
• The assignment is to be submitted with an ABIS Assessment Cover Sheet attached to the front page - available from the school office.  This cover sheet must be signed by the student submitting the assignment.
• The assignment must be in hardcopy format.  Electronic submission is unacceptable
• The assignments should not be submitted in plastic cover sheets/folders.

The final submitted work must be your own original work and may not contain material from other sources, other than those that are appropriately referenced. Relying on another persons' input and/or failure to acknowledge sources may result in substantial penalties, including possibly  being failed in the course.

There is no word limit to the assignment however an excessively long report is inappropriate. Students are encouraged to make use of appendices to reduce the size of the main report.

The marks for the assignment will be out of 100 divided as follows:

• Extent and quality of your research - 20 marks
• Extent to which competitors, industry, securities exchange, media and other information has been adequately used in the analysis - 10 marks
• The analysis of overall trends and comparisons and ratio analysis of David Jones and competitors - 30 marks
• The format, presentation, spelling, grammar, impact and appropriate use of appendices of and in the report - 10 marks
• The content of the report - 30 marks

The assignment is an individual assignment. Students who collaborate in the research, analysis or preparing their report with other students will be penalised.

The following checklist is provided to assist you before you submit your assignment.

1. Have you analysed the latest results and information about David Jones and at least two of its competitors?
2. Have you analysed at least three years annual financial statements of David Jones & for least two competitors and have you compared David Jones's financial results and position with the competitors?
3. Have you analysed at least two half yearly financial statements of David Jones & for least two competitors and have you compared David Jones's financial results and position with the competitors?
4. Have you found relevant government and industry statistics (including ABS retail data), have you compared these with David Jones and its competitors and have you used this information in the analysis and report?
5. Have you read all the information about David Jones, its competitors and the industry provided by the Australian Securities Exchange and have you used this information in the analysis and report?
6. Have you gathered media information about David Jones, its competitors and the industry and have you used this information in the analysis and report?
7. Have you found other sources of relevant information about David Jones, its competitors and the industry provided by the Australian Securities Exchange and have you used this information in the analysis and report?
8. Have you completed trend analysis and comparisons for David Jones and its competitors? (Note that trend analysis is comparison of base data in financial statements NOT a comparison of ratios)
9. Have you completed all the ratio analysis of David Jones and competitors?
10. Does your report follow the format required?
11. Is the presentation appropriate?
12. Is the spelling and grammar accurate and appropriate?
13. Does your report, especially the first paragraph and page, have sufficient impact or will it leave the reader bored?
14. Have appendices been appropriately used?
15. Has the report been properly referenced?
16. Have you LISTED David Jones's financial strengths in the report?
17. Have you separately LISTED David Jones's financial weaknesses in the report?
18. Does the report adequately SUMMARISE your analysis, rather than repeating the analysis?
19. Has competitors' data in the report been used to highly issues with David Jones? (It should NOT be a report on David Jones and other companies)
20. Have you made a recommendation to the person to whom it is addressed, the potential investor? (You should NOT make recommendations to David Jones's management)