The past several weeks’ financial news spotlight has shone brightly on Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett – and, by proxy, Maryland Smith’s David Kass, widely known and respected for insights on the Oracle of Omaha, including through his Warren Buffett Blog.

Elon Musk’s pending $43 billion purchase of Twitter stands to be one of Wall Street’s largest-ever leveraged buyouts. Maryland Smith Clinical Professor of Finance David Kass, a stock market expert who has held senior economist positions with the federal government, gives some quick takes on implications for stakeholders of both Tesla and Twitter.

Its proposed $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard would make Microsoft the world’s third-largest publisher of video games and, more significantly, would solidify its position in the development of the "metaverse” – widely considered the next evolution of the internet by which users in the virtual reality space interact with a computer-generated environment and other users.

Six months ago, Maryland Smith’s David Kass updated his semi-annual “stocks to watch” list, expanding the lineup of watch-worthy shares to 21. But now he’s narrowing the list. The move comes amid rising uncertainties – inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions and the latest COVID-19 variant to name just a few, says Kass, clinical professor of finance at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

When WeWork saw its IPO bid come to an abrupt halt in 2019, the company was forced to take a hard look in the mirror. Now it’s made a second attempt to go public – this time via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

The golden arches don’t have a golden reputation when it comes to ice cream machines.

Robinhood’s Nasdaq debut was concerning and lackluster. And to Maryland Smith’s David Kass, it was also familiar.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Facebook isn’t going to be broken up just now. In a stunning ruling this week, a federal judge dismissed antitrust lawsuits brought against the social media behemoth by the Federal Trade Commission and some 46 states.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – With temperatures rising, Maryland Smith’s David Kass is looking to add a little heat to his biannual list of stocks to watch, dropping four of the picks he made in December of 2020 , and adding nine new ones. Of the 16 stocks he recommended in December, 12 have increased in value over the past six months.

How the Special Purpose Acquisition Companies went from so hot to, recently, so not.