COVID-19 lockdowns and subsequent stimulus payments left many Americans with extra time and cash. Among the effects was a surge in retail stock trading through zero-commission brokerages. This worked to drive up the share price of meme stocks and led to market volatility.

Many Maryland homeowners are increasingly faced with the threat of costly home repairs from extreme weather events. With climate change, these events are becoming more frequent and more intense. And that could mean bigger problems for homeowners – particularly those who don’t have the extra cash to handle repairs.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is the second largest bank failure in U.S. history. SVB was taken over by the FDIC last Friday after depositors, fearing the bank would soon be unable to pay its debts, began withdrawing their money at an alarming rate.  Smith experts Cliff Rossi and Bill Longbrake recently spoke with Progyan Basu, clinical professor of Accounting and Information Assurance, about the impact of this failure on the banking industry and the economy as a whole.

Health safety for residents following the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, has been a top concern. Has it really been safe enough to return – both for the short- and long-term?

The Federal Reserve Board has engaged six of the biggest U.S. banks in a pilot Climate Scenario Analysis (CSA) to assess and “advance the ability of supervisors and banks to analyze and manage emerging climate-related financial risks.”