SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Four of the top five companies in Barron's 2017 listing of the most-respected publicly traded firms in the United States share a common trait. They're technology companies.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – At a time when robots and other forms of automation appear poised to edge out wide swaths of the global workforce, several pilot projects and at least one documentary film are exploring the idea of universal basic income – free money for everyone, enough to cover basic expenses.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – When federal budgets are released from the White House Office of Management and Budget, there are typically a few holes here and there, some missing details, and perhaps some wishful thinking since the budget assumes that everything the president proposes will become enacted.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Colgate-Palmolive CEO Ian Cook earlier this month signaled interest in selling the company for $100 a share, suggesting a strong possibility that a friendly deal for the company could be struck reasonably soon, says clinical professor of finance David Kass

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — The risk landscape for banks has changed since last year. For starters, Congress and the Trump Administration have started discussions on a regulatory overhaul. And, meanwhile, interest rates are on the rise, and the Federal Reserve is shifting its focus toward maintaining economic gains made in the past few years. 

Ten undergraduates and three professors cleared their busy springtime schedules to travel to Omaha, Nebraska, last weekend to attend the 2017 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder's meeting and listen to Warren Buffett, also known as the “Oracle of Omaha.” The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business Finance professors David Kass, Elinda Kiss and Julie Pavlovsky led the group for the 3-day excursion.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Health insurance – not the U.S. tax code – is "crippling our business around the world," Warren Buffett said during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting on May 6, 2017, in Omaha.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Leave it to a period of calm to inject nervousness into the market, as it did this week when the Chicago Board Options Exchange's Volatility Index, or VIX as it is known, dropped to a level not seen in about 23 years. The drift lower in the so-called fear index has market watchers worriedly speculating about a calm before a storm.

The prestigious Joseph Wikler Memorial Finance Case Competition continued for the fourteenth year on April 28, 2017, with a solid participation of finance students and what Finance Fellows Faculty Champion and Professor Sue White called the most challenging case yet.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – President Donald Trump’s tax reform proposal, as unveiled last week, would reduce income taxes for many Americans, says William Longbrake, an execut