The Master of Finance program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business climbed to No. 2 in the United States in a Financial Times report published on June 18, 2018. The Smith School debuted in the ranking at No. 4 in 2017. Overall, the school improved from No. 38 to No. 30 in the Financial Times annual report, which assigns scores in 17 performance categories. Only MIT Sloan School of Management ranked higher among U.S. programs.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Ever wonder how the Terminator would do picking stocks? Researchers at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business might have the answer. Working with 900,000 financial news articles and a neural network, the researchers found they could predict stock returns for up to 13 weeks.

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.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Yahoo, DraftKings and Fan Duel made news this week in their high-profile feud with New York prosecutors. All three operators of fantasy sports contests agreed to stop taking bets in the state, which joined Texas, Illinois and four other jurisdictions that already classify the activity as an illegal form of gambling.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Tax attorneys will be busy in April looking for creative workarounds and exemptions to keep their clients legal. Something similar happens year-round in the gaming industry, where a complex patchwork of laws leaves ample room for interpretation.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- The Center for Financial Policy at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business hosted a forum on Global Market Volatility on Sept. 8, 2015, aimed at making sense of the recent tumult in international markets — notably in China, but also spilling over into other regions, including the United States.

Research by Steve Heston Seasonality in the economy is an old idea. It is expected that retail sales go up in November for Christmas, or that snow tires sell better in October than in May.

New research from Smith School associate finance professor Steve Heston finds seasonal predictability in stock returns. The research garnered recent media attention first profiled in a column in the New York Times, then an interview on CNBCs Closing Bell program.

What common thread is woven among government agencies, business entities, and Smith School finance students, linking them together? The finance faculty, whose connections affect global finance policy and practice, and enhance the education and career prospects of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students.