Ex Labs is a highly competitive accelerator lab that exposes participants to the latest trends and strategies used in the technology industry. Students from USF's St. Petersburg campus and all majors from the Muma College of Business will be able to engage with industry mentors from Tech Data and to develop valuable skills in problem solving, leadership, diversity and inclusion, networking, data analytics and more.
Ex Labs is now available as an Internship for Credit: GEB4941. Interested students should contact their academic advisor for more information.
Students will learn how to translate strengths from their particular major into a successful career in the technology industry and be part of a team that will create a new IoT product, craft a multi-faceted business plan and develop strategy to take the product to market.
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One Couple, Two Finance Degrees
Michael, 26, and Jacqueline Ray, 27, will both graduate from USF this semester, each earning a finance degree.
“Getting our degree together has made our foundation stronger and completing this goal together is really fulfilling,” said Michael.
They took many of the same classes together and credit the professors and staff from the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance for guiding them to graduation day. Read their full story here.
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MS in Finance Grad, StockSavvy Research Associate |
Joseph Rich graduated with a master's degree in finance from USF in the summer of 2020. In September, he began a new role as a research associate with StockSavvy, a March startup in Tampa. StockSavvy was established to provide investors with an efficient app and website that would assist in building their portfolios.
Rich said the position is “totally different than anything I’ve done, I love it.” As a research associate, Rich looks at historical stock market data to give investors ideas on how to best construct their portfolios. What Rich loves most about working with StockSavvy is the leadership and the way it uses individual team members' strengths. The recent graduate is excited to use new tools that will help him grow in his professional development, and help the company grow as well.
Rich said he found out about this opportunity through Professor Jung Park. He said would not be in his current position without such connections.
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Ferrara Sponsors 2-Year Barron's Digital Subscription
The Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance has a new partnership with the Barron’s in Education Program from Dow Jones, which will provide Muma College of Business students, faculty and staff complimentary 24/7 digital content from Barron’s. The school is grateful to Ray Ferrara, CEO, ProVise Management Group, for his generous support of $25,000 for the two-year subscription.
Ferrara has been recognized as a top adviser by Barron’s for many years. He is also a member of the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance Dean’s Advisory Board. Ferrara expressed his concern about the lack of financial literacy that exists in this country. “When people become more financially aware," he said, "it not only helps that individual, but it helps all of the people they then interact with.” Barron’s has a wealth of knowledge to share with those in higher education and Ferrara feels this resource is a great way to share that.
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Faculty Spotlight: Richard Borghesi
Finance Professor Richard Borghesi’s research interests include corporate finance, sports, corruption, market efficiency and prediction markets. Most recently Borghesi is working with two colleagues (Kiyoung Chang and Jong Chool Park) in pursuing accounting/finance interdisciplinary research. Their hope is that by bringing together concepts and data used in both disciplines they can generate a larger impact than they would have via a more narrow focus. They have two additional projects underway.
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Financial Literacy Advice
Sponsored by the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Center
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Emergency Fund, Why and How
Xiaomin Guo, Ph.D., CFP®
Life is full of surprises, from a lottery award to a promotion, from a broken arm to a car accident. Sometimes we may not have a strong feeling that we are better off with the positive change in life. However, we do feel significantly worse off with the unexpected expenditures or the sudden negative financial disruption of income. To provide ourselves a safety net, the golden rule of budgeting is that we keep an emergency fund covering three to six months of monthly non-discretionary expenses that maintain our basic living demand such as food, utility bills, rents, mortgage payments, insurance payments, etc. Read the full article here.
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The 8 Best Budgeting Apps We Could Find: Here’s What We Loved and Hated
Jen Smith, Staff Writer, The Penny Hoarder
For years, we’ve been on a quest to find the best budgeting app. You see, budgeting is an essential foundation of personal finance, so it’s a journey you can’t take lightly. But while there are great apps available to manage your overall finances finding one to make a budget has proved to be much more difficult. Read the full article here.
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Student Managed Investment Fund |
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On Nov. 17, students in the Applied Security Analysis Student Managed Investment Fund program presented investment recommendations of the following stocks to the advisory board:
- Skywest Airlines: approved to buy $20,000
- Simon Property Group: did not receive an approval to buy
- Tetra Tech: approved to reduce the position from 10% to 5%
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The Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Center Student Investment Fund held its 2020 Research Challenge on Nov. 24. Eighteen students formed six teams and pitched five stocks to a panel of judges:
- JNJ: approved to buy 160 shares
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KEYS: did not receive an approval to buy
- CSX: approved to buy 150 shares
- COST: approved to buy 40 shares
- DIS: approved to buy 100 shares
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This past month, PhD students Shaddy Douidar, Mario Marshall, and Zicheng (Leo) Xiao presented papers in the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance Brown Bag Virtual Seminar.
Douidar's paper examines the impact of the repatriation tax provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) on firms’ dividend policy. Using foreign sales as a proxy for the repatriation provision, he finds that firms increase share repurchases but maintain total dollar dividends, which results in a significant increase in dividends per share. Firms that increase dividends per share repurchase at significantly higher magnitudes than other firms, suggesting that these dividend-increasing firms partially utilize repurchases to avoid substantial increases in long-term dividend commitments. Finally, he provides evidence that firms with high levels of executive ownership are more likely to increase their dividends post-TCJA, but he cannot attribute the impact to the repatriation tax provision. For more information, contact Shaddy Douidar.
Marshall's paper titled "The Impact of M&As on Suppliers," shows that the financial outcomes for suppliers of M&A target firms are important. A merger and acquisition (M&A) occurs when a firm purchases an existing company, usually forming an integrated company. For example, in 2017, Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. Currently, regulators focus on whether the increase in the market power of the acquirer violates antitrust laws and investors are concerned about the impact on stock returns for the acquirer and target firms. Little attention is given to the outcomes for other firms in the supply chain. Marshall gives evidence that the integrated firm does more business with fewer suppliers and that supplier returns are affected. These findings have antitrust implications that regulators should consider. For more information, contact Mario Marshall.
Xiao's paper titled “Does it pay to follow investment advice on YouTube?” focuses on how YouTuber’s (non- professional analysts) recommendation (sentiment) will affect investors abnormal return. Xiao collected 11,973 videos about Top 26 YouTubers in stock investment on YouTube.com. By applying NLP techniques, Xiao constructed different investment portfolios for each YouTuber based on their recommendations in the their videos. Ultimately, Xiao found 70 percent of them provided a positive monthly abnormal return about 1.47 percent on average, but only 25 percent of them provide significantly positive abnormal return. For more information, contact Zicheng (Leo) Xiao.
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Faculty Publications & Presentations |
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Schmidt, Martina and Stowell, Nikki, “Ten Best Practices for Online Business Courses”, presented at the 2020 Financial Education Association/Academy of Business Education annual conference
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USF Muma College of Business
Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance
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