Business & Entrepreneurship

A new study out of Olin Business School found that CFOs with oversized signatures — a proxy for narcissism — were more likely to make over-aggressive choices, have a higher-than-expected level of restatements and partake in other questionable activities.

The current volatility of the U.S. stock market is no cause for alarm, but a Washington University in St. Louis expert who helped to create a volatility index knows the difficulty in predicting if a fluctuation like the current one will subside quickly or slowly: “It is hard to time volatility spikes.”

As Americans begin to file their last returns under a fading tax system, as President Donald Trump concludes his first State of the Union with a great emphasis on the economy, as the world watches this country undergo tectonic changes, it’s time to cut through the politicking and positioning. Washington University in St. Louis compiled researchers and experts across campus to attempt to put the new tax reform into perspective, plainly speaking.

Overall, aspects of the tax-reform package will reduce the attractiveness of home ownership and mortgages, and it may even adversely affect home prices going forward.

Puerto Rico filed for bankruptcy protection May 3, the largest-ever American municipal debt restructuring in history. As the U.S. territory seeks forgiveness in $73 billion to assorted creditors, an expert at Washington University in St. Louis says the situation should serve as a dire wake-up call to the municipal bond market.

In a concentrated, continuing effort to link Washington University in St. Louis academic research to everyday business practice, the 10th annual Olin Award recognizes an Olin Business School faculty member who joined two University of Pennsylvania professors in crafting a computer model to guide managers who need to forecast behaviors of newly acquired customers.

Young entrepreneur Rebecca van Bergen improves lives around the globe by helping artisans find well-paying, long-term work through her company Nest.

Washington University in St. Louis has announced a new degree track at Olin Business School: Wealth and Asset Management, to be offered as part of the Masters of Finance degree.