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D. Brian Blank

Assistant Professor of Finance, Mississippi State University
Dr. D. Brian Blank is an assistant professor of finance. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Tennessee Haslam College of Business, where he developed expertise researching corporate finance and governance. His dissertation focused on corporate political contributions. He has published in journals including the Journal of Corporate Finance, European Financial Management, Financial Review, the Journal of Financial Research, and the Journal of Housing Research. Dr. Blank also received the 2016 American Accounting Association Ohio Region Meeting Andrews Best Paper Award. He has received invitations to present his research at conferences such as the Financial Management Association, Eastern Finance Association, Southern Finance Association, European Financial Management Association Annual Meeting, and the American Real Estate Society Annual Meetings.

Dr. Blank received his undergraduate education at the University of Alabama, where he also received Masters of Science degrees in Finance and Applied Statistics. Afterwards, he began his career as a Consultant with Accounting, Economics & Appraisal Group, where he provided assistance to companies facing critical challenges including fraud, bankruptcy and litigation. His projects included advising a financial institution victim to a $500 million ponzi scheme; consulting for one of the ten largest United States-based financial institutions; performing due diligence for an international healthcare acquisition; and valuing a business interrupted by the costliest disaster in the history of the United States.

What does 2025 hold for interest rates, inflation and the American consumer?

Dec 28, 2024 07:08 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy Central Banks

Brian Blank is a finance scholar and Fed watcher who researches how companies navigate downturns and make financial decisions, as well as how markets process information. Brandy Hadley is a finance professor who leads a...

When can we stop worrying about rising prices? The latest inflation report offers no easy answers

Jan 12, 2024 06:33 am UTC| Economy

Tired of thinking about inflations impact on your wallet? Youre not alone. But like it or not, higher prices continue to be an economic and with the presidential race a political issue as we enter the early months of...

Economic lookahead: As we ring in 2024, can the US economy continue to avoid a recession?

Dec 27, 2023 02:20 am UTC| Economy

With economic forecasters rewriting their 2024 outlooks following recent moves from the Federal Reserve, The Conversation turned to two financial economists to share their thoughts on the upcoming year. D. Brian Blank...

Digital Currency Revolution

Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud following the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Here's what investors need to know

Nov 08, 2023 12:08 pm UTC| Digital Currency Law

In the fast-paced world of cryptocurrency, vast sums of money can be made or lost in the blink of an eye. In early November 2022, the crypto exchange FTX was valued at more than US$30 billion. By the middle of that month,...

Central Banking Series

The Federal Reserve held off hiking interest rates

Sep 23, 2023 03:19 am UTC| Economy Central Banks

Federal Reserve officials held interest rates steady at their monthly policy meeting on Sept. 20, 2023 only the second time they have done so since embarking on a rate-raising campaign a year and a half ago. But it is...

Insider trading − the legal kind − is a lot more profitable if you work for a multinational company

Aug 25, 2023 08:20 am UTC| Law

Corporate insiders who trade stocks based on the information they gain on the job earn a lot more if they work at multinational corporations than their peers at U.S. companies with no sales abroad. Thats the main finding...

What are stock buybacks? A finance professor explains why President Biden wants to raise the tax on this controversial use of corporate capital

Feb 14, 2023 13:20 pm UTC| Economy

Companies have been buying back their own stock at record levels something President Joe Biden doesnt care for. In his state of the union address, Biden said corporations ought to do the right thing and invest more of...

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Economy

Oil Prices Jump Nearly 3% as Iran Holds Firm on Hormuz Conditions

Oil prices surged on Monday as tensions between the United States and Iran fueled concerns over prolonged disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global energy supplies. Brent crude futures for November...

Nvidia China Chip Sales Report Sends Chinese Semiconductor Stocks Lower

Chinese semiconductor stocks fell sharply on Monday after a report suggested Beijing could allow some domestic technology companies to purchase advanced Nvidia chips, potentially increasing competition for Chinas homegrown...

UK Housebuilder Stocks Surge on New First-Time Buyer Loan Scheme

British housebuilder stocks rallied on Monday after the UK government announced plans for a state-backed equity loan program designed to help first-time buyers purchase new-build homes with deposits as low as 2.5%. The...

Japan Warns Markets Over Yen Weakness

Japans top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura warned markets on Monday to take Tokyo and Washingtons recent message on the yen seriously, signaling that Japanese authorities remain prepared to respond to excessive currency...

U.S. Stock Futures Fall as Iran, Oil and AI Risks Rattle Markets

U.S. stock futures declined Monday as investors weighed renewed U.S.-Iran tensions, surging oil prices and growing concerns over artificial intelligence development. By 03:50 ET, SP 500 futures were down 0.42% at 7,710.7,...

Politics

Senate Democrats Say Tether USDT Helps Iran Evade Sanctions

Tethers USDT stablecoin has become an important tool in Irans alleged sanctions-evasion network, according to a new report from Democratic staff on the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The report...

California Bans Memecoins Issued by Public Officials Under New Law

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation barring public officials in the state from issuing memecoins, adding new restrictions aimed at preventing officials from financially benefiting from their public...

China Cuts Tariffs on U.S. Farm Goods but Excludes Soybeans

China is preparing to reduce tariffs on a wide range of U.S. agricultural products, including corn, wheat, meat and dairy, as Beijing and Washington move to ease trade tensions following last weeks summit between Chinese...

Bitcoin Slides Below $84K as Trump Signals Possible New Iran Strikes

Bitcoin and U.S. technology stocks started the new week under pressure as renewed uncertainty over the U.S.-Iran conflict weighed on risk appetite and pushed oil prices higher. Bitcoin (BTC) fell 1.3% to around $83,324 at...

Russian Bomb Strike on Kharkiv Injures 22, Including Children

A Russian guided aerial bomb struck an apartment building in Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, injuring 22 people, including children, local authorities said early Monday. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported the...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Pi Network Price Holds $0.087 as Protocol 28 Mainnet Upgrade Nears

Pi Network price traded around $0.0886 on September 28 as investors looked ahead to the Protocol 28 Mainnet upgrade scheduled for October 16. PI remained below the key $0.10 level amid broader weakness across the...

Vitalik Buterin Says Hegota Could Be Ethereum’s Last Conventional Fork

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expects the Hegota upgrade planned for 2027 to become the networks final conventional hard fork before Ethereum shifts toward advanced cryptography, quantum-resistant technology and...

OpenAI Investigates Rogue AI Agents After Data Leaks and Security Incidents

OpenAI is continuing a broad investigation into unauthorized and unexpected activity by its AI agents, two months after disclosing that agents had broken containment and accessed Hugging Face systems. The ChatGPT developer...

TSMC Accelerates 2nm Expansion as AI Chip Demand Surges

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is accelerating the expansion of its advanced 2-nanometre chip production capacity as rising demand from artificial intelligence and high-performance computing customers drives...

Morgan Stanley Raises TD Synnex Price Target to $359 on Strong AI Demand

Morgan Stanley raised its price target on TD Synnex Corp (NYSE: SNX) after the technology distributor delivered stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results and an upbeat outlook, supported by accelerating...