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Faculty Spotlight: Yuting DiGiovanni

By Jamie Boyle

ST. PETERSBURG (April 8, 2021) -- Professor Yuting DiGiovanni started at USF in 2016 after finishing her PhD program at Florida State University. She teaches financial modeling and analytics and finds teaching very rewarding. She often has students come back and tell her the impact that course has had on their careers.

鈥淚t is a course that is directly translated to the work world,鈥� DiGiovanni said, 鈥渁nd students find themselves exceling because of this.鈥�

DiGiovanni鈥檚 research focuses on behavioral finance. She has published in JFE and last year, she won the summer research award within the Muma College of Business.

鈥淚 trust fundamentals, but sometimes I think behavior matters even more,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t explains why the stock market is so irrational.鈥�

Her research shows this by spotting trends such as the stock market performing better on Fridays than Mondays. This pattern can be seasonal as well and her research examines how investors鈥� moods directly affect the stock market. Around the holidays, people are typically happier and the market usually performs better. After the holidays, the market drops along with the change in mood that many people experience that time of year.  DiGiovanni is looking into the pandemic鈥檚 impact on how the stock market fluctuated throughout the past year. She is currently working on a paper that looks at mass shootings and how that effects local firms in the areas that these tragedies occur.

DiGiovanni is the faculty adviser to the 哔咔漫画 Student Investment Club, which is a rapidly growing student organization. The club meets bi-weekly to discuss market conditions and generate research reports for different markets. They bring in speakers from the industries to speak to the group as well.

DiGiovanni has a 2-year old daughter and spends a lot of time with her family when she is not working. She loves to travel, though her mom duties and the pandemic have limited that over the past couple of years. She is also very engaged in watching sports as a Tampa Bay Lightning and Bucs fan. As a family, the DiGiovannis spend time outdoors biking and indoors, playing board games.