(A July 4th tradition, first published on SmallBusiness.com on July 3, 2014) Founded in 1705, 71 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, The John Stevens Shop in Newport, RI, continues to design and hand-letter one-of-a-kind inscriptions in stone, practicing a craft and using methods and tools that date back to the Romans. Nicholas Waite Benson, 49, has been the owner and creative director of the business since 1993. A MacArthur Fellow (sometimes called, “the genius grant”), Nick began working at the shop at age 15 with his father, John Everett Benson. In turn, John Everett Benson learned stone carving from his father, John Howard Benson, at the age of…

Selling volatility is a dangerous game. Having a little of it around is a good thing, to encourage clients to buy the stuff that your structured equity division churns out. Too much of it, however, and the hedges that sit behind that business can blow up in your face. That’s what happened in the first quarter of 2020 at those French banks that make a business of selling structured products. But not all bad experiences were equal. On paper, they looked similar enough. Revenues in the equities division at BNP Paribas fell to minus €87 million, a swing of nearly 120{a87f602f9b65d268d2531d6307ed39cfde24e475374069973d0be7fc923da513} in the wrong direction when compared with the first…