is finance an art or a science 
as a field of study and an area of business finance has strong roots in related scientific areas such as statistics and mathematics many modern financial theories resemble scientific or mathematical formulas there s no denying however that the financial industry also includes nonscientific elements that liken it to an art it s been discovered that human emotions and decisions made because of them play a large role in many aspects of the financial world modern financial theories such as the black scholes model draw heavily on the laws of statistics and mathematics found in science their very creation would have been impossible if science hadn t laid the initial groundwork theoretical constructs such as the capital asset pricing model capm and the efficient market hypothesis emh attempt to explain the behavior of the stock market in an emotionless completely rational manner ignoring elements such as market and investor sentiment academic advancements have greatly improved the day to day operations of the financial markets but history is rife with examples that seem to contradict the notion that finance behaves according to rational scientific laws stock market disasters such as the october 1987 crash black monday that saw the dow jones industrial average djia fall 22 and the great 1929 stock market crash beginning on black thursday oct 24 1929 aren t suitably explained by scientific theories 2122 the human element of fear also played a part a dramatic fall in the stock market is often called a panic the track records of investors have shown that markets aren t entirely efficient and they re therefore not entirely scientific either studies have shown that investor sentiment appears to be mildly influenced by weather with the overall market generally becoming more bullish when it s predominantly sunny other phenomena include the january effect when stock prices fall near the end of one calendar year and rise at the beginning of the next careers in financemany career options are available for those interested in finance accountant an accountant manages a company s financial records tracks expenses and runs reports auditor an auditor is tasked with ensuring accuracy in financial records they may work in private practice auditing client companies be employed by a company to ensure internal propriety or they may work for the government banker a commercial banker works with businesses to provide banking services such as accounts and loans an investment banker focuses on companies looking to raise capital or conduct a sale or merger capital manager a capital management professional helps a company allocate its capital resources between investment options lender an individual who works in lending such as a loan officer manages the issuance of loans a mortgage lender would work contracts to secure a real estate loan market analyst market analysts evaluate trends and make forecasts that account for changing market conditions they prepare recommendations that can guide a company s financial decisions 