We were not planning on posting today, but a few items of interest came up that were worth highlighting in anticipation of another volatile market week.

Paul J. Lim at NYTimes.com on the importance of portfolio rebalancing, especially in light of recent volatility.

Mebane Faber at World Beta on the optimal rebalancing period when following a modified-endowment strategy.

David Merkel at the Aleph Blog on the precise nature of the financial markets crisis.

Bespoke Investment Group with the historical precedents for a three consecutive 1% down Fridays.

Aaron Pressman at BusinessWeek.com and IndexUniverse.com on the prospects for the IPO of investment data provider MSCI.

Post-conference call, Marc Andreessen at blog.pmarca.com is “… glad I don’t own any Bear Stearns stock right now.”

Felix Salmon at Market Movers on what happens when hedge fund investors “lose confidence.”

All About Alpha with a two-part research piece on the “optimality” of 130/30 strategies.

Leslie P. Norton at Barrons.com on the whether 130/30 strategies are simply another “fund fad.”

Brett Steenbarger at TraderFeed with some “painful truths on trading.”

Greg Newton at NakedShorts on how to say “$90 million worth of sorry.”

The Epicurean Dealmaker on who is likely looking over the shoulders of various market participants.

An interesting graph on subprime delinquency rates by year of origination. (via Real Time Economics)

Barry Barnitz at Asset Allocation points to a paper on the role of commodities in a portfolio.

Peter L. Bernstein at NYTimes.com asks “How fast is the cost of living rising?”

Om Malik at GigaOM on the brewing battle over Internet payments.

The front-runner for the Chicago Cubs has assembled a “dream team.” (via ChicagoTribune.com)

Speaking of baseball, the “United Countries of Baseball” is definitely worth a look. (via strange maps)

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