Were you worried about the volatility leveraged ETFs engender?  Guess what more 3x leveraged funds are on the way.  (Daily Options Report, IndexUniverse.com)

The arms race in high frequency trading is sowing the seeds of its own demise.  (Rick Bookstaber via FT Alphaville)

This is hard to believe, but the SPDRs ETF (SPY) is reportedly “hard to borrow.”  (Zero Hedge)

A dearth of risk capital has opened up some obvious arbitrage opportunities.  (WSJ.com)

Trading is difficult.  It takes time (and passion) to become a seasoned trader. (Trader’s Narrative)

“If you are not physically calm and collected, it will be difficult to make calm, focused trading decisions.”  (TraderFeed)

Bridgewater Associates stands atop Alpha Magazine’s list of the top 100 hedge funds.  (Alpha)

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is nothing if not optimistic.  A profile.  (Portfolio.com)

Is the historical US equity risk premium high due in large part to luck?  (SSRN.com also Economist.com)

Maybe more CEOs should drop the f-bomb in earnings conference calls.  (Tech Trader Daily)

Does collaring a broad-based ETF reduce volatility and increase returns?  (CXO Advisory Group)

How the Crash of 1987 differs from the Crash of 2008.  (SSRN.com)

“So if you are a VC or an entrepreneur, pick your partners wisely and make sure they are in it for the long haul…venture capital is a long term business and requires people who are patient and committed investors.”  (A VC)

Now may be the time for corporate acquirers to make some strategic moves.  (Dealscape)

On the rise of “empty creditors” who would rather see a firm go into bankruptcy than restructure.  (The Big Money also Distressed Debt Investing)

The stress tests are set to favor major banks over regional banks.  (naked capitalism)

Is all the hype around the stress tests a contrarian indicator?  (A Dash of Insight)

Is there a middle ground on the issue of paying back TARP funds early?  (WSJ.com, Clusterstock)

Tentative signs that the economy is “touching bottom” or not. (WSJ.com, Real Time Economics, Clusterstock, Breakingviews)

A surge in prime mortgage delinquencies.  (Calculated Risk, Big Picture)

Point, counterpoint.  The case for U.S. real estate in a stagflationary environment and the implosion in commercial real estate.  (Infectious Greed, Mish)

An indication that optimism is spreading around the world, at least to Germany.  (Sentiment’s Edge also Investment Postcards)

How much should we read into the rise in copper prices?  (greenfaucet.com)

The lower gas price “dividend” is being saved, not spent.  (WSJ.com)

“Regulators may not have been necessary nor sufficient for this bubble, but they were definitely encouraging it the whole way up.”  (Clusterstock)

What was the upshot of the AIG bonus outrage?  Nothing, really.  (DealBook)

Did economists ruin business schools?  (Curious Capitalist)

Some interesting facts about gold.  (Crossing Wall Street)

Is a mix of paid and free content the path forward?  The case of WSJ.com.  (Atlantic Business)

We didn’t link to this story on how many full time bloggers out there are making a living at blogging because we didn’t believe the numbers.  Thankfully some bloggers have fact-checked the story.  (Atlantic Business, Market Movers,  Word Yard via footnoted)

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