“Investors are throwing money into the riskiest of emerging [debt] markets at a stunning pace, buying as if the global financial crisis is history.”  (WSJ)

Cost cuts are fine for earnings, but the economy needs some corporate investment spending to recover.   (Big Picture)

What is the reason behind the divergence between the S&P 500 and homebuilder stocks?  (Bespoke)

There are better bearish bets than the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX).  (Daily Options Report also Investing With Options)

“So will convexity hedging eventually appear if MBS rates/bond yields continue to fall?”  (FT Alphaville)

Making the case for agriculture stocks.  (market folly)

“Lost amidst the “absolute return” dogma of the hedge fund industry was the fact that last year was the best relative return year in the history of the industry.”  (All About Alpha)

John Paulson really likes gold and the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD).  (Fund My Mutual Fund)

Volatile mutual funds push all the wrong emotional buttons.  (Morningstar also Falkenblog)

Microsoft (MSFT) continues to face low expectations.  (Breakingviews)

Don’t blame high frequency trading for your losses.  (Clusterstock also Matthew Goldstein)

A guide to starting your own hedge fund.  (Clusterstock)

“While Goldman may have the Midas touch, the rest of Wall Street never seems to be able to keep up. And the only way for rival firms to compete with Goldman is take to outsize risk.”  (NYTimes also Felix Salmon)

Ivy Leaguers are going to continue going into investment banking because it is “exciting, challenging and remunerative.”  (Epicurean Dealmaker)

Do we have to bribe CEOs with options to get a M&A deal done?  (Deal Journal)

“Information is stimulus, confusion is contraction. A bust occurs when the market is unsure of everything, when market participants perceive better risk-adjusted return in holding government securities (or supply-inelastic commodities) than in financing real investment.”  (Interfluidity)

Rail traffic is still not indicating an end to the recession.  (DJ Market Talk)

Are Americans really increasing their savings rate?  (Credit Writedowns)

“With such massive potential oil reserves, Greenland is poised to achieve a geopolitical importance it hasn’t had since the invention of Risk.”  (The Atlantic)

This story has everything:  rare-earth metals, fears of China, congressional earmarks and Goldman Sachs to boot!  (Green Sheet)

A review of Michael Mauboussin’s Think Twice.  (Aleph Blog)

What do the 2009 Nobel prize winners in Economics say about the future of economics?  (Felix Salmon, Real Time Economics, Economix, Economist, Freakonomics, Marginal Revolution, Crooked Timber, Daniel Drezner)

Many major blogs are highly dependent on their founders.  (24/7 Wall St.)

The key to success on the Web:  “Make something great. Tell people about it. Do it again.”  (Derek Powazek via @TimOBrienNYT)

Surprisingly little research has been done into the efficacy of flu immunizations.  (The Atlantic)

Talk about a tough offseason.  The Chicago Cubs are in Chapter 11.  (Chicago Tribune, Wall St. Cheat Sheet)

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