Quote of the day

Steven M. Sears, “A good question investors must ask when buying stocks is if it is possible to express the same idea — options speak for making a bet — for less money someplace else.”  (Barron’s)

Chart of the day

Dividends don’t lie and are moving higher.  (Crossing Wall Street)

Markets

That doesn’t mean that the search for yield hasn’t gotten ahead of itself.  (NYTimes)

The market is still catching up to the economy.  (ValuePlays)

John Paulson’s really awful, terrible year.  (Dealbook)

Strategy

A sector rotation primer.  (StockCharts Blog)

Momentum for dummies.  (World Beta)

Downside beta explains a great deal of returns.  (SSRN via @quantivity)

Long term perspective

The S&P 500 from 1871-2011:  drawdowns compared.  (Seeking Alpha)

The US stock market is still playing out the tail end of a (15 year) secular bear market.  (NYTimes via TRB)

Correlations

Everything is correlated, everything.  (The Reformed Broker)

How ETFs have affected stock correlations.  (Dealbreaker)

Companies

Why does the Internet still suck?  (SAI)

Checking back in on market leader Apple ($AAPL).  (chessNwine)

Economic recessions affect more than commonly thought the course of careers and companies.  (Economist)

Finance

Is the internet finally going to help organize small, activist investors?  (WSJ)

Why do corporations hold so much cash?  (Modeled Behavior, ibid)

Funds

If you are thinking about buying an ETF at a premium to NAV, don’t.  (Sober Look)

The top performing ETFs of 2011 were a depressing lot.  (MarketBeat)

Is the money market mutual fund model broken forever?  (Barron’s)

Global

How austerity is killing Europe.  (NY Books via MarketBeat)

What happens if Merkozy loses Sarkozy?  (MarketBeat)

Economy

Don’t get too excited about what is going on in the economy.  (FT Alphaville)

Two leading economic indicators have diverged.  (Money Game)

Indications the bursting of the housing bubble is largely over.  (Calafia Beach Pundit)

Does the Fed really believe in its own inflation target?  (Economist’s View)

What do economic models portend for the presidential election?  (NYTimes)

What industries grew jobs the most in 2011?  (WonkBlog)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

What you missed in our Saturday long form linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

My interview at Money Show on asset allocation and investor education.  (Abnormal Returns)

What others were reading this past week on Abnormal Returns. (Abnormal Returns)

Books

An interesting discussion with Aaron Brown author of Red-Blooded Risk: The Secret History of Wall Street.  (Martin Kronicle)

A review of Larry E. Swedroe’s Investment Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid Them.  (NYTimes)

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