Quote of the day

Mebane Faber, “You probably think you are good at picking stocks (and investing in general).  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are not.  In fact, you are terrible at investing.”  (Mebane Faber Research)

Chart of the day

EMB Total Return Price data by YCharts

Is emerging market debt now undervalued?  (Institutional Investor)

Strategy

In praise of stock picking.  (Howard Lindzon)

David Merkel, “Stocks do not reward people year after year.  It comes in fits and spurts.”  (Aleph Blog)

How loss aversion systematically affects options pricing.  (Condor Options)

How the “illusion of certainty” clouds investment decision-making.  (the research puzzle)

Companies

Five new truths about Apple ($AAPL).  (Fast Company)

Elon Musk has founded four billion dollar companies.  (Pando Daily)

Finance

Ranking some of the top analysts on SumZero.  (MarketBeat)

Are big banks simply ‘too big to manage‘?  (NYTimes)

Why some private equity funds just won’t die.  (Economist)

Brokers

Barry Ritholtz, “Nothing is the enemy of the financial industry.”  (Big Picture earlier Abnormal Returns)

Non-public BDCs are apparently now a thing.  (Dealbreaker, Bloomberg, The Reformed Broker)

LPL Financial has attracted the attention of securities regulators.  (NYTimes)

ETFs

What would make target date maturity bond funds even better?  (Learn Bonds)

Economy

The US economic recovery is real.  (Tim Duy)

Still little sign from the markets for a recession.  (Capital Spectator)

Why demography may explains the weak US recovery.  (Economist)

Why Ben Bernanke needs a third term as Fed chair.  (Quartz)

Lumber is in tight supply, as is plywood.  (Calculated Risk, WSJ)

Hotel occupancy is back to pre-recession levels.  (Calculated Risk)

Mixed media

A look at the Bitcoin mania.  (SurlyTrader)

The dam is breaking: HBO considers an Internet-only offering.  (Reuters)

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