Quote of the day

David Merkel, “The irregularity of the markets exists to shake out market players that cannot handle losses.  Those that cannot handle losses had unrealistic expectations.  Markets are perverse, and they suck in amateurs near peaks, and the amateurs leave near troughs.  They help provide the excess performance of the best.”  (Aleph Blog)

Chart of the day

The case for Shanghai.  (Market Anthropology)

Markets

A review of major asset class performance in August.  (Capital Spectator)

The market is not as overbought as it was last September.  (Horan Capital)

We are entering historically sluggish September.  (Crossing Wall Street)

Crude oil has been on a tear.  (Charts etc., BCA Research)

Strategy

Are companies emerging from Chapter 11 worth the risk?  (Turnkey ANalyst)

More on the use of Google Trends to predict the stock market.  (SSRN)

Microsoft

Microsoft ($MSFT) purchases the mobile phone unit of Nokia ($NOK).  (WSJ, FT, Quartz, The Verge)

The math behind the deal.  (Minyanville)

The Microsoft-Nokia deal makes no sense.  (stratechery, GigaOM)

The Micros0ft-Nokia deal is smart but a longshot.  (Henry Blodget also A VC)

This move looks like throwing good money after bad.  (Phil Pearlman)

Microsoft’s strategy is now locked in for Ballmer’s successor.   (Felix Salmon)

Should Microsoft have purchased Blackberry ($BBRY) back in 2009?  (SplatF)

Microsoft is funding this deal with overseas cash.  (Quartz)

Finance

Don’t cry for the small investor.  (Felix Salmon)

What kind of bond issue is Verizon ($VZ) going to have to do to fund its Vodafone deal?  (MoneyBeat, Dealbook)

Citigroup ($C) continues to shed alternative assets.  (WSJ)

What effect will rising interest rates have on corporate profits?  (Bloomberg)

Funds

Ten reasons NOT to go active.  (IndexUniverse)

Target date funds are becoming increasingly global.  (Morningstar)

Global

Despite their decline emerging markets are still a risk to the global economy.  (Humble Student)

Frontier equity markets are really illiquid.  (Focus on Funds)

Which bank is most exposed to emerging markets?  (Term Sheet)

Economy

The ISM Manufacturing report shows continued growth.  (Calculated Risk, Bespoke)

State and local government is still a drag on the economy.  (Calculated Risk)

No matter how you slice it monetary policy is at an inflection point.  (Tim Duy)

Cars are in short supply.  (WSJ)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

What you missed in our Monday linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

Congrats for ten years!  (The Kirk Report)

Jeff Bezos discusses his plans for the Washington Post.  (Washington Post)

The television landscape is going to get more muddled before it gets clearer.  (Pando Daily)

E-mailed newsletters, like The Slurve, are the new blogs.  (Nieman Journalism Lab)

Smart. Amazon announces Kindle MatchBook which provides physical book buyers with low-cost Kindle editions.  (The Verge, BI, )

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