Book recommendation: Arnold Kling, “Overall, the reader of Foolproof: Why Safety Can Be Dangerous and How Danger Makes Us Safe comes away with a sense that we need to learn to think more astutely about risk.” (EconLog)
Quote of the Day
"What would we know about the economy and stock market if we had 10,000 years of perfect, unimpeachable, apples-to-apples data?"
(Morgan Housel)
Markets
- The risk/reward ratio for stocks is just not that favorable. (thefelderreport.com)
- How expensive are stocks on a median P/E basis. (marketwatch.com)
Strategy
- Diversification only gets you so far these days. (alephblog.com)
- Don't be so quick to bet on the relationship between demographics and asset valuations. (ftalphaville.ft.com)
Sonos
- A rousing recommendation for the new Sonos Play:5 and Play:1. (next.ft.com)
- You can get Amazon Prime music on your new Sonos. (amzn.to)
Companies
- Dow ($DOW) and DuPont ($DD) will merge and then split into three separate companies. (wsj.com)
- UPS ($UPS) is struggling to keep up with holiday shipping demand. (wsj.com)
- All-stock deals are on the rise. (bloomberg.com)
Offers
- For a limited time Amazon is offering 25% off of any print book including "Foolproof" or "The Devil's Financial Dictionary." (amzn.to)
- MODERN TRADER Magazine—the essential journal for professional traders and active investors. Get one of five investment classics with this special subscription offer! (moderntrader.com)
Finance
- Three lies Wall Street tells. (awealthofcommonsense.com)
- Companies can only cook the books for so long. (economist.com)
Funds
- "ETFs are tax-efficient, but they're not immune from taxation." (morningstar.com)
- The downside of focused funds. (pragcap.com)
- Vanguard is launching factor ETFs in the UK. (monevator.com)
Global
Economy
- Cheaper oil is not leading to a surge in retail spending. (wsj.com)
- Retail sales are flattening out. (bonddad.blogspot.com)
- The pace of business dynamism and entrepreneurship in the U.S. has declined over recent decades. (papers.ssrn.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Podcast links: Series A advice. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you may have missed in our Thursday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- A new edition of Essential Listening is up with takes on forecasting, robots and nootropics. (blogs.cfainstitute.org)