Quote of the day

Josh Brown, “When you go to 100% cash, something changes in your mind.  You get to this place where mentally you won’t be satisfied unless you pick the perfect entry point.”  (Reformed Broker)

Chart of the day

A more focused Google ($GOOG) is a more profitable Google.  (Crackerjack Finance)

Markets

Looking back a week at the market bottom.  (Howard Lindzon)

Stocks are approaching critical levels.  (Expected Returns)

More $VXX/$XIV chart porn.  (MarketSci Blog also Focus on Funds)

Crude is leaving Cushing but the Brent-WTI spread keeps expanding.  (FT)

Strategy

Where beginning traders should focus their attention.  (Adam Grimes)

Don’t get bogged down in indicatoritis.  (SMB Training)

The media plays a huge role in market efficiency.  (Turnkey Analyst)

An approach to “force feed” your portfolio winners.  (CSS Analytics)

Companies

ExxonMobil ($XOM) seems to have sloughed off its weakness.  (Dragonfly Capital)

Siri is going to change everything.  (HBR)

How Apple ($AAPL) uses (or not) color in its product line.  (Slate)

What’s Zynga really worth?  (peHUB)

Finance

Comparing Warren Buffett’s pay to other less accomplished CEOs.  (footnoted)

Why don’t we allow for “crowdfunding” of startups?  (Slate)

ETFs

Mover over $VIX, ETF volume as a % of total volume is the new fear index.  (MarketBeat)

On the dangers of reaching for yield, even on the short-end.  (research puzzle pix)

Another entrant into the increasingly crowded local currency emerging market bond space.  (IndexUniverse)

Global

Exports are sliding in the emerging markets.  (beyondbrics also WSJ)

Are investors right to bet on the relative safety of emerging markets?  (The Source)

Germany continues to attract bank deposits from the periphery.  (Planet Money)

Economy

Hello retail sales.  (Calculated Risk, Crossing Wall Street, Capital Spectator)

The spread between retail sales and consumer sentiment is off the charts.  (Zero Hedge)

A weak recovery equals more volatile economic growth.  (Real Time Economics)

When did the US labor market become so much less dynamic?  (FT Alphaville)

There is no recovery until the housing market stabilizes.  (Gavyn Davies)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Low yields and diminished return expectations:  a survey of global asset classes.  (Abnormal Returns)

What you missed in our Friday morning linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

Another example of confirmation bias at work.  (Above the Market)

The drive to be distinctive is a complicated one.  (The Frontal Cortex)

Do viewers actually want to see a nuanced take on Wall Street: the case of “Margin Call.”  (WSJ)

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