Quote of the day

John Boorman, “Always be thinking, what is no-one expecting? What would surprise everyone the most? What would hurt everyone the most? The path of least resistance can also be the path of maximum pain, and right now that path is higher.”  (Alpha Capture)

Chart of the day

EEM Total Return Price Chart

EEM Total Return Price data by YCharts

Emerging market equities have lagged in 2013.  (Bloomberg)

Markets

In the face of new crises, market participants seem to be on anti-depressants.  (WSJ)

Everybody and their brother is expecting a correction.  (Big Picture)

Cyprus has not generated much in the way of financial market stress. (A Dash of Insight)

The divergence between the Euro economy and stock markets is growing.  (Charts etc.)

Utilities are expensive.  (BCA Research)

Cyclicals need to break higher to drag the market along.  (Humble Student of the Markets)

Strategy

Do investors know what they are getting when they buy into the low volatility anomaly?  (The Reformed Broker earlier Abnormal Returns)

Long term Treasury bonds are a horrible investment but remain a good portfolio hedge.  (Sober Look)

Most discussions about cheap/expensive stocks won’t make you money.  (Howard Lindzon)

Can managers add value in the megacaps?  (Focus on Funds)

Being a pundit means never having to say you are sorry.  (Floating Path)

Companies

Want your company to do better? Put an academic on the board.  (Prof. Bainbridge)

Why Vodafone ($VOD) should sell to Verizon ($VZ).  (Bronte Capital)

Nike ($NKE) is expensive.  (Crossing Wall Street)

Dell

The soap opera that is the Dell ($DELL) bidding war.  (Dealbook, Deal Journal)

The Dell board has some work to do.  (Dealbook)

Michael Dell could get shut out of the company he founded.  (WSJ)

Twitter

How Twitter is disrupting the sell-side.  (Money Game)

If you aren’t in the flow you are missing out. (The Reformed Broker)

Finance

High frequency trading is under regulatory assault around the world.  (WSJ)

Outsourced CIOs are becoming a thing.  (Institutional Investor)

Global

Cyprus gets a bailout.  (WSJ, FT, NYTimes)

Cyprus may very well still leave the Eurozone  (Felix Salmon, Tim Duy)

More questions than answers in Cyprus.  (Marginal Revolution, Free exchange)

Economy

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for February moved higher.  (Calculated Risk)

Investors are leading the housing recovery.  (WSJ)

On the future of home prices.  (Pragmatic Capitalism, Modeled Behavior)

Mixed media

What if Google Reader readers don’t come back?  (TechCrunch)

The rise of the water bottle friendly water fountain.  (WSJ)

The ultimate guide to eating at work.  (Quartz)

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