Quote of the day

Jeff J. Lin, “Much is made of genius and talent, but the foundation of any life where you get to realize your ambitions is simply being able to out-last everyone through the tough, crappy times — whether through sheer determination, a strong support network, or simply a lack of options.”  (Jeff J. Lin via @firstadopter)

Chart of the day

RateRefi_0213

If you have been waiting to refinance your mortgage check out this chart.  (The Basis Point)

Markets

Not every low vol ETF is created alike.  (VIX and More)

Checking in on global stock market performance in 2013.  (Bespoke)

Where did all the market makers go?  (SurlyTrader)

The stock market started off well in 2011 and 2012 as well.  (Bespoke)

An (incomplete) market road map.  (The Reformed Broker)

Junk bonds

Junk bond owners will be lucky to ‘earn the coupon‘ in coming years.  (Income Investing)

Don’t come crying to Wall Street when all that junk bond issuance tanks.  (Bloomberg)

The junk bond market is priced for perfection.  (Reuters also CNBC)

Strategy

Three stocks Warren Buffett would appreciate.  (AlphaNow)

What can a private trader really achieve?  (RogueTraderette)

Leave it to the young guns to try and find the big movers.  (The Real Fly)

What is convexity hedging and why it matters.  (Inside Investing)

On the importance of a written investment policy.  (Total Return)

Companies

The Groupon ($GRPN) story is messy to say the least.  (Pando Daily)

Wal-Mart ($WMT) is having problems keeping its shelves stocked.  (Bloomberg)

Why LinkedIn ($LNKD) is rocking.  (WSJ)

JC Penney ($JCP) may have had the worst quarter in retail history.  (Business Insider also MarketBeat)

Finance

Hedge fund interview stories.  (World Beta)

Pension funds are seeing the downside of poor hedge fund performance.  (Bloomberg)

Why the SEC is looking into Mike Milken’s dealings.  (Dealbreaker)

Why you should ignore equity analyst reports.  (Minyanville)

Europe plans to clamp down on banker bonuses.  (WSJ, Quartz, Time)

The race to trade futures on CDS indices is on.  (MarketBeat)

Private equity

A wave of private equity-backed IPOs is coming, at a discount.  (FT)

On the current challenges of private equity fundraising.  (Dealbook)

Funds

Vanguard is launching an emerging market bond fund.  (Vanguard)

Speaking of Vanguard it reduced fees on a range of funds.  (Focus on Funds)

ETFs are a “pipeline, not a product.”  (Rick Ferri)

The ducks are quacking for private equity hence the ProShares Global Listed Private Equity ETF ($PEX).  (IndexUniverse)

Global

What needs to happen for Abenomics to work.  (FT Alphaville)

Why Argentina will default in 2013.  (Felix Salmon)

The world’s real estate markets are out of synch.  (FT Alphaville)

Markets and media

How to profit by better understanding the Fed.  (A Dash of Insight)

On the sequester who should you believe: the media or the markets?  (Big Picture)

Economy

Weekly initial unemployment claims are a pleasant surprise.  (Calculated Risk, Capital Spectator)

The Chicago PMI number surges higher.  (Bespoke)

Q4 GDP is revised higher (and positive).  (Real Time Economics, Bonddad Blog)

The pace of consumer deleveraging is slowing.  (Calculated Risk)

Just how long will the shale gas boom last?  (WSJ)

Mixed media

Why don’t Apple ($AAPL) laptops have touch screens?  (Slate)

How social media helps solve the problem of traffic reporting for Waze.  (Wired)

John Gruber, “Yahoo needs a kick in the ass.”  (Daring Fireball, GigaOMJohn Gapper)

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