Quote of the day

Jason Zweig, “Bond investors who are over the age of, say, 55 know firsthand that bonds don’t always generate positive returns.”  (Total Return)

Chart of the day

HY10Y_0513

High yield bonds yield less today than Treasuries did five years ago.  (Bespoke also Learn Bonds)

Markets

It has been 177 days since the market experienced a 5% correction.  (Pragmatic Capitalism also UpsideTrader)

GMO is now sitting in 50% cash.  (Market Folly)

A look at the evolution of S&P 500 earning estimates.  (Dr. Ed’s Blog)

David Tepper is “definitely bullish.”  (MoneyBeat, Pragmatic Capitalism)

Commodities

The stocks-commodities disconnect is growing.  (FT Alphaville, Free exchange)

Why is lumber correcting so hard?  (Financial Iceberg)

The Saudis welcome the shale boom.  (FT)

Strategy

In investing, as in soccer, there is a big difference between activity and results.  (Bucks Blog)

How volatility affects our investing behavior: hello buy-and-hold!  (The Reformed Broker)

Looking forward to reading Meb Faber’s new book Shareholder Yield: A Better Approach to Dividend Investing.  (Amazon)

Companies

What’s the deal with Amazon Coins?  (Pando Daily)

Netflix ($NFLX) has figured things out…for now.  (Justin Fox)

Square is reinventing the cash register.  (Fortune, AllThingsD)

TransferWise jumps into the money transfer business.  (Quartz)

Hedge funds

Dan Loeb wants to break up Sony ($SNE).  (Dealbook, Breakingviews)

A quantitative UK-based hedge fund has launched with much lower fees.  (Dealbook)

Notes from the 2013 London Value Investor Conference.  (Market Folly)

Finance

Residential REITs are going to come to market fast and furious.  (FT)

Brokerage firms are ‘extincting themselves.’  (InvestmentNews)

Marc Andreesen thinks more companies should come public with dual class shares.  (peHUB)

Should we end small cap decimalization?  (Term Sheet, Felix Salmon)

Bloomberg snooping: the fallout.  (NYTimes, FT, Wonkblog, NetNet)

ETFs

Three new ETFs that target total “shareholder yield.”  (Turnkey Analyst, IndexUniverse, ETF Trends)

Vanguard will launch its emerging market bond ETF in June.  (IndexUniverse)

Fidelity has been cleared to launch actively managed ETFs.  (ETF Trends)

Global

How should we think about Abenomics?  (Tim Duy)

The European project is losing favor among the young.  (FT Alphaville)

Not among the Germans however.  (Money Game)

Is a thaw in Greek finance finally here?  (MoneyBeat)

Is the idea of the BRICs finally over?  (WSJ)

The Odd Couple trade: short Aussie, long the Mexican peso.  (WSJ)

Big trends

World birthrates are falling faster then previously thought.  (Wonkblog)

The implications of the new robotic age.  (Mother Jones also Modeled Behavior, Wonkblog)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

In praise of doing the opposite of your investment instincts.  (Abnormal Returns)

An interview with me on a range of topics including HFT and the future of blogging.  (QuantConnect)

Mixed media

North Carolina is not crazy about Tesla’s ($TSLA) direct-to-consumer business model.  (Slate)

The NTSB is recommending a lower BAC level from .08 to .05.  (Bloomberg)

Eleven things that make you a bad driver.  (Mental Floss)

Thanks for checking in with Abnormal Returns. You can follow us on StockTwits and Twitter.

This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment.

The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client.

References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.

Please see disclosures here.

Please see the Terms & Conditions page for a full disclaimer.