Quote of the day

Marlin Nadoo, “Across the spectrum, investors continue to be bullish on hedge funds..Even on the back of what was a pretty difficult March, we are definitely seeing people look to increase their hedge-fund allocations.”  (WSJ)

Chart of the day

XLU2_0414

Energy stocks have broken out on a relative basis.  (The Reformed Broker)

Yields

Long Treasuries are having a great year.  (Bonddad Blog, FT)

The long end of the yield curve is flattening.  (Crossing Wall Street)

Markets

A look at some breadth divergences.  (The Short Side of Long)

Revisiting the disparity between large and small cap valuations.  (Dr. Ed’s Blog)

Don’t trade biotechs if you don’t like gaps.  (Focus on Funds)

The real estate dream is still alive.  (Washington Post, Barry Ritholtz)

Strategy

Just in case you believe in efficient markets… (Pension Partners)

Why indices are capitalization weighted.  (Aleph Blog)

Lost decades” are not all that rare.  (Above the Market)

Pharma

More on the Novartis ($NVS)-Glaxo ($GSK)-Eli Lilly ($LLY) deal.  (Quartz, Bloomberg, FT)

Bill Ackman teamed up with Valeant ($VRX) to bid for Allergan ($AGN).  (Bloomberg, FT)

Apple

A look at Apple ($AAPL) before its earnings release.  (Risk Reversal, Market Anthropology)

Why Apple is like a movie studio: big hits and lots of sequels.  (Walt Mossberg)

What would an Apple-Nike ($NKE) partnership look like?   (stratechery also Wired)

What can Apple do to built out the iPad?  (Monday Note)

Finance

The problem(s) with investing in boutique investment banks.  (WSJ)

On the value micro-investment bankers bring to the (negotiating) table.  (Matt Levine)

Tom Braithwaite, “Investors are no longer paying for Goldman as if it is exceptional.”  (FT)

Funds

Absolute return bond funds are hot.  (FT)

Why the push for active ETFs is stalled.  (InvestmentNews)

The problem with naive yield investors.  (Focus on Funds)

Global

Just how much is Alibaba worth?  (FT)

Low beta Euro stocks are really expensive.  (Alliance Bernstein)

Economy

The potential bubble the Fed is keeping an eye on.  (FiveThirtyEight)

The multiple problems facing American consumers.  (Business Insider)

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index dipped in March.  (Calculated Risk)

Property tax collections are on the rise.  (Bloomberg)

Contrary views up against Thomas Piketty and his best-selling Capital in the Twenty-First Century.  (Bloomberg View, Marginal Revolution, Pragmatic Capitalism)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

What you may have missed in our Monday linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

Katherine Collins, author of The Nature of Investing: Resilient Investment Strategies through Biomimicry on the difference between healthy and unhealthy growth.  (Scientific American)

Charlie Rose talks with Ben Horowitz author of The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers.  (BW)

Russ Roberts talks failure with Megan McArdle author of The Up Side of Down: Why Failing is the Key to Success. (EconTalk)

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