Quote of the day

Carl Richards, “Investment success is not a matter of more information, intelligence or skill. It’s a matter of behavior.”  (Bucks Blog)

Chart of the day

TrickleDown_0114

Reagonomics redux, Americans are spending on “pleasure craft” again.  (Business Insider)

Markets

CAPE, meet CADY.  (Crossing Wall Street)

Should you buy stocks just because there are no attractive alternatives?  (Mark Hulbert)

Retail stocks are rolling over.  (research puzzle pix)

Muni bonds

Muni bond ETFs have stopped trading at a discount.  (Bloomberg)

The technical case for muni bonds in 2014.  (Barron’s)

Strategy

Think of stop loss orders as being an “investment in my emotional well-being.”  (MartinKronicle)

Will robo-advisors survive the next bear market?  (InvestmentNews)

Companies

Why Google ($GOOG) bought Nest.  (TechCrunch, Re/code, Pando Daily, Daring Fireball, Business Insider, Time)

Why Apple ($AAPL) didn’t.  (SplatF, Business Insider, TUAW)

Charter ($CHTR) wants to buy Time Warner Cable ($TWC).  (Bloomberg, GigaOM, Dealbook)

A look at two very different (big) bets on the future.  (Felix Salmon)

Finance

Paul Singer vs. Juniper Networks ($JNPR): who’s right?  (Justin Fox)

Sell-side analysts could find new life as big data analysts.  (TABB Forum via @researchpuzzler)

The Alibaba IPO is going to be a big deal.  (Dealbook)

Loans are increasingly the province of non-bank lenders.  (FT)

ETFs

Taking apart Martin Whitman’s criticism of efficient markets.  (IndexUniverse)

What flavor of active ETFs is going to emerge successful?  (IndexUniverse)

Global

The two big headwinds for the emerging markets.  (Dr. Ed’s Blog)

Is the Canadian economy rolling over?  (MoneyBeat)

Economy

Retail sales increased at a 4.7% year-over-year rate in December.  (Calculated Risk, Capital Spectator)

The crash in safe assets fueled the financial crisis.  (NetNet)

Joshua Brown, “It’s good to be the Fed.”  (The Daily Beast)

ECRI is doubling down on the idea that the recession started in 2012.  (Business Insider)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Ten pundits weigh in on the question of financial bubbles.  (Abnormal Returns)

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

Mixed media

Your smartphone is telling marketers a great deal about you.  (WSJ)

App monetization is only going to get harder.  (TechCrunch)

A toilet seat has less bacteria than your smartphone.  (Slate)

You can support Abnormal Returns by visiting Amazon. You can also 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.