Quote of the day
Hoyle and Freeman, “Gold’s value is largely defined by the emotional, historical and cultural baggage that has been attached to it over thousands of years.” (The Source)
Chart of the day
Don’t look now but Google ($GOOG) is breaking out. (Finance Trends Matter)
Markets
Why are gaps important? (Dynamic Hedge)
Ever wonder what the consensus was for mainstream money managers? (The Reformed Broker)
Here are some things that are entirely predictable in 2012. (Big Picture)
Earning estimates keep ticking lower. (Dr. Ed’s Blog, Bespoke)
Wall Street’s most loved (and hated) stocks going into 2012. (Marketwatch)
The 2012 Bespoke Roundtable is up. (Bespoke)
Data
How big data is changing our world and helping us overcome our own biases. (WSJ)
Financial planning is getting automated and moving online. (Total Return)
Using Internet search data to enhance economic forecasts. (Liberty Street Economics)
Felix Salmon, “The fact is that Twitter is much richer and more fascinating than any news outlet.” (Reuters)
Companies
Is Starbucks ($SBUX) at $45 overpriced? (Crossing Wall Street also Minyanville)
Ford ($F) truck sales are up again. (Bespoke)
The market is pricing Apple ($AAPL) as a company “doomed to commoditization.” (Asymco)
Yahoo! ($YHOO) has a new CEO. Will anything actually change? (GigaOM, Term Sheet, Deal Journal)
Can Google ($GOOG) end up by investing in new lines of business? (YCharts Blog)
Finance
Interloper, “Business and pension consultants make a f*ckton of money playing on their clients’ fears of being fired.” (Interloper)
A sign of things to come? The UK may crack down on excessive pay packages. (FT)
The Bill Ackman-Canadian Pacific ($CP) spat is getting interesting. (ValuePlays)
Don’t count on cash-rich companies to boost the economy. (FT)
High yield beat distressed debt in 2011. (Distressed Debt Investing)
Banks
Maybe we should open source the problem of tracking the big banks. (Finance Addict)
Can we really believe current earnings estimates for banks? (MarketBeat, Big Picture)
Why we shouldn’t guarantee all bank deposits. (Felix Salmon)
Funds
The mixed state of actively managed ETFs. (FT)
Pimco saw outflows from its flagship Total Return fund amidst a boom in bond funds. (Dealbreaker, Focus on Funds)
Bill Gross again hearts Treasuries. (Sober Look)
Global
Euro banks are borrowing wherever they can find it. (FT, BBC)
Why are Gilt yields are distractingly low? (Institutional Investor, Money Game)
How much longer can the US avoid Euro contagion? (Gavyn Davies)
Economy
The continuation of zero interest rates creates a raft of problems. (FT Alphaville, MarketBeat, Money Game)
Are we too exuberant about the prospects for shale gas? (Breakingviews)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
A guest post from Carl Richards author of The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money on confusing investing with entertainment. (Abnormal Returns)
What you missed in our Wednesday morning linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
Mixed media
Why do Super Bowl ads keep getting more expensive? (The Atlantic)
Has the myth of the Stradivarius violin finally been busted? (Discover)
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