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Quote of the day

James Surowiecki, ” In 2008, Nokia was said to have one of the most valuable brands in the world. But it failed to recognize that brands today aren’t as resilient as they once were.”  (New Yorker)

Chart of the day

EMEAPB_0913

By this measure emerging markets are historically cheap.  (@finansakrobat)

Markets

Wall Street strategists are getting more bullish.  (Big Picture)

China has been leading the emerging markets of late.  (Minyanville)

August was a no-good month for muni bonds.  (Income Investing, ibid)

Strategy

The top ten stocks the “ultimate stock pickers” are buying and selling.  (Morningstar)

Supposedly “safe” investments often aren’t.  (Bucks Blog)

Social security is not an asset.  (Marketwatch)

At what point do passive investors become parasites?  (Larry Swedroe)

Companies

Microsoft ($MSFT) has tossed its other Windows Phone partners aside.  (David Pogue, Pando Daily)

Now the hard part starts for Microsoft: building phones people want.  (WSJ)

Nokia ($NOK) did not sell its patent portfolio to Microsoft: why?  (Reuters)

Windows is dead.  (Slate)

Finance

Big mergers rarely work out as anticipated.  (WSJ)

Dual-class shares that give founders control can backfire when those founders are gone.  (Dealbook)

ETFs

Don’t overthink your emerging market exposure.  (IndexUniverse)

In praise of short-duration TIPS.  (Morningstar)

Global

Eurozone PMIs point towards growth.  (Reuters, MoneyBeat)

Is Europe dragging the UK economy along for the ride?  (Buttonwood, Bloomberg)

Economy

Ford F-150 sales are surging.  (Bespoke)

On the relationship between the ISM and GDP.  (Bonddad Blog)

Consumer confidence is good for one thing: forecasting the labor market.  (Liberty Street Economics)

The number of students enrolled in college dropped.  (Real Time Economics)

Debunkery

Part-time America is not a new thing.  (The Atlantic)

The stay-at-home Dad meme is overhyped.  (The Atlantic)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

Mixed media

A dozen things learned from Barry Ritholtz about investing.  (25iq)

Who is at your “investment roundtable“?  (Bason Asset)

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