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Quote of the day

John Rekenthaler, “ETFs package high beta, low expenses, and low/no alpha. Market-neutral funds do the opposite. Both fund types debuted in the 1990s. Beta and costs are reliable friends. Alpha is not. ETFs got it right and have been rewarded with $2 trillion in assets. Market-neutral funds got it wrong.”  (Morningstar)

Chart of the day

Corn prices continue to trend lower.  (WSJ)

Markets

What is going on with the transports?  (All Star Charts)

The problem(s) with owning the gold miners.  (IndexUniverse)

Time for copper to bounce.  (Charts etc., All Star Charts)

Forward S&P 500 earnings estimates are at a record high.  (Dr. Ed’s Blog)

Strategy

Sorry, commodities are a poor portfolio diversifier.  (FT Alphaville)

A look at Kaeppel’s sector seasonality strategy.  (CXO Advisory Group)

When a quant tries to pick stocks.  (Turnkey Analyst)

Low volatility does not mean no volatility.  (Focus on Funds)

Advice

Keep investing as simple as possible.  (Motley Fool)

Contrary to the hype not everyone needs to own a home.  (Bucks Blog)

Good advice and a great cause:  Trading: The Best Of The Best – Top Trading Tips For Our Time.  (Brian Lund)

Companies

Apple ($AAPL), along with the iPad, has officially stopped growing.  (TechCrunch, Quartz, A VC)

On the questionable timing of Dan Loeb’s exit from Yahoo! ($YHOO).  (Dealbook)

Ford ($F) is firing on all cylinders.  (Crossing Wall Street, Bloomberg)

Defense firms are weathering the sequester just fine.  (Washington Post)

Finance

Where is the demand for bank loans?  (Inside Investing)

Why are the big banks mucking about in the aluminum business?  (In Pursuit of Value)

Funds

Is your target date fund taking enough risk?  (Morningstar)

What happened to junk bond ETF premiums in the selloff?  (Focus on Funds)

Global

Caterpillar ($CAT) doesn’t have good things to say about global growth.  (Business Insider, ibid)

Thoughts on recent (slowing) Chinese growth.  (Econbrowser, FT Alphaville)

Economy

US manufacturing is once again turning up.  (Sober Look, Real Time Economics)

Why are older workers doing so well?  (Economist)

The case for Janet Yellen to be Fed chair.  (FT Alphaville)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

Sports

Does the ‘hot hand‘ exist in water polo?  (Wages of Wins)

Why major league hitters can’t hit Jennie Finch. An excerpt from The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein.  (SI)

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