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Quote of the day

Brian Lund, “Trading is a tough game and you will get the crap kicked out of you more than your fair share of times.  And you will fail, oh boy will you fail.”  (Brian Lund)

Chart of the day

We are in the midst of a third recession scare.  (Short Side of Long)

Markets

Hugh Hendry thinks we are in the midst of a 1930s sort of scenario.  (FT)

Muni bond investors are ignore structural headwinds, for now.  (WSJ)

The ‘death cross‘ is dead as a viable indicator.  (Price Action Lab)

Is the dividend trade becoming crowded?  (See It Market)

Why $VIX puts get cheaper over time.  (VIX and More)

Strategy

The precise level of a stop is less important than the stop itself.  (Crosshairs Trader)

On the importance of an asset allocation strategy, any strategy.  (TheStreet)

Tim Richards, “Situational awareness, the ability to almost naturally become aware of unusual factors, is a powerful weapon against mindlessness, the investor’s enemy.”  (The Psy-Fi Blog)

How financial advisers are a lot like personal trainers.  (Blueleaf)

Companies

Goldman Sachs ($GS) is trying to adjust expenses for a leaner age..  (WSJ, FT)

Why is Berkshire Hathaway ($BRKA) stock killing it?  In short, housing.  (The Reformed Broker)

Investors put too much emphasis on who a company’s CEO is.  (Mark Hulbert)

Finance

The terminal disease facing the banks: nobody needs them anymore.  (FT Alphaville)

Regulators, not boards, are de-risking the banks.  (FT)

ETFs

Vanguard ETF owners are holding for the long term.  (Vanguard, FT, ibid)

The hurdles to a mutual fund-to-ETF conversion are still pretty high.  (FT)

Investors want yield, hence their yen for preferred stock ETFs.  (IndexUniverse)

A new “twin” may put a cap on any premium for the now capped JP Morgan Alerian MLP ETN ($AMJ).  (Focus on Funds, IndexUniverse)

Global

Now investors are paying for the privilege to purchase EFSF bills.  (Bloomberg)

Capital is still fleeing Europe.  (Sober Look)

Is Poland finally succumbing to Euro weakness?  (beyondbrics also ETFdb)

Brazil keeps cutting rates.  (Bonddad Blog)

Economy

Housing starts in June show strength in housing.  (Calafia Beach Pundit, Calculated Risk)

The path is clear to QE3.  (Calculated Risk)

How good a job do prediction markets do in aggregating information?  (Economix)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Three books that will make you a better investor, including Abnormal Returns: Winning Strategies from the Frontlines of the Investment Blogosphere.  (Insider Monkey)

What you missed in our Wednesday morning linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

Dylan Grice’s summer reading list includes Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.  (Financial News)

Pretty soon we are going to need aggregators of social media aggregators.  (Pando Daily)

Are apps making us lazy?  (WSJ)

The five Olympic sports where money really matters.  (The Atlantic, NYTimes)

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