Has the “real yield curve” already inverted? James Hamilton at Econbrowser looks at the TIPs market and finds that by this measure of the yield curve has already inverted.

Justin Lahart in the “Ahead of the Tape” column in the Wall Street Journal implies that the run-up in hot markets like Japan is being driven by desperate U.S. hedge fund managers chasing momentum. The thought being that the move will reverse in the new year. We shall see.

We take most year end lists and next year forecasts with a grain of salt. Scott Rothbort at TheStreet.com puts a unique spin on the genre with, “10 Things I Will Not Miss About 2005.”

Martin T. Sosnoff in Forbes.com wonders whether the S&P 500 should be the appropriate benchmark for Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa) going forward.

Michael Kahn at Barrons.com finds narrowing market breadth amidst the market’s recent up move.

For those interested in the hot stove league, J.C. Bradbury and Raymond Sauer discuss the free-agent market for pitching (and offense) in the Econoblog at the WSJ Online.

We wish you a peaceful holiday season. As the holiday nears blogging will be lighter than normal. Please feel free to sign up for our RSS feed here so that you will be up-to-date on all our posts.