Ryan Dobratz at Morningstar.com does a nice job of summarizing Marty Whitman’s “safe and cheap” approach to investing, including a number of stocks that fit these strict criteria.

Does the existence of activist shareholders make more aggressive acquisition offers more likely? Julie MacIntosh at Reuters.com reviews the evidence.

Pratima Desai at Reuters.com finds some investors who believe 2006 will be a much better year for hedge funds.

Mark Gongloff, Scott Patterson, and David A. Gaffen in the Trading Shots piece at WSJ.com on the “allure of profit forecasts.”

Mark Hulbert at Marketwatch.com on the “winners curse” and the effect of overpaying for acquisitions.

Jenny Anderson at the New York Times profiles Jeffries Group (JEF) and its ‘modest’ ambitions in the world of investment banking.

John Spence at Marketwatch.com analyzes (favorably) the Amvescap acquisition of ETF provider Powershares Capital Management.

Virginia Postrel in the New York Times on systematic differences between how different groups approach the notion of risk.

Deepak Gopinath in Bloomberg.com on the challenges of running an art investment fund.

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