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We could not agree more with breakingviews (via the WSJ.com) and their contention that Microsoft (MSFT) should be broken up for its own sake.

We are not sure whether this says more about the glut of ETFs or the efficiency of the SEC, but according to Giya Gullapalli at the Wall Street Journal the SEC is woefully behind in processing new ETF applications.

TraderFeed notes the dearth of stocks trading at 52-week lows is evidence that this is not "the bottom."

Ticker Sense has some statistics that show big days (up or down) happen a bit more often during bear markets.

Mark Hulbert in the New York Times reports on a market timing system that is pointing to "…weakness or worse over the next year."

John Carney at DealBreaker.com explores the legality of the Mark Cuban-backed plan to trade off of the insights gleaned from the forthcoming Sharesleuth.com.

We are skeptical that backward-looking measures can accurately capture the current hedge fund holdings. However Susan Pulliam and Gregory Zuckerman in the Wall Street Journal review some research that shows that these measures are of some value in identifying over-owned stocks.

The problem of pricing illiquid securities is a growing problem for hedge funds. (via Marketwatch.com)

Robert J. Shiller thinks speculation has played a key role in the housing boom. (via Marketwatch.com)

You can add another chapter to the always interesting Victor Niederhoffer story according to Matthew Goldstein at TheStreet.com.

Jay Walker at the Confused Capitalist highlights some research that indicates dividends do matter.

Barry Ritholtz looks at another challenge to Microsoft – free software.

Jonathan Clements in the Wall Street Journal lays out twelve "undeniable truths" when it comes to personal finance.

We did not know we were Pigovians when discussed the logic of a gasoline tax. (via Mankiw Blog)

Cody Willard in the FT.com on the growing challenge to media conglomerates face from free video downloads.

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