Friday is usually pretty light in terms of the number of items, but today is an exception. We hope you enjoy the linkfest.

Chart of the Day has an interesting graph on the inflation-adjusted price of gasoline.

James Picerno at the Capital Spectator on the muddled picture that is the domestic economy.

Apparently we are not alone in our skepticism of the use of the term BRIC in the marketing of emerging market equities. (via FT.com)

Heather Timmons in the New York Times has an interesting piece on the ins and outs of running a “black box” hedge fund.

Charles Batchelor in the FT.com on how equity-focused hedge fund of funds have not performed as advertised.

Speaking of hedge funds, Jenny Anderson also in the New York Times notes how hedge fund capital has spread into the reinsurance industry, post-Katrina.

DealBook notes some comments by Henry Kravis on the ample availability of “liquidity and capital” for private equity deals.

Speaking of KKR, DealBook compares the prospects of the cash-rich Sears Holding (SHLD) to the prominent private equity firm.

Matthew Wuertzel at The Deal unearths some possible targets for Sears.

Jeff Miller at A Dash of Insight has a checklist for when you are listening to a market analyst who is comparing today’s market to a historical one (usually with dire predictions.)

Mark Hulbert at Marketwatch.com on what constitutes the “long term” for measuring investment performance.

Daniel Gross at Slate.com on whether some companies have gone too far in outsourcing and may need a little more vertical integration.

John Dobosz at Forbes.com on the “commodity bull breakdown.”

Random Roger has some interesting comments on the stall in oil prices.

Jay Walker at the Confused Capitalist has some first-hand reports on the effects of the oil boom in Alberta.

One commodity that is not trading off is coffee. (via Telegraph.co.uk)

Om Malik at GigaOm on the debate over Metcalfe’s Law.

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