Once again there is no shortage of interesting items in the news today. We hope you enjoy the linkfest.

Some “Breaking News!” from Adam Warner at the Daily Options Report makes this post of ours look all the more relevant.

Going Private has two insights into how the Amaranth Advisors blow-up affected the capital markets (or not) and how it exposed the (inflated) nature of investor expectations for hedge funds.

Eddie Elfenbein at Crossing Wall Street with a simple, but not simplistic, look at why private equity is booming.

Speaking of private equity, DealBook relates how Morgan Stanley (MS) intends on minimizing conflicts as it re-enters the private equity arena.

The Economist on the growth in private equity “club deals”, and a review of two studies on the benefits of alternative investments.

Chuck Jaffe at Marketwatch.com on the relationship between “quasi-active” ETFs and their actively managed fund cousins.

Michael Krause at TheStreet.com digs down into the Nasdaq 100 Trust (QQQQ) and finds it “more susceptible to economic cycles.”

On the topic of ETFs, Ticker Sense notes a raft of overbought sectors.

CXO Advisory Group highlights a paper on the extra diversification benefits of small cap international equity exposure.

James Picerno at the Capital Spectator on the stock-bond relationship and why they are currently rallying in lock-step.

David Altig at macroblog on the relationship between housing, the economy and the strength of the financial services industry.

Saskia Scholtes and Michael Mackenzie at the FT.com on the growing popularity among hedge funds of a trade against the U.S. housing market.Barry Ritholtz at the Big Picture on the falling odds of soft landing.

Randall W. Forsyth at Barrons.com looks at the changing consensus against the view of U.S. dollar as a long-term store of value.

Charles Batchelor at the FT.com on the seeming lack of value in the emerging markets.

Brett Steenbarger at TraderFeed looks at the shifting balance between trending and contrarian trades for the S&P 500.

Controlled Greed points to an interesting item on a noted value investor.

David B. Wilkerson at Marketwatch.com on the wisdom of taking old-line newspaper companies private.

Daniel Gross at Slate.com on what is driving the growing valuations for social networking sites.

Joshua Roebke at Seed magazine interviews the normally reticent James Simons of Renaissance Technologies fame. (via TheStreet.com Daily Blog Watch)

Is Harvard Business School more apt to turn out corporate criminals, or does it just seem that way? Greg Farrell at the USA Today on the rise in ethics training in business schools. (via Under the Counter)

The Abnormal Returns bandwagon still plenty of room, so hop on board via our fan-friendly feed.