The muni bond-monoline bond insurer story becomes front page news. (WSJ.com)

The implications of a downgrade of the monoline bond insurers are “dire.” (naked capitalism)

Specialists are becoming a dying breed. (MarketBeat)

Separating the wheat from the chaff in the emerging markets. (Economist.com)

Four scenarios for the U.S. economy. (FT Alphaville)

Cyclical stock underperformance. (Crossing Wall Street)

Research says rotate into cyclical stocks when the Federal Reserve is easing monetary policy. (CXO Advisory Group)

What retail stocks are telling us about the US economy and the risk of a global recession. (FT Alphaville)

Pricing pressure on Starbucks (SBUX) and FedEx (FDX). (Big Picture, MarketBeat)

“Upbeat” is a term much misused by Wall Street’s Finest…” (Jeff Matthews)

A look at the new global timber ETF. (TheStreet.com)

When is a hedge fund, a “niche opportunity fund”? (Howard Lindzon)

Another challenge (disclosure) for publicly traded hedge funds. (NakedShorts)

“So how can you know when fundamentals are changing versus just technicals? You really can’t.” (Accrued Interest)

“There’s a scripted quality to much bad trading.” (TraderFeed)

Eddy Elfenbein’s favorite investment-related links. (Crossing Wall Street)

Some controversy over just how big the Chinese economy really is? (EconLog, Free Exchange)

Goldman Sachs (GS) is everywhere, seriously. (DealBreaker.com)

The battle over the right to play Internet poker. (Salon.com)

A new way to make coffee coming to a coffee shop near you. (Economist.com)

Have we missed an interesting post in the investment blogosphere? Then feel free to drop Abnormal Returns a line.