“By several measures, natural gas looks awfully cheap compared with crude oil.”  (WSJ.com)

When hurricanes threaten look for a move in natural gas prices.  (VIX and More also Infectious Greed)

“Ultimately, as the airlines have shown, bankruptcy is not always liquidation. Perhaps bankruptcy is what you really need to truly restructure and sell cars people buy.”  (DealBook)

Why do banks own so much Fannie and Freddie preferred stock?  (DealBreaker.com)

Credit spreads continue to widen out.  (Bespoke Investment Group)

Infrastructure privatization is going much slower than earlier predicted.  (NYTimes.com also Market Movers)

Expect plenty of volatility from the new Claymore/Delta Global Shipping Index ETF (SEA).  (TheStreet.com)

Looking to higher moment betas to devise a better equity diversifier.  (All About Alpha)

The VIX is a statistic replete with noise, whereas tradable VIX products smoothe out that noise and assume the inevitable mean reverting tendencies.”  (Daily Options Report)

The best traders develop a feel for the markets due to “implicit learning.”  (TraderFeed)

Is there a better Buffett book in the pipeline?  (NakedShorts)

Marking “the day the newspapers died.”  (Jeff Matthews)

What does the “IPO drought” say about the state of the market?  (CNNMoney.com)

Is Bob Rubin’s presence at Citigroup (C) “invaluable”? (Market Movers)

Dissension in the ranks of the Federal Reserve on inflation.  (naked capitalism)

Just how close is the Euro recession?  (Econbrowser)

Consumers predict inflation just as well as professional economists.  For 2009, consumers are looking for 5.1% inflation.  (LiveScience.com)

Housing market bottom callers have been consistently wrong in trying to call a bottom to this “slow motion train wreck”.   (Big Picture)

Real home prices are back down to 2002 levels.  (Calculated Risk)

Getting a better handle on impatience and personal discount rates.  (Odd Numbers)

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