“(W)hat we’ve seen in leverage and credit growth during the past 15 years is NOT normal, nor is it sustainable – neither relative to history or in absolute terms.”  (Cassandra via various)

“More than half of the small investors surveyed still expect annual gains of 10% or more over the next decade — at, or above, historical averages.”  (WSJ.com)

Is the January Effect worth playing this year?  (MarketWatch.com)

A monthly seasonality mash-up.  (MarketSci Blog)

“A smaller hedge-fund industry operating in a deleveraged financial world should be able to find more opportunities to make decent returns without exploiting leverage.”  (breakingviews.com)

What to do about the historical data for hedge funds who invested with Madoff?  (Clusterstock, ibid)

Money market funds become less attractive as interest rates tend to zero. (FT Alphaville)

More thoughts on how to use leveraged ETFs.  (Daily Options Report)

“When in uncharted waters you slow down, you DO NOT SPEED UP. You do less and you invest in smaller sizes. The noise from the media re the financial crisis is deafening. Make sure you get extra still and quiet with your time and money.”  (Howard Lindzon)

Fairfield Greenwich Group is now in the spotlight.  (NYTimes.com, Clusterstock)

“Could regulation of the hedge fund industry have prevented the Madoff fiasco?  Perhaps.”  (All About Alpha)

Investor sentiment is now neutral.  (The Technical Take, market folly)

Ten companies at risk in 2009.  (24/7 Wall St.)

Ten predictions for 2009.  (Deal Journal)

Financial Blogs of the Year.  (Capital Vandalism)

“In other words, the entire technology ecosystem is slowing down to a crawl.”  (GigaOm)

Who gambles in the stock market?  (Journal of Finance)

On the wisdom of extending the bailout to commercial real estate.  (Market Movers, Clusterstock)

Quantitative easing done right.  (FT Alphaville)

We should be paying more attention to what is going on in Greece.  (Ideas Blog)

“Most countries around the world have limited capacity for fiscal expansion, but almost all could engage in a more expansionary monetary policy.”  (Baseline Scenario)

“Willy-nilly spending is a good way to stimulate the economy only if the outcome is judged by the wrong metric.”  (Mankiw Blog)

“Indeed, the Fed has done a lot more to stabilize global markets in the second half of this year than the world’s reserve managers.”  (Follow the Money)

A bit of long term perspective on the history of American economic growth.  (Economic Principals)

Do we need a radical reduction in debt?  (FT.com)

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