There were few highlights in asset class returns in January.  (Capital Spectator)

What industries outperformed in January?  (Kirk Report)

The credit markets thawed in January.  (Financial Week)

“It’s easy to criticize foreign-stock investing these days.”  (WSJ.com)

Mutual funds with embedded capital losses can be an opportunity in taxable accounts.  (BusinessWeek.com)

Discounts on closed-end funds narrowed dramatically in January.  (WSJ.com)

“If timing is everything, the mutual fund industry couldn’t have picked a worse time to launch managed- payout funds.”  (Investment News)

Do these ten companies have safe dividends?  (24/7 Wall St.)

Yet another reason to ignore analyst recommendation research.  (Journal of Finance)

“The next time you read that a financial advisor or hedge fund manager is a “sophisticated investor,” make sure to take it with a grain of salt.”  (DealBook)

Michael Dell doesn’t need to worry about the drop in Dell (DELL) stock.  He has plenty of investments on the side.  (NYTimes.com)

Weren’t hedge funds, and not banks, supposed to blow up the global financial system?  (Jeff Matthews)

How to make a ‘bad bank‘ plan work.  (breakingviews.com)

How much will the government pay banks for “crap assets“?  (Clusterstock)

America is a much softer nation than we were back in the 1930s.  (Howard Lindzon)

$1 CEOs are annoying more than anything else.  (The Daily Beast)

“Moral hazard has its costs. But, so far, our fear of it has proved much more expensive.”  (NewYorker.com)

“Art isn’t a financial asset class with added aesthetic returns; it’s an aesthetic asset class (a bit like music, say) with added financial value.”  (Market Movers)

“In an emergency, what separates a great pilot—a Sully—from one who fails catastrophically?”  (NYmag.com)

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