The bet on corporate bonds vs. stocks at this point is a deflation vs. inflation argument.  (FT Alphaville also Fortune.com, Capital Spectator)

More on the risk of stocks in the long run and the death of buy-and-hold investing.  (Clusterstock, TheStreet.com)

A graphical depiction of how diversification works, until it doesn’t.  (dshort.com)

The strong performance of the BRIC markets shows the idea of decoupling is still alive.  (WSJ.com, Bloomberg.com)

TIPS continue their outperformance of plain vanilla Treasuries.  (VIX and More)

It is tough to find (statistically) significant outperformance in the world of mutual funds.  (SSRN.com)

On the new monthly leveraged ETFs, “Long story short, lengthening the reset period sounds like a wonderful idea in theory. But one bad month and it’s lights out.”  (Daily Options Report)

A comprehensive look at market volatility.  (Condor Options)

The IPO window is closed, are SPACs the way to go public now?  (DealBook)

“VC has not proven that it can scale as an asset class since the mid 90s. ”  (A VC)

If true this rumor about how AIG is unwinding its CDS portfolio is disturbing on any number of levels.  (Zero Hedge also Clusterstock, Market Movers)

An easy fix for the CDS markets.  (Market Movers)

“Buying billions of dollars of securities when there is no easy exit, no liquidity, and no transparency is near the top of the list of really dumb things the banks did.”  (Big Picture)

An inside account of mortgage securitization.  (NYMag.com)

Even the Feds recognize that General Motors (GM) is a mess.  Can they fix them?  (Clusterstock, WSJ.com, NYTimes.com, Breakingviews.com)

Don’t feel too bad for Rick Wagoner.  (ABC News via footnoted.org)

Should other government-supported CEOs now worry for their jobs?  (Dealbreaker, Big Picture)

“(T)he new Fed balance sheet has handicapped the Fed’s ability to fulfill its primary mission, which I see as promoting a stable and predictable low rate of inflation.”  (Econbrowser)

Keep an eye on Paul Krugman’s criticism of the Obama administration’s economic plans.  (Newsweek.com also Infectious Greed, Market Movers, FT Alphaville)

The Obama administration is trying to pull off a careful balancing act with its bank plans.  (NewYorker.com)

“Nearly every sentient being can agree that rules need to be tightened, transparency enhanced and bad boys spanked. But we’re heading off into a wide-ranging reform process without even understanding what the effects of tighter leverage or greater accountability will be.”  (Dealscape)

More signs of a turn in the economy.  (FT.com)

A nice overview of “The Ivy Portfolio.”  (CXO Advisory Group)

Skype moves to the iPhone.  (WSJ.com, GigaOM)

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