“There is extreme danger in high-water marks.  You should absolutely ignore them.”  (Andy Swan)

Beware the young, hotshot manager.  (Sentiment’s Edge also Don Fishback)

What one ordinary investor finds after he gives up on the “financial-services industrial complex.”  (TheAtlantic.com via Street Capitalist)

Ten reasons to avoid bank stocks.  (ROI)

An exploration of the McClellan Oscillator.  (MarketSci Blog)

The case for (and against) higher Treasury yields.  (EconomPic Data)

The leveraged ETF re-balancing trade is trickier than it looks.  (Daily Options Report)

Can ETFs play a key role in cleaning up the mortgage-backed securities problem?  A report.  (IndexUniverse.com)

Signs of thaw in the muni market.  (WSJ.com, Money & Co.)

Capitalism has worked with hedge funds:  “Incompetents go out of business, smart guys clean up. And overall the hedge-fund industry has shown remarkable resiliency in the face of the catastrophe…” (Newsweek.com)

Would a central clearinghouse for CDS trades help or actually hurt?  (FT Alphaville)

UPS (UPS) sees an economic recovery starting next year, maybe.  (WSJ.com)

Brown shoots?:  unemployment claims and existing home sales both come in weak.  (Calculated Risk, ibid)

Why so little attention being paid to the problems of the commercial real estate market.  (24/7 Wall St.)

Let the leaks begin.  “Preliminary results” from the stress tests are coming.  (Mish, FT Alphaville)

Does the health of the banking system really depend on the unemployment rate?  (Clusterstock)

Why again is the TARP being opened up to life insurers?  (Breakingviews)

A couple of love letters to TARP overseer Elizabeth Warren.  (The Big Money, Clusterstock)

The failure of the TALF is a preview of the PPIP.  (WashingtonPost.com)

Just who was Ken Lewis looking out for in the Merrill Lynch deal?  (WSJ.com, naked capitalism, Clusterstock, Dealbreaker, Dealscape, The Reformed Broker, DealBook)

How Simon Johnson became radicalized.  (The Stash)

Earth Day, smearth day.  Coal is still the “cheap BTU” out there.  (Gregor.us)

SecondMarket is trying to open up the secondary market for private companies and other illiquid assets.   (NYTimes.com, A VC)

Apple (AAPL) beats expectations and demonstrates the power of the iPhone brand to its partner AT&T (T).  (24/7 Wall St., GigaOm, WSJ.com, Silicon Alley Insider)

The best and worst 529 college savings plans.  (Morningstar.com)

Poor timing aside, a generally positive review of “How Harvard and Yale Beat the Market” by Matthew Tuttle.  (WSJ.com)

Some financial blogs that have become “essential financial reading.”  (Irish Times)

Some one at TheStreet.com (TSCM) should read this article about the world of Lenny Dykstra.  (ESPN.com also Daily Options Report)

In defense of Twitter (and the seemingly mundane).  (kottke.org)

Have we overlooked an interesting post in the investment blogosphere? If so, feel free to drop Abnormal Returns a line.