“There’s not an even playing field out there. Learn to live within it or don’t trade/invest, unfortunately it’s that simple.”  (Daily Options Report)

“Markets have always been skewed against retail money, whether information sloshes around an open outcry pit or a high-tech algorithm.”  (FT)

Ron Insana on the sideshow that is high frequency trading.  (Zero Hedge, ibid)

Does a pullback by some brokers on leveraged funds mean we seeing a slowing in the “ETF-ization of everything“?  (FT Alphaville, WSJ, Bespoke)

3x leveraged is too much for an equity fund.  (Quantitative Trading)

According to the CFTC it really was the fault of speculators that oil spiked in 2008.  (WSJ)

Ignore Jeremy Grantham at your own risk.  (Clusterstock)

Developed markets have held their own since July 10th.  (Bespoke)

Corporate insiders are selling shares at a rapid rate.  (Marketwatch)

Some thoughts on retail funds geared to invest in “legacy” mortgage assets.  (The Reformed Broker)

“Indeed, one does not need the theory to be in favour of index funds; it is all a matter of averages.”  (Buttonwood)

The reputation of hedge fund managers ranks right up there with used car salesmen.  (All About Alpha)

“The problem with the market isn’t that it is trading abnormally. The problem is that it’s trading like the stock market usually trades.”  (TraderFeed)

Michael Lewis, “And nothing that happens at Goldman Sachs — nothing that Goldman Sachs thinks, nothing that Goldman Sachs feels, nothing that Goldman Sachs does –ever happens by accident.”  (Bloomberg)

“Indicators like new home sales, housing starts and residential investment will bottom long before house prices.”  (Calculated Risk also Felix Salmon)

How the Case-Shiller data might play out over time.  (Caveman Forecaster)

No sign yet of a turn in trucking tonnage.  (Big Picture, The Pragmatic Capitalist, Research Reloaded)

When it comes to booze, consumers are trading down but not out.  (Free exchange, Real Time Economics)

Thinking about what a spun-off AOL might look like.  (Rolfe Winkler)

Ten iPhone applications for investors.  (ETF Database)

An 80% probability that the Apple Tablet exists.  (Gizmodo)

Texting while driving “in its own universe” in terms of risk.  (NYTimes)

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