Closed-end muni bond funds have been on tear in 2009. They have easily surpassed their pre-Lehman highs.  (Bond Buyer)

Closed mutual funds that re-opened last year have outperformed their peers.  (Morningstar)

2010 could be the year of the IPO including some $1 billion deals.  (Deal Journal)

“Successful trading requires the ability to take meaningful risk, but also the capacity for controlling that risk.  One can trade for sensation and one can trade for profits, but rarely can one do both.”  (Big Picture)

401(k) investors are surprisingly passive and equity-centric.  (WSJ also Atlantic Business)

Institutional investors herd into and out of industries.  (SSRN)

Should we be concerned that Wall Street is sniffing around the life settlements business?  (naked capitalism, Felix Salmon)

In praise of FINRA’s move to increase margin requirements on leveraged ETFs.  (The Reformed Broker)

Macroeconomics failed us.  Do the primary schools of economic theory have any of the answers?  (Aleph Blog, Ultimi Barbarorum)

“This recession has delivered a huge lesson in how far human folly and irrationality can lead us astray–into conflicts of interest, extrapolating long-term projections from short-term trends, putting too much trust in economic advisers, and so on.”  (Predictably Irrational)

The Geithner Plan foresees higher capital reserves for banks globally.  (The Stash, Clusterstock)

“The market for college education looks a lot like the market for houses circa 2006 –  very bubbly. And the reason is similar: There is too much credit.”  (Rolfe Winkler also Felix Salmon)

“Are panics oversold by the societal elites?”  (Infectious Greed)

What to expect from the Apple iPod event.  (Silicon Alley Insider)

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