Don’t fool yourself thinking that a change in management will rescue a bad business.  (WSJ)

Has John Paulson taken his foot off the gas?  (Clusterstock)

Expect more stories of woe from hedge fund managers who bet against a stock market rally in 2009.  (NYPost)

The stocks are the “ultimate stock-pickers” buying and selling.  (Morningstar)

High quality stocks are wicked cheap relative to junk stocks.  (NYTimes)

Where to hunt for some year-end rally candidates.  (The Reformed Broker)

On the folly of trying to forecast stock performance a decade out.  (Bespoke)

Checking in on investor sentiment at week-end.  (Trader’s Narrative, The Technical Take)

Actively managed bond ETFs seem to be catching on more rapidly than their equity cousins.  (WSJ)

Did the decision by Barrick Gold (ABX) to de-hedge call a top in the gold market?  (The Money Game)

A reversal of fortune:  gold down, natural gas up.  (WSJ, ibid)

Some (largely skeptical) takes on the strength of the jobs figures.  (DJ Market Talk, Financial Armageddon, Big Picture)

A rebound in the ISM survey indicates the peak in unemployment has been seen.  (NYTimes)

Geithner pushes back against Wall Street bonuses.  (DealBook, 24/7 Wall St.)

Citigroup (C) 1:  Abu Dhabi 0.  (naked capitalism)

Why loan modifications fail.  (Big Picture)

A financial transactions tax is a long shot at best.  (Dealscape)

It is time to get back to the old fashioned values of saving (and investment).  (A VC)

“Calming the irrational exuberance of the masses without causing another recessionary plunge will take considerable skill and judgement. Recent regulatory history doesn’t promote optimism in this regard.”  (The Psy-Fi Blog)

Brett Steenbarger, “Persistence is different from simply being pigheaded and sticking with a wrong opinion.”  (TraderFeed)

Howard Lindzon, “To catch the big trends you need to harness the momentum and energy of the trend and invest with it. You need to manage the noise. But, when a trend ends you need to take your lumps and move on.”  (Howard Lindzon)

An interesting conversation with Damien Hoffman and John Mauldin.  (Big Picture)

Charter schools are the hot charity of choice for hedge fund managers.  (NYTimes)

Wine ratings really are random.  (The SSRN Blog also Simoleon Sense)

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