“(A)ny timer of the U.S. stock market who did not beat the market during 2000-2009 has some explaining to do.”  (CXO Advisory Group)

“It may be hard to believe, but 35% of the S&P 500’s gains since the start of 2009 have now been erased over a span of less than 14 trading days.”  (Bespoke)

Is the secular bull market in bonds coming to an end?  (Big Picture)

Why haven’t higher sovereign CDS rates been reflected in bond yields?  (FT Alphaville)

PIMCO favors emerging market (and German) bonds.  (WSJ)

Peaks in leading economic indicators are not great for market returns.  (The Money Game also FT Alphaville)

Why is lumber continuing to power higher?  (The Pragmatic Capitalist)

Listening Nouriel Roubini would have been a mistake last year.  (Telegraph UK)

The volatility of the VIX has surged.   (Daily Options Report also WSJ)

ETFs have joined the rest of the mutual fund complex in a battle of branding.  (New Rules of Investing)

Some Bogleheads are anxious that Vanguard is getting into alternative investments.  (FT)

Roger Nusbaum, “Investment products aren’t greed-causing or speculative in and of themselves. They may create the means with which to express those behaviors.”  (TheStreet)

“For all the concern over the $1.6 trillion U.S. budget deficit and record debt load, the dollar is as valuable now as 35 years ago.”  (Bloomberg)

Where will the Euro bottom?  (VIX and More)

Simon Johnson, “The euro depreciates, the dollar strengthens, and our path to recovery starts to run more uphill.”  (Baseline Scenario)

Is Greece the first step in a “global margin call“?  (naked capitalism)

John Thain takes over CIT Group (CIT).  (NYTimes, naked capitalism, FT Alphaville)

Felix Salmon, “It’s crucial, in financial markets, that investors walk into risky asset classes with their eyes open, rather than kidding themselves that they can simply hedge those risks away by buying a fancy financial product from Citigroup.”  (Reuters also Risk)

Bryan Caplan, “None of this means that mood is the whole story.   Mood, market conditions, and policy all interact.”  (EconLog)

Deflation is back on the table.  (Econbrowser)

Males aged 25-54 are increasingly not employed.  (Brad DeLong)

Is a value-added tax or VAT the inevitable fix to the budget deficit?  (CNNMoney)

Economic populism is a function of the poor economy.  (New Yorker)

Is Canada facing its own housing bubble?  (WSJ)

“I take issue with Krugman’s “partisanization” of economics – if I could coin a new word”  (Kid Dynamite)

“Despite all my jurisprudential research, I have been unable to locate a statutory basis for the right to cheap insurance.”  (finem respice)

How winning streaks end:  “Winners become sinners when confidence turns into complacency and arrogance.”  (HBR)

Jeff Jarvis, “If you are selling a scarcity — an inventory — of any nonphysical goods today, stop, turn around, and start selling value — outcomes — instead. Or you’re screwed.”  (Buzz Machine)

Ten reasons Sherlock Holmes is the ideal VC.  (peHUB)

Check out who made this “all star team of online finance.”  (New Rules of Investing)

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