According to GMO high quality stocks and emerging market stocks are two pockets of opportunity.  (The Money Game also BusinessWeek, Minyanville, AR Screencast)

Should investors welcome political gridlock?  (Bloomberg)

More evidence we are in a “dead money” market.  (chessNwine)

“The markets are the ultimate thinking man’s game.”  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

Wheat is trading at thirteen-month highs.  (WSJ)

Why contango is ruling the commodity futures markets.  (FT Alphaville)

Market timing models come in all shapes and sizes.  (Marketwatch also Humble Student)

The Global X Lithium ETF (LIT) is expected to launch this week.   (WSJ)

Milk, eggs and ETFs.  (Abnormal Returns)

Kinder Morgan wants to be public once again.  The MLP meme lives!  (BusinessWeek)

Why co-investment is an important part of hedge fund investment selection.  (All About Alpha)

Changes in consumer credit tell us little about stock market returns.  (CXO Advisory Group)

The Baltic Dry may temporarily be all wet, but underlying demand for commodities remains an excellent leading indicator of economic activity and should not be ignored.”  (Lex)

Why Goldman Sachs (GS) settled.  (Big Picture)

A potential danger to Goldman from its SEC settlement: risk of losings it ability to act as an investment adviser.  (FT Alphaville)

Calculating the loss to Goldman shareholders of the SEC suit is harder than it looks.  (Political Calculations)

Financial reform did little to extinguish the “culture of speculation.”  (HBR)

Why hasn’t Ben Bernanke and the Fed done more to combat deflation?  (Tech Ticker)

The Fed needs to be clear (and public) about its commitment to fight deflation.  (Econbrowser)

Homebuilder confidence is scraping rock bottom.  (Bespoke, Calculated Risk, Free exchange)

What should be done with Fannie and Freddie?  (Economist’s View)

Very little of what Paul Volcker wanted ended up in financial regulatory reform.  (New Yorker)

Remember that whole European debt crisis thing?  (NYTimes)

Ireland catches a (better late than never) downgrade.  (FT Alphaville, Big Picture, 24/7 Wall St.)

China is now the world’s largest energy consumer.  (WSJ)

China:  the mother of all gray swans.  (My Investing Notebook)

Some disagreement about the next steps for stopping the Macondo well permanently.  (Business Insider also FT, Marketwatch)

An interview with Jack Schwager.  (Capital Ideas Online via aiki14)

“Never forget: every wise man started out a simple fool like you or me.”  (The Epicurean Dealmaker)

Frederic Filloux, “Let’s face it, consumers tolerance to latency is closing down to zero. They want ultra-fast boot time, quick network access, fast pages display or download.”  (Monday Note)

Digital sweat shops?  The culture of some online news organizations fosters burnout.  (NYTimes contra The Wire)

Redbox wants to get into the online video streaming business.  (Bloomberg)

Don’t be surprised if Apple (AAPL) once again beats earnings expectations.  (Lex)

What is the “high ground maneuver” and how did Steve Jobs employ it in his iPhone press conference?  (Dilbert Blog)

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