This is an early edition of the linkfest.  Check out Abnormal Returns Now for all the latest links.

Sentiment is getting pretty bearish out there.  (Smart Money Tracker)

“August is usually a slow month for the market, but this month has been really, really slow.”  (Bespoke)

Stocks vs. bonds:  bonds are winning.  (Crossing Wall Street)

What is Mark Cuban’s (investing) edge these days?  (Big Picture)

The convexity trade may push interest rates lower.  (Minyanville)

Are investors (mistakenly) extrapolating past bond market returns?  (Marketwatch)

We know junk bonds are rally, what about leveraged loans?  (FT Alphaville)

The ETF industry should close another 200 funds.  (IndexUniverse)

Bill Gross is still talking his book.  (Clusterstock, Money Game)

Great traders accept responsibility for their actions.  (My Futures Network)

Sampling, deliberate practice and the road to trading success.  (Abnormal Returns)

Streaks happen more often in mutual fund returns than one would expect by chance.  (SSRN, Samuel Arbesman)

Using industrial metal prices to forecast equity market returns.  (CXO Advisory Group)

Is the growing pipeline of IPOs a sign of opportunism or desperation?  (MarketBeat)

On the implications of a surge in M&A activity.  (SmartMoney, Marketwatch)

Wall Street hiring (and firing) as a leading indicator.  (Atlantic Business)

Home prices are still too high.  (Pragmatic Capitalism also EconomPic Data)

The number of homes for sale imply lower prices down the road.  (Calculated Risk)

American consumers continue to pullback.  (FT, Howard Lindzon, Humble Student)

GM’s biggest shareholder, the government, may have different interests than public shareholders.  (Deal Journal)

Is it time for the US Treasury to issue consols?  (Crossing Wall Street)

Is the Fed behind the curve?  (Gavyn Davies)

Do recent housing numbers make another round of quantitative easing more likely?  (Street Sweep)

Temporary employment continues to rise.  (ValuePlays)

Firm size vs. age when it comes to job creation.  (FT Alphaville)

Where did all the investment go?  (EconomPic Data)

The debate over structural vs. cyclical unemployment.  (Slate, Felix Salmon)

Ireland catches a downgrade.  (FT Alphaville, MarketBeat)

Maybe the Yen isn’t overvalued.  (FT Alphaville, MarketBeat)

The many lessons of Michael Lewis‘ The Big Short.  (A Dash of Insight)

Voice continues to get displaced by messaging.  (GigaOM)

Apple (AAPL) is reportedly looking to get into the TV show rental biz.  (Bloomberg, NYTimes, 24/7 Wall St., SAI)

Facebook is now reportedly worth more than EBay (EBAY) or Yahoo! (YHOO).  (FT, DailyFinance)

How Fred Wilson killed Inc. magazine.  (zerobeta)

How to tell when a CEO is lying?  (Farnam Street)

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