Quote of the day

Malcolm Gladwell, “To someone like Rattner, there is nothing wrong with giving a dinosaur money if you think you can fix the dinosaur. One might even say that the private-equity investor prefers the dinosaur, because dinosaurs are cheap, which increases the potential profit at the end.”  (New Yorker)

Markets

Earnings revisions have turned upwards again.  (Money Game)

The TIPS market is signaling future inflation.  (WSJ, BusinessWeek)

Investors have focused on the smallest emerging markets year-to-date.  (beyondbrics)

Putting the decline in the US dollar into perspective.  (Money Game)

Tough times for supertanker owners as supply dominates.  (Bloomberg)

Now the algo robots will speak a common language.  (WSJ)

Some more detail on the JP Morgan-backed copper ETF.  (FT Alphaville, BusinessWeek)

Strategy and Tactics

Does the ETF provider matter?  (IndexUniverse)

Advisors are having a hard time from keeping investors from loading up on gold.  (WSJ, Money Game)

A money manager that seems to have put academic research to good use.  (Insider Monkey)

Sorting talented prop traders from the chaff is no easy feat.  (FT)

What an investing checklist looks like in the wild.  (Old School Value)

Technology

Are there any catalysts on the horizon to get Microsoft (MSFT) stock moving?  (AR Screencast)

Don’t expect Apple (AAPL) to blow its wad of cash on any single, big acquisition.  (Apple 2.0, FT)

The iPad is infiltrating Hollywood.  (NYTimes)

Visualizing Apple’s (surprising) profitability.  (Asymco)

What can the cable industry do to fight back against the disaggregators?  (TechCrunch)

Wall Street

15 inviolable rules for dealing with Wall Street.  (Big Picture)

Goldman Sachs (GS) says buy Citigroup (C).  (Deal Journal, MarketBeat)

Why do banks presumably prefer foreclosures to short-sales?  (Kid Dynamite, NYTimes)

On the parallels between food and finance.  (Baseline Scenario)

Economy

Existing home sales pop.  (Bloomberg also Money Game, Calculated Risk)

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index slowed in September.  (Calculated Risk)

Companies are once again planning to hire.  (Money Game)

Is a rising stock market going to help Christmas spending?  (The Reformed Broker)

Looking at the effect of the Fed’s POMO activities.  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

What economic releases get traders worked up about?  (Zero Hedge)

On the inherent tensions of the shifting global economy.  (Lex)

Off Wall Street

Does price matter?  (A VC)

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