Quote of the day

Eric Falkenstein, “US Treasuries are not insurance any more than tech stocks were insurance in 1999.”  (Falkenblog)

Markets

How the market has performed around midterm elections.  (Bespoke)

Whenever you find amateurs in large numbers a bubble may be brewing.  (Modeled Behavior)

Absolute return funds have been a disappointment to many.  (WSJ)

Tough first day for the Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (REMX).  (WSJ, Street Sweep)

Bill Gross has called for the end of the bond bull market before.  (Calculated Risk)

Eddy Elfenbein, “Here’s the key to understanding QE2’s impact: Don’t think of it as a stock movement. Instead, think of a risk movement with a seal of approval from the Federal Reserve.”  (Crossing Wall Street)

Strategy and Tactics

Why it makes sense to make portfolio decisions in batches.  (Aleph Blog)

On the advisability of locking in some gains.  (Joe Fahmy also Derek Hernquist)

Lydia Idem, “Understand that price always reflects fundamentals regardless of what we think and that our knowledge of true fundamentals is limited.”  (StockTwitsFX)

How much stock should investors put into seasonal effects like the Halloween/Sell in May indicator?  (AR Screencast)

Bill Luby chats with Charles Kirk & Co.  (Kirk Report)

Abnormal Returns TV with Mebane Faber.  (Abnormal Returns)

Companies

Underpricing issues aside, AIG (AIG) gets a boost as AIA soars on its debut.  (FT, Bloomberg)

Cheap shale gas has been a boon to US commodity chemical makers.  (Lex)

Can Coinstar (CSTR) make inroads into the Netflix (NFLX) franchise?  (The Reformed Broker, CNNMoney also Bespoke)

Apple (AAPL) has grown faster, but trades in line with the S&P 500.  (Asymco)

Microsoft (MSFT) tops estimates but continues to lose online.  (WSJ, Bloomberg)

Off Wall Street

Is a wave of hedge fund consolidation imminent?  (WSJ)

Cheap debt is fueling a wave of private equity deals.  (Dealbook, WSJ)

Are startup returns truly “bi-modal”?  (A VC)

Housing

When you bail out banks don’t be surprised if you get “fraudclosure.”  (Big Picture)

Title insurers cave on the issue of indemnification in the case of foreclosure sales.  (WashingtonPost, Atlantic Business)

Housing prices have corrected to what year?  (Calculated Risk)

Economy

Putting the prospect of a double-dip recession in the rearview mirror.  (CNNMoney)

Q3 GDP comes in right at expectations.  Still disappointing for this stage in the economic cycle.  (Bloomberg, NYTimes, Big Picture, EconomPic Data, Credit Writedowns, Calculated Risk, Economist’s View,  Gavyn Davies, Econbrowser)

How this recovery (favorably) compares to the previous two.  (Carpe Diem)

QE2 is bad news for savers.  (NYTimes)

Should we eliminate the corporate income tax?  (Megan McArdle)

On the long term decline in the number of unemployed execs relocating for a new job.  (Free exchange)

“It is hard to exaggerate China’s weight in the world economy. But not impossible.”  (Economist also Money Game)

Don’t compare emerging Europe to emerging Asia…unless you want to be disappointed.  (beyondbrics)

Just Because

Nouriel Roubini thinks Joe Weisenthal is an “idiot” and “parasite” to boot.  (Money Game, FT Alphaville)

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