Quote of the day

James Surowiecki, “Predictions of catastrophe are understandable—the memory of the banking crisis is fresh, and it seems like poetic justice—but we’re probably not going to see apocalypse redux.”  (New Yorker)

Markets

Quantitative easing week is here.  What do markets expect?  (Planet Money, FT Alphaville, The Source)

Mark Hulbert, “In short, the riskiest stocks are dependent on the Fed being able to successfully walk an incredibly tricky tightrope.” (Marketwatch)

Option traders don’t seem to be particularly nervous going into this news-laden week.  (Investing With Options)

How “don’t fight the Fed” works in practice, i.e. through relative nominal yields.  (AR Screencast)

‘Alpha indices‘ for individual stocks are in the works.  (WSJ)

Taking a closer look at a gold valuation model.  (MarketSci Blog)

More on the brewing China IPO bubble.  (FT Alphaville)

iPads must really be valuable if they are specifically noted in executive compensation packages.  (footnoted)

Part one of an interview with Alice Schroeder.  (Simoleon Sense)

Strategy and Tactics

To what can we attribute the ‘death of stock picking‘?  (All About Alpha)

On the value of a low volatility approach.  (Falkenblog)

Some hints on how to trade when amateur chart readers predominate.  (Reading the Markets)

When to be wary of amateur participation in markets.  (Free exchange)

“Contrary to the belief of most amateurs, the equity curve trajectory of most successful discretionary traders is not a perfect 45 degree angle up.”  (Dynamic Hedge)

30 nuggets of stock market wisdom.  (CrossHairs Trader)

Economy

Ben Bernanke should start listening to company conference calls.  (Jeff Matthews)

The ISM Manufacturing number continues to show growth in manufacturing.  (Calculated Risk, Bloomberg, EconomPic Data, Money Game, CBP)

Where’s the bounce in income?  (EconomPic Data, Atlantic Business, Economix)

What economic indicator most affects midterm election results?  (Atlantic Business)

Economic growth seems to be picking up in China.  (Pragmatic Capitalism, Bespoke)

Although there are some worrying long term signs.  (Bloomberg, Money Game)

Off Wall Street

How much money should your start-up raise?  (Information Arbitrage)

Jonah Lehrer, “..introspection is the best predictor of good judgment.”  (The Frontal Cortex)

Google (GOOG) has a long term problem:  talent retention.  (GigaOM, SearchEngineLand)

Just Because

Happy 2nd blogiversary to Josh.  (The Reformed Broker)

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