Quote of the day

Om Malik, “The implications of this early stage investment hysteria are going to be felt across the ecosystem.”  (GigaOM)

Chart of the day

Farm land prices have only had three down quarters in the past 10+ years.  (WSJ, graph)

Markets

Jonathan Davis, “When interest rates all the way along the yield curve are being targeted for manipulation on an unprecedented scale, few market prices can be trusted.”  (FT)

Long term Treasury bonds are experiencing equity-like volatility.  (NYTimes)

The markets are nearing some sort of inflection point.  (Howard Lindzon, ibid)

Equity sentiment at week-end.  (Trader’s Narrative, The Technical Take)

Materials and energy held up best last week.  (Dragonfly Capital)

On the fears facing the muni market.  (NYTimes)

Strategy and Tactics

Are ETFs a menace?  (WSJ, Barron’s)

David Merkel, “Do not buy structured notes.  The investment banks know far more than you.”  (Aleph Blog)

On the importance of aligning your portfolio with your time frame.  (World Beta)

Some signs you should sell a position.  (Trade to learn)

What Todd Combs was buying (and selling) when Warren Buffett came calling.  (Clusterstock)

Mind and Markets

If you torture the data long enough, you can always find some sort of spurious correlation.  (The Psy-Fi Blog)

The sole purpose of education.  (Big Picture)

Joel Greenblatt’s recommended reading list.  (Market Folly)

Finance

Jeff Carter, “All the HFT firm cares about is speed.”  (Points and Figures)

Why higher margin on sugar futures are a good call.  (Money Game)

The “little guy” never gets in on IPOs.  Why should the GM deal be any different?  (Clusterstock)

On the value of a clever ticker symbol.  (WSJ)

Economy

Scott Grannis, “If inflation is indeed about to turn up, then no amount of QE2 can keep Treasury note and bond yields from rising. ”  (Calafia Beach Pundit also WSJ)

Floyd Norris, “When the going gets tough, governments complain about trade.”  (NYTimes)

A closer look at food inflation.  (Big Picture)

Mortgage rates are at record lows, but few borrowers have (or can) take advantage.  (Fortune Finance)

Cutting the federal budget deficit is harder than it looks.  (NYTimes)

Germany wants Ireland to say ‘uncle’ and request aid.  (Bloomberg)

Just because

Why e-mail just won’t die.  (GigaOM)

The pain of being a common shareholder.  (Dilbert)

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