Quote of the day

Floyd Norris, “So far this year, both gold and stocks are up. That combination is unlikely to last out the current decade.”  (NYTimes)

Chart of the day

The story behind how the World Gold Council helped create the spectacularly successful SPDR Gold Trust (GLD).  (WSJ)

Markets

Bullish sentiment remains high.  (Pragmatic Capitalism, Horan Capital Advisors)

Some market rules that just aren’t working.  (WSJ)

An early look at historical December performance.  (Trading the Odds)

Keeping an eye on the big Spanish bank, Banco Santander (STD).  (Money Game)

US consumer vs. Euro contagion.  (The Reformed Broker)

Mark Hulbert, “Take the initial news reports about Black Friday with a grain of salt.”  (Marketwatch)

Strategy and Tactics

Commodities investing is made more complicated by the need to decide on the proper vehicle.  (Can Turtles Fly?)

One high yield manager now prefers stocks.  (Businessweek)

Some books that may change your thinking.  (Reading the Markets)

Companies

What explains the bull market in shoe makers? (Bespoke)

Extracting news from the Twitter stream.  (GigaOM)

Cable companies will not do down without a fight.  (Lex)

Finance

Where the private equity guys are looking.  (Points and Figures, Dealbook)

The IPO window is open for private equity firms.  (Businessweek)

Jesse Eisinger, “Defining proprietary trading is extremely difficult because it’s almost impossible to distinguish from making markets.”  (Dealbook)

Currency derivatives may get a pass from more onerous regulation.  (Businessweek)

Build America Bonds are likely to get another year.  (WSJ)

Insider Trading

On the proliferation of expert networks.  (Bloomberg)

The government’s case against insider trading seems to be gaining steam.  (WSJ)

Paranoia is spreading on Wall Street.  (Dealbook)

Hedge fund investors HATE investigations.  (Clusterstock)

Why hedge funds are at the center of the insider trading scandal.  (Aswath Damodaran)

Roger Ehrenberg, “But let’s be clear: fairness does not mean equal. It means equal opportunity. And the sharing of material non-public information does not permit equal opportunity.”  (Information Arbitrage)

Economy

Why 2011 looks better.  (Free exchange)

The consumer seems to be on firmer ground.  (Real Time Economics, ibid)

Lower jobless claims=higher stock prices.  (Money Game)

Still little sign of inflation.  (Pragmatic Capitalism, ValuePlays)

Truck tonnage rose in October. (Calculated Risk)

Global

Spain would be a bailout too far.  (NYTimes also FT Alphaville)

The downside of the Australian boom.  (Data Diary)

Are Chinese banks running low on cash?  (FT Alphaville)

Black Friday

Black Friday expectations are high.  (NYTimes)

Black Friday is a trap.  (ROI)

Thanks for this day Wal-Mart (WMT). Phil Pearlman)

Save money, spend less.  (Random Roger)

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