Quote of the day

Dan Ariely, “The best advice on gift-giving, therefore, is to get something that someone really wants but would feel guilty buying otherwise.”  (Dan Ariely)

Image of the day

The financial crisis book roadmap.  (Can Turtles Fly?)

Video of the day

David Rosenberg talks with Consuela Mack.  (WealthTrack)

Markets

Energy and industrials continue to lead the market.  (DragonFly Capital)

Always interesting to see the mix of industries in the latest StockTwits 50.  (StockTwits50, Howard Lindzon)

ETFs continue to put downward pressure on pricing.  (Barron’s)

‘Investable indexes‘ are going to make index investing more compelling.  (Intelligent Investor)

Finance

John Authers, “Corporate chieftains the world over have lots of cash, and want to hold on to it.”  (FT also naked capitalism)

“Low-risk, agency type businesses like underwriting and traditional market making lie on the same spectrum as full-blown proprietary trading, if only at different ends. There is no bright line between market making and prop trading…”  (Epicurean Dealmaker)

What makes a non-bank firm “systemically important“?  (Economics of Contempt)

Insider trading

The role of ‘soft dollars‘ in the insider trading investigation.  (WSJ)

John Carney, “The line between legitimate research and the provision of what the authorities view as illegitimate insider information is increasing blurred.”  (NetNet)

On the high costs of an insider trading investigation.  (Felix Salmon)

Retail

Black Friday was apparently a disappointment.  (Bloomberg)

Holiday shopping:  online traffic data vs. useless anecdotes.  (GigaOM, The Reformed Broker)

If shopping isn’t going to lift the economy over the long run, what will?  (NYTimes)

Why retailers want to copy the success of Amazon Prime.  (Businessweek)

No surprise here.  Kids want iPads for Christmas.  (The Reformed Broker)

Economy

Rising productivity helps explain why corporate profits are high and hiring low.  (WashingtonPost, Economist’s View)

Why many are afraid the economy is just speed bump away from collapse.  (LATimes)

Peak oil in Pennsylvania.  (Econbrowser)

Credit default swaps and the problems in Europe:  cause or symptom?  (WSJ)

How vulnerable is Italy to sovereign credit fears?  (voxEU)

Just because

Life is all about supply and demand.  (James Altucher)

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