Quote of the day

James Surowiecki, “This huge uproar might make you think that QE2 represents some radical shift in the Fed’s mission. It doesn’t.”  (New Yorker)

Chart of the day


Apple (AAPL) is a rare beast.  Mega-caps don’t often grow this fast.  (Infectious Greed)

Worth a listen

Kevin Kelly talks with Russ Roberts on “what technology wants.”  (EconTalk)

Markets

The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) continues higher.  (VIX and More)

Euro crisis aside, European corporates are cutting debt and expanding earnings.  (Bloomberg)

Is a reversal in the US dollar just getting going?  (Money Game also Pragmatic Capitalism)

Dividing countries into emerging and developed is not particularly helpful.  (IndexUniverse)

Muni bonds:  bargain or headache? (USA Today, Financial Adviser)

More commodity ETFs that attempt to mitigate the costs of contango.  (IndexUniverse)

How December stacks up.  (MarketSci Blog, ibid)

A review of the many seasonal factors.  (Dynamic Hedge)

Strategy and Tactics

On the uselessness of market forecasts.  (Crossing Wall Street)

On the danger of “chasing returns you don’t understand.”  (A VC)

A number of monthly charts are seriously extended.  (Howard Lindzon)

On the state of momentum investing.  (Morningstar)

Complexity is oftentimes the enemy of investors and traders.  (AR Screencast)

Trading Talk

Sean McLaughlin, “Without the [financial] TV on in the background, you can focus.”  (Chicago Sean)

After time away, “How do we get back into trading shape?”  (SMB Training)

On the role of flow and trading.  (Bigger Capital)

Eli Radke, “There are not many people who can relate to trading professionally.  We are a small fraternity.”  (My Futures Network)

Tuesday is an important day for any one interested in tax-loss swaps.  (Barron’s)

Techland

The iPad is becoming the “Mac of the masses.”  (Apple 2.0 also GigaOM)

“Corporate sclerosis” is hitting Google (GOOG).  (NYTimes)

Amazon (AMZN) wants to get increasingly global.  (FT)

Why doesn’t Netflix (NFLX) have more competition?  (Kid Dynamite)

PayPal is growing on the mobile front.  (NYTimes)

Sign of the times?  High profile analyst Mary Meeker moves to Kleiner Perkins.  (WSJ, SAI, Fortune)

Finance

Blackrock (BLK) is losing ETF share (and revenues).  (InvestmentNews)

A (two-tier) proposal for money market mutual fund reform.  (Economics of Contempt)

Wall Street is pulling back from the credit default swap business.  (Bloomberg)

OptionsXpress (OPXS) issues a special dividend.  Sign of a trend?  (24/7 Wall St.)

Insider trading

The US is not alone in cracking down on insider trading.  (FT)

How much of the insider trading mess is going to stick to mutual funds?  (Bloomberg)

The many ways in which the stock market isn’t fair.  (Fortune Finance)

Research vs. insider trading:  a guide.  (The Reformed Broker)

Economy

QE2 is unlikely to create much in the way of inflation.  (Econbrowser)

The recent improvement in economic news.  (Calculated Risk)

The housing recovery is nowhere to be seen.  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

The shopping season is off to a decent start.  (WSJ, Money Game, Big Picture, Atlantic Business)

How emerging markets, especially China, combat inflation will be telling.  (WSJ, Lex, FT Alphaville, Money Game)

Euroland

The Irish bailout is complete.  The EU tries to finesse future bailouts.   (Bloomberg, WSJ)

Three (or four) scenarios for Euroland.  (Baseline Scenario, Credit Writedowns, also Megan McArdle)

It looks like it may take a second crisis to tear the Euro apart.  (The Source)

Why do bondholders keep wining in the bailout game?  (Fund My Mutual Fund)

Just because

On the art of getting some one else to donate to a charity.  (footnoted)

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