Quote of the day
Stephen Gandel, “Madoff investors might not get all of their money back, but they are likely to get far more than the pennies that was once predicted.” (Curious Capitalist)
Chart of the day
Energy has been outperforming of late. (Bespoke)
Markets
The thinking man’s bear, David Rosenberg, is sounding almost bullish. (Money Game, The Reformed Broker)
Retail traders are buying calls hand over fist. (Trader’s Narrative)
The many definitions of a Santa Claus rally. (Mark Hulbert)
The bond market sell-off is accelerating. (AR Screencast)
Why traders love the new weekly options. (InvestorPlace)
There is still no fear of an “upside blowout” in gold. (Investing With Options)
Conflict cocoa is helping out “Chocfinger.” (MartinKronicle)
Strategy and Tactics
Analyzing hedge fund (returns) is harder than it looks. (Market Folly)
Which gold ETF is best for you? (Herb Greenberg)
What the “risk on” trade hath wrought. (The Source)
A letter to a young analyst. (the research puzzle)
Be prepared. You never know when inspiration might strike. (StockTwitsU)
How uncertainty affects our brains. (The Frontal Cortex)
Nassim Taleb imitates Kanye West. (Falkenblog)
Companies
Has the New York Times (NYT) turned the corner? (Henry Blodget)
A Borders (BGP)-Barnes & Nobles (BKS) deal has a multitude of hurdles to cross, but why do we care at all? (Deal Journal, Term Sheet)
More ethical questions being raised about how the J Crew (JCG) buyout went down. (24/7 Wall St., WSJ, Deal Journal)
Wal-Mart (WMT) is competing against tougher competition in the grocery biz. (YCharts Blog)
The US is getting out of the Citigroup (C) business, at a profit. (WSJ, Deal Journal)
Yahoo! Finance hooks up with StockTwits. (TechCrunch, Howard Lindzon, TRB, Big Picture, Mashable)
Finance
Andrew Ross Sorkin, “(I)n the two years since the peak of the financial crisis, the government has not brought one criminal case against a big-time corporate official of any sort.” (Dealbook)
Quant-driven hedge funds could be the big winner in the insider trading investigation. (Fortune Finance)
Heidi Moore, “The barbarians at the gate look more like beggars at the gate.” (Dealbook)
Companies should pay a dividend based on performance, not past performance. (Fortune Finance)
Think before you click, on financial ads that is. (Stone Street Advisors)
Economy
The newly reached tax deal as an imperfect second stimulus. (Economix, Felix Salmon, naked capitalism, Free exchange, Economist’s View, Pragmatic Capitalism, Rational Irrationality, Street Sweep, Greg Mankiw)
TARP worked. The details are not surprisingly messier than we would have liked. (Modeled Behavior)
There are few signs of inflation. (FRBSF)
Putting Ben Bernanke’s statements into some historical perspective. (TheStreet)
Jobs openings are on the rise. (Big Picture)
Diesel consumption is sluggish. Cause for concern? (Calculated Risk, WSJ)
Rail activity has gotten sluggish of late. (Calculated Risk, Money Game)
What the global PMI surveys are telling us about economic activity. (Investment Postcards, EconomPic Data)
Salaries have replaced investment income as the source of high incomes. (Wealth Report)
Global
On the disconnect between commodities and Chinese equities. (Data Diary)
Germany is building a “firewall” from peripheral country debt issues. (FT Alphaville also The Source)
Will Poland rethink the Euro? (Capital Spectator)
Iceland is recovering. (NYTimes)
Brazilian consumers are on a bit of a spending spree. (Lex)
Canada keeps its benchmark rate at 1% for now. (Globe and Mail)
140 years of global financial crises. What factors matter? (FT Alphaville)
Just because
20 best cover songs of 2010. (Paste Magazine)
Thanks for checking in with Abnormal Returns. For all the latest you can follow us on StockTwits and Twitter.
