Quote of the day

Jesse Eisinger, “Just as it’s clear that not all bankers were guilty of crimes in the lead-up to the crisis, it strains credulity to contend no one was. ”  (Dealbook)

Chart of the day

On the state of short-term mean reversion.  (MarketSci Blog)

Markets

The Arms Index is extremely overbought.  (Big Picture)

Why now might be a better time to invest than near the bottom.  (A Dash of Insight)

Does volume need to pick up in equities before a top is reached?  (Money Game)

The trend in oil stocks remains up for now.  (Barron’s)

Reviewing the gold sentiment picture.  (Trader’s Narrative)

Finding uncorrelated markets these days is difficult, but not impossible.  (AR Screencast)

Daytrading is alive…in China.  (NYTimes)

Bonds

Say goodbye to the bond bubble.  (Mean Street, Systematic Relative Strength)

Applying Occam’s Razor to the back up in yields.  (Money Game, Free exchange, FT Alphaville, The Learning Curve earlier AR Screencast)

The bond market vigilantes are feeling it of late.  (My Investment Analysis)

Have you checked out the back-up in mortgage rates?  (Lex, Money Game, Atlantic Business)

Strategy and Tactics

What good are sentiment surveys?  (Abnormal Returns)

Bearish sentiment sells newspapers.  (Dynamic Hedge)

Richard Bernstein’s 11 themes for 2011.  (Big Picture also Pragmatic Capitalism)

On the value of “forwardtesting” an investment strategy.  (StockTwits U)

Tom Brakke, “..sorting out the drivel from the good stuff is an apt definition of what this business is all about.”  (the research puzzle)

Mike Bellafiore, “Maybe we need to get used to a more volatile market until we straighten out the fundamentals of our economy and world politics.”  (SMB Training)

John Carney, “Personal finance journalism is like a magical mirror that reflects back at the reader a slightly smarter and better looking version of himself.”  (NetNet)

On the challenges of profiting on a “doomsday trade.”  (Points and Figures)

ETFs

Not all high dividend ETFs are created equally.  (Morningstar)

The RBS US Large Cap Trendpilot ETN (TRND) uses the S&P 500 200 day moving average as a timing signal. (IndexUniverse)

The ultimate proof of concept for fundamental indices:  the launch of the ProShares RAFI Long/Short ETF (RALS).  (IndexUniverse)

We will soon find out the demand out there for a physical copper ETF.  (IndexUniverse, ibid)

Companies

YUM Brands (YUM) as a play on Chinese growth.  (YCharts Blog)

The rising cost of oil on airlines, and a new airline ETF.  (Morningstar, ETF Daily News)

All eyes are on the spirits business of Fortune Brands (FO). (Dealbook, FT Alphaville)

How big can Redbox, i.e. Coinstar (CSTR) get?  (Eric Savitz)

Finance

Why Bank of America (BAC) should split itself into five pieces.  (Deal Journal)

For all those hankering for an AIG (AIG) secondary in 2011.  (WashingtonPost, MarketBeat)

Jeff Carter, “Fragmented markets also lead to less investor confidence.  (Clusterstock)

Playing buzzword bingo with the latest Chinese IPOs.  (Kid Dynamite)

The banks are planning their own FX trading platform.  (WSJ)

Economy

Weekly unemployment claims continue to drop, albeit slowly.  (Calculated Risk, Bloomberg)

The unrelenting rise in US manufacturing productivity.  (ValuePlays)

The puzzle of consumer spending.  (Lex)

Rail traffic surges.  (ValuePlays, Pragmatic Capitalism)

On the biggest threat to America’s continued leadership in technology.  (Felix Salmon)

What role has monetary policy played in the boom in farmland prices?  (WSJ)

What are consumers going to do with the extra few bucks in their pocket from the payroll tax?  (NetNet)

Worth a read

A rave review for All The Devils Are Here.  (Aleph Blog)

Part 2 of a conversation with Scott Patterson, author of The Quants.  (Big Picture)

The case for gifting stock during the holidays.  (Financial Adviser)

Just because

Scott Adams, “I welcome my hacker overlords.”  (Dilbert Blog also NYTimes)

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