Quote of the day

“Although the momentum effect has been amply documented it has never been properly explained.”  (Economist)

Chart of the day

The dismal state of the employment recovery.  (Calculated Risk)

Markets

Not a great start to the year.  (AlphaTrends)

Market breadth seems to be petering out.  (Bespoke)

The bear case from David Rosenberg.  (Big Picture)

Rydex market timers are bullish.  (The Technical Take)

What is Mr. Market telling us at the moment?  (Derek Hernquist)

A simple look at equity market seasonality.  (CXO Advisory Group)

A review of distressed debt in 2010.  (Distressed Debt Investing)

Strategy and Tactics

“The market can b*tchslap you any which way and you really have to protect yourself.  Do your research and don’t trade on emotion like I just did.”  (Market Shot)

Hedge funds own a ton of these ten stocks.  (Insider Monkey)

On the swamp that is reverse convertibles.  (The Reformed Broker)

Why a bet on penny stocks is a losing bet.  (Falkenblog)

A look at the state of the catastrophe bond market.  (Dealbook)

Companies

How does Motorola Mobility (MMI) move forward in the Android age?  (Asymco)

How do you value the tobacco companies if everyone eventually stops smoking?  (FT Alphaville)

The importance of video to Amazon (AMZN).  (WSJ)

High dividend yields on big pharma attract investors, but do they also represent a trap as well?  (AR Screencast)

Goldbook

What is Facebook really worth?  (SAI, Institutional Investor)

No surprise here.  Facebook will either disclose its financials or IPO in 2012.  (WSJ, Deal Journal, Dealbook)

Goldman Sachs (GS) is in a win-win situation with Facebook.  (NetNet also Curious Capitalist)

Finance

One way to eliminate the ratings agencies.  (Aleph Blog also Atlantic Business)

Algorithmic trading continues to grow as a percentage of forex volume.  (Econbrowser)

ARTV on the benefits of financial blogging.  (Abnormal Returns)

On the essential aesthetics of financial blogging. (TRB)

Global

When will the market wake up to risk of a deeper Euro crisis? (SurlyTrader)

Can Africa outgrow Asia?  (Economist)

The ten riskiest (and safest) sovereign credits.  (Alea, FT Alphaville)

On the influence of demographics on Japan.  (Project Syndicate)

Economy

More jobs, just not enough.  (EconomPic Data, WSJ, FT Alphaville, Felix Salmon, Real Time Economics, Mark Thoma, CBP)

Stop dissing the ADP employment report!  (Money Game)

NFP aside, why the labor market is getting better.  (Gavyn Davies)

Rail traffic continues to be robust.  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

What did the Volcker era ultimately add up to?  (Street Sweep)

Just because

What do you call a broker who defrauds nuns?  (NetNet, Floyd Norris)

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