Quote of the day

Chris Dixon, “Predicting the future of the Internet is easy: anything it hasn’t yet dramatically transformed, it will. ”  (cdixon)

Chart of the day

The employment situation remains grim.  (Economist’s View)

Markets

Small investors are still pretty bullish.  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

The muni bond market remains “queasy.”  (WSJ)

VIX option holders need some volatility, like now.  (InvestorPlace)

Dividends?  You want dividends?  Here is your list.  (MarketBeat)

Financial market conditions are pointing toward normalcy.  (Carpe Diem also CBP)

Then again, should we take credit spreads at face value?  (All About Alpha)

Hedge funds

Everybody wants to be a macro hedge fund these days.  (Economist)

Are hedge funds setting themselves up to be ‘systemically important‘?  (NetNet)

A revival of the hedge fund startup boom is unlikely.  (WSJ)

Is Julian Robertson putting the band back together?  (WSJ, Dealbook)

Strategy

Large caps, China and bubble blowing.  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

Not all index funds are created equal.  (Reuters)

Mark Wolfinger, “It’s difficult for many of us to recognize the difference between rigidity and the confidence that our methods work very well.”  (Options for Rookies)

Everybody talks their book, even 50 Cent.  (ProPublica, Fund My Mutual Fund)

“Information, like water and money, is promiscuous, mobile, and free, and I expect the social network of the finance and investing world to continue to metamorphose as frantically as Proteus struggling under the grasp of Menelaus.”   (The Epicurean Dealmaker)

ETFs

ETF fees continue to come down.  (Morningstar, WSJ)

Russell jumps into the ETF business with both feed.  (IndexUniverse)

Charles Schwab (SCHW) is turning into quite the little ETF powerhouse.  (IndexUniverse)

Volatility as an asset class, or why you should learn about all the VIX-related ETPs.  (Barron’s)

Companies

What if Apple (AAPL) were in the Dow instead of Cisco (CSCO)?  (Bespoke)

How Microsoft (MSFT) could pay a much higher dividend.  (Modeled Behavior)

Conglomerates are finding it harder to justify their existence.  (Reuters Breakingviews)

Marathon (MRO) joins the spin-off trend.  (Dealbook)

Finance

We will soon see if the window for private equity IPOs is open.  (Dealbook)

AIG (AIG) is one step closer to a “re-IPO.”  (WSJ)

Why do VCs distribute stock instead of cash?  (Term Sheet)

The PPIP is a mess.  (naked capitalism)

Simon Johnson, “Our big banks have too little capital and are too large…At its heart, the problems in our banking system are about insufficient equity in very big banks.”  (Baseline Scenario)

Euroland

Jack H Barnes, “Belgium is the dark horse in the mix of nations that need a bailout.”  (Confessions of a Macro Contrarian)

Nicholas Hastings, “European bank stocks are now a proxy for the euro, and for risk.”  (The Source)

What if anything can the SNB do to keep down the value of the Swiss franc?  (Bruce Krasting)

Economy

What is going on with jobless claims?  (Calculated Risk, Mark Thoma, Credit Writedowns)

Why did US productivity increase during the recession?  (Worthwhile Canadian Initiative)

Producer prices seem to be revving up.  (Atlantic Business, CBP)

It seems a bit early for commodity prices to be surging at this point in the economic cycle.  (Economist)

Is Illinois biting the tax bullet a sign of things to come?  (SurlyTrader, A Dash of Insight)

The debt ceiling is a “really dumb idea.”  (Money Game)

Errata

In praise of Wikipedia.  (Economist)

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