In case you weren’t up to speed we have been producing an early morning edition of our linkfest.  Make sure not to miss it.

Quote of the day

Jeff Carter, “Eventually, when all the M+A is finished, there will be 3-4 worldwide exchanges.”  (Points and Figures)

Chart of the day

How the market’s expectations for Fed rate increases has evolved over time.  (FT Alphaville)

Markets

The S&P 500 is some 14% above its 200 day moving average.  (Trader’s Narrative also Bespoke)

Another look at key levels in the ten-year Treasury bond.  (EconomPic Data also Money Game, StockCharts)

Commodity bubble or simply higher prices?  (SurlyTrader, Fortune Finance, MartinKronicle)

Emerging market P/E ratios.  (Clusterstock)

The muni bond landscape.  (WSJ)

The public markets are bailing out some bad bets by private equity.  (Bloomberg also Dealbook, BW)

Signs of trouble in the “Tiger Tribe.”  (Institutional Investor)

Strategy

Bill Nygren, “I still believe that as most investors focus on the macro it creates more micro opportunities.”  (Morningstar)

Volume can indicate the market’s difference of opinion.  (Derek Hernquist)

Microcap ETFs are hot, except when it comes to tracking error.  (Morningstar)

Volatility vehicles can act as a hedge, but at a high cost.  (Capital Spectator)

Hedge funds often have to make the decision:  step on the gas or shift into neutral?  (All About Alpha)

Does shorting leveraged ETF pairs work?  (CXO Advisory Group)

Four and a half myths about beta in finance. (Portfolio Probe)

How time-varying issuer quality affects future corporate bond returns.  (SSRN)

Companies

The investment case for JC Penney (JCP) via Bill Ackman.  (market folly)

Apple (AAPL) stock, earnings, options and the odds of a split.  (Crossing Wall Street, InvestorPlace, Apple 2.0)

It’s alive!  iPad 2 starts production.  (WSJ)

AOL (AOL) has only one hope:  focus on the content business and cut costs.  (SAI also Slate, Capital Observer)

Nokia’s (NOK) new CEO recognizes the problem.  Does he have a solution?  (Business Insider, Engadget)

Big oil is pushing the move towards natural gas.  (The Source)

Finance

The London and Toronto stock exchanges are merging.  (WSJ, Bloomberg, FT Alphaville, Dealbook, Globe and Mail, The Source)

Global

Why China should worry about what is going in in Egypt.  (Project Syndicate)

Cullen Roche, “China has vowed to combat inflation, however, there are little to no signs that they are serious about tackling the issue.”  (Pragmatic Capitalism also WSJ)

Shiller thinks Canada’s economic success is a bit of a fluke.  (Financial Post)

Saudi oil reserves may be overstated by some 40%.  (Econbrowser)

Economy

To be clear, inflation is a generalized rise in prices.  (macroblog also MarketBeat, beyondbrics)

The ongoing rail recovery.  (Money Game, Calculated Risk)

Diesel consumption dipped in January.  (Calculated Risk)

If we have entered a period of relative stagnation, do we need to give science a nudge?  (Free exchange)

Errata

Are your current news sources really providing you information or opinion?  (the research puzzle)

Humans are “articulate confabulators” looking to confirm our biases and prejudices.  (Falkenblog)

Chicago Cubs attendance is more sensitive to beer prices than wins & losses.  (Economix)

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