Quote of the day

Sean McLaughlin, “I write this blog for me. I don’t sell anything. There are no ads. I am not inviting you to seminars.”  (The Minimalist Trader)

Chart of the day

Spot silver hits a 30-year high.  (WSJ)

Markets

Why isn’t the VIX much lower?  (Bespoke also Businessweek)

Putting the last two years of stock market returns into perspective.  (Systematic Relative Strength)

Putting some numbers on the start the stock market is off to in 2011.  (Bespoke)

The quiet recovery in REIT performance.  (All About Alpha)

Has the ‘Bernanke Put’ caused commodity market instability?  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

Strategy

Just how much shareholder value has a company like Cisco (CSCO) created (or destroyed)?  (Felix Salmon, Systematic Relative Strength)

On the challenge of learning spread trading.  (Simple Quant also Dynamic Hedge)

On the parallels between jumping off a cliff and trading.  (Bigger Capital)

An argument for options traders using options-focused brokers.  (Options for Rookies)

Companies

Another bidder for NYSE Euronext (NYX)?  (Dealbook)

Apple (AAPL) is looking to build a cheaper iPhone, not a smaller one.  (NYTimes, Apple 2.0)

Is the worst over for AllianceBernstein (AB)?  (Fortune)

Nordstrom (JWN) buys HauteLook.  Is ‘bricks and clicks’ back?  (Dealbook, ibid)

A tale of the tape:  LinkedIn vs. Pandora.  (Venture Capital Dispatch)

Zynga is laying the groundwork for a public offering.  (Dealbook)

Finance

Daniel Gross, “Unfamiliarity with the product hasn’t stopped Wall Street from cashing in on new trends before.”  (Yahoo! Finance)

There are venture firms that invest in consumer Internet, and the rest…  (WSJ also VentureBeat, Howard Lindzon)

Activist investors are feeling it.  (Reuters)

Our infrastructure desperately needs help…privatization any one?  (Term Sheet)

Pricing thousands of small and illiquid muni bonds is tougher than it looks.  (WSJ)

Should we be worried that the muni establishment is united in its confidence?  (NetNet)

Global

China continues to tighten, this time bank reserve requirements.  (Bloomberg)

Jack H. Barnes, “Germany is not immune to a banking crisis of its own.”  (Confessions of a Macro Contrarian)

Inside the success of China’s Twitter-like service Weibo.  (Businessweek)

Alternative investments are taking hold in Brazil.  (Economist)

Check out the bull market in Mongolia. (beyondbrics)

Economy

Have we seen the low in inflation for this cycle?  (Calafia Beach Pundit, EconomPic Data, Real Time Economics)

Are higher gasoline prices set to choke off the economic recovery?  (Bonddad Blog, ibid also Street Sweep)

MZM is unchanged for two years.  (A Dash of Insight)

No matter how you slice it cyclical unemployment is still too high.  (Gavyn Davies)

The online retailing-state tax story is not going away any time soon.  (Ezra Klein)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

A day in the life of the ETF industry: fund costs drop while another specialty ETF launches.  (AR Screencast)

Our Friday morning live link look-in.  (Abnormal Returns)

ARTV with Emily Lambert.  We talk the history of the futures markets and ongoing exchange mergers.  (Abnormal Returns)

Errata

Sculpting your information sources.  (StockTwitsFX)

Use a tablet, save a tree.  (The Reformed Broker also Kid Dynamite)

How to craft a “cool and impressive” Twitter bio.  (A Bajillion Hits via kottke)

Thanks for checking in with Abnormal Returns. For all the latest you can follow us on StockTwits and Twitter.

This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment.

The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client.

References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.

Please see disclosures here.

Please see the Terms & Conditions page for a full disclaimer.