Quote of the day

David Merkel, “So avoid complex investments.  Particularly avoid investments that you don’t understand.” (Aleph Blog)

Chart of the day

The carry trade has reversed course.  The case of the DB Currency Harvest ETF (DBV).  (Finviz also Bespoke)

Markets

Bullish sentiment has been erased.  (Pragmatic Capitalism, Bespoke)

The number of stocks above their 50 day moving average have cratered.  (Fund My Mutual Fund)

Ten reasons to keep a daily eye on the markets.  (Dragonfly Capital)

Strategy

What bracketology tells about investment strategy.  (the research puzzle)

A collection of vintage shareholder letters from Seth Klarman.  (market folly)

Estimating small probability events is difficult at best.  (Farnam Street)

Companies

Pfizer (PFE) could spin off its nutrition business.  (Bloomberg)

The battleground that is Apple (AAPL) stock.  (Apple 2.0, The Tech Trade)

Can Groupon grow into its proposed valuation?  (Economist, Deal Journal)

If FedEx (FDX) is an economic bellwether things are okay.  (Bloomberg)

ETFs

Breaking down the various frontier indices.  (IndexUniverse)

Just in time.  The WisdomTree Asia Local Debt Fund (ALD) launches.  (ETFdb)

The Global X S&P/TSX Venture 30 Canada ETF (TSXV) launches with a focus on energy and commodities.  (Focus on Funds)

Another ETF tool worth checking out.  (All ETF)

Finance

No wonder bank CEOs are so interested in upping their dividends.  (NYTimes)

Does the stock market harm investment incentives?  (Finance Professor)

Pension funds love Bridgewater.  (Dealbreaker)

A hiccup on the way to the Glencore IPO.  (Businessweek)

Japan

Japanese equities have never been cheaper compared to the rest of the world.  (Money Game)

Looking for long-term set-ups in Japan.  (Bigger Capital)

Japan’s economy, and its supply chain, are on hold.  (NYTimes)

The earthquake has removed the world’s best savers from the market. (Data Diary)

Should central banks intervene against the run up in the yen?  (Gavyn Davies also The Source)

A wave of anti-nuclear sentiment is driving energy prices higher in Europe.  (The Source, Smart Money Europe)

On the prospects for nuclear energy in the US.  (The Atlantic)

Longer term a demographic decline is a big problem for Japan.  (Mandel on Innovation)

Global

Colombia is now rated investment grade by S&P.  (beyondbrics)

Just how risky is Russia?  (Bloomberg)

Inflation-linked bonds are coming to the emerging markets.  (beyondbrics)

Economy

On the growing gap between headline and core CPI.  (FT Alphaville)

The employment situation gets marginally better.  (Calculated Risk)

Philly Fed comes in hot.  (Real Time Economics)

Rail traffic continues to show growth.  (ValuePlays)

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index continues to point towards growth.  (Atlantic Business)

What industries are experiencing a significant rise in capacity utilization?  (Real Time Economics)

Is economics a science?  (Modeled Behavior)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Volatility reigns in the uranium/nuclear sector but there is more than one way to trade them.  (AR Screencast)

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

Mixed media

Mick Weinstein, “transparency still sucks” in the financial blogosphere.  (Covestor Blog)

Reactions to the New York Times (NYT) second attempt a paywall.  (TechCrunch, Felix Salmon, SAI, Leigh Drogen)

Abnormal Returns is a founding member of the StockTwits Blog Network.