Quote of the day

Dinosaur Trader, “In life and in trading, we’re in a constant state of flux. That’s the universal experience.”  (The Reformed Broker)

Chart of the day


About time.  Cisco (CSCO) initiates a dividend.  (Crossing Wall Street, SAI, MarketBeat)

Markets

Bank dividends are back.  (Street Sweep, Deal Journal, MarketBeat)

Out of volatility comes opportunity.  (NYTimes)

Another example why you should never buy a closed-end fund at a premium.  (the research puzzle)

Strategy

Once again the VXX is not a buy-and-hold vehicle.  (Investing With Options)

How does our genetic makeup affect our attitudes toward financial risk taking?  (CXO Advisory Group)

Five essential steps in (small) hedge fund due diligence.  (Bronte Capital)

Technology

How Groupon gets to a $25 billion valuation.  (TechCrunch, Businessweek)

Ten unusual facts about Google (GOOG).  (Altucher Confidential)

The Google loophole has expanded to include Twitter and Facebook.  (TechCrunch)

Why do we want to pay for stuff with a phone?  (Slate)

Finance

Data-drive startups on the rise.  (Economist)

Just in case you wanted some really specific India ETFs.  (ETFdb, IndexUniverse)

Remember all that cash held overseas? It isn’t coming home without a tax break.  (Businessweek)

Japan

The goings on with the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) during a volatile week.  (FT Alphaville)

How now for the yen?  (The Source)

An example of a cheap Japanese stock.  (hedgefundinvest also Distressed Debt Investing, Old School Value)

Few countries are in a better position to rebuild than Japan.  (NYTimes)

Do Japanese supply disruptions imply ‘stagflation’ for the US economy?  (WSJ, Bloomberg)

What now for reinsurance premiums?  (Economist)

Global

On the Canadian housing bubble.  (Pension Pulse)

Egypt’s stock market is still closed.  MSCI is not happy.  (FT Alphaville)

The situation in Bahrain is to say the least a sticky one for the US.  (FT Alphaville)

Economy

Inflation ticks higher, but its upside is capped.  (Pragmatic Capitalism, Real Time Economics)

The financial crisis has accelerated an inevitable fiscal reckoning.  (Economist)

Don’t think that the worst of the fiscal crisis is behind states and municipalities.  (FT Alphaville)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

A behind-the-scenes look at why (pricing power) Warren Buffett purchased Lubrizol.  (AR Screencast)

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

Mixed media

A linkfest of relevant financial linkfests.  (Davian Letter)

Skyscrapers as a bubble indicator.  (tech ticker)

Salad bar arbitrage.  (NYTimes)

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