Quote of the day

James Picerno, “Don’t confuse the business demands of the media industry with prudent investing advice.”  (Capital Spectator)

Chart of the day

“Worldwide ETP assets increased 6.9% during the first quarter, led by the U.S., which eclipsed $1 trillion for the first time.”  (Pensions & Investments)

Markets

Lumber down.  Homebuilders up.  (All Star Charts)

Of what use is the gold/silver ratio?  (Afraid to Trade)

Natural gas and the resurgence in the US chemical industry.  (WSJ)

How the oil futures curve can inform decisions about the oil sector.  (MarketBeat)

Enough with the Internet bubble talk!  (Eric Jackson)

Strategy

How balanced funds help investors from hurting themselves.  (Morningstar, Falkenblog)

How fundamental indices put you in synch with what long/short hedge funds do.  (Pension Pulse)

On what matters for fund selection.  (Morningstar)

How to use the new sovereign spread futures contracts.  (Minyanville)

Warren Buffett

Roger Lowenstein, “If the Sokol affair proved anything, it is that the 80-year-old Buffett should not be excused from the independent scrutiny to which other CEOs are subject.” (Newsweek)

How much goodwill does Warren Buffett have in the bank?  (Reuters)

Some notes from a meeting of Warren Buffett with MBA students.  (market folly)

Finance

Why the catastrophe bond market is so small.  (Felix Salmon)

Why “stockbrokers” are a dying breed.  (Financial Adviser)

An audio version of The Intelligent Investor.  (Old School Value)

Apple

Apple (AAPL) as a PEG outlier.  (Asymco)

The rise of the iPhone, via the Apple 10-Q.  (footnoted)

Economy

How will the Fed tighten?  (WSJ, ibid)

Was QE2 a disappointment?  (Free exchange, Pragmatic Capitalism)

Are houses cheap or not?  (Big Picture)

New homes are getting stale on the shelves.  (Bespoke, Atlantic Wire)

“Consider for a moment a world without marketing hype. ”  (Dan Ariely)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Why you likely have no business trading silver.  (AR Screencast)

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

Mixed media

Why picking a QB in the NFL draft is so difficult.  (NFL via Freakonomics)

The lessons the news business has yet to learn.  (BuzzMachine)

What Joe Weisenthal reads. (Atlantic Wire)

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