Quote of the day

Tom Brakke, “Creating a stable and capable research department is no easy task.”  (the research puzzle)

Chart of the day

How long can oil and transports go in the same direction?  (MarketBeat)

Markets

With the market at new highs, where did all the bulls go?  (Bespoke, Pragmatic Capitalism, Globe Investor)

The US dollar is on track to revisit 2008 lows.  (Dragonfly Capital)

BDCs are hot enough to attract an ETN.  Does that imply a return to normalcy?  (IndexUniverse)

Strategy

On the use of put spreads as a hedge.  (SurlyTrader)

Another example of how overbought markets can go even higher.  (Investing With Options)

ETFs that let investors play timberland.  (ETFdb)

Companies

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) and ExxonMobil (XOM) are printing money.  (The Source, MarketBeat)

Why buy natural gas when you can buy companies that benefit from low prices?  (chessNwine)

Why the US hospital industry is likely to further consolidate.  (Economist)

CME Group (CME) beats.  Market yawns.  (Focus on Funds, @pointsnfigures)

Berkshire Hathaway

A Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) annual meeting preview.  (24/7 Wall St.)

The Sokol report has opened up a broader discussion about Berkshire’s corporate culture.  (Alice Schroeder)

Some (legal) advice for David Sokol.  (Dealbook, Aleph Blog)

Why David Sokol’s ouster was a shock to many.  (Businessweek)

Finance

Getting rid of credit ratings for regulatory purposes is proving difficult.  (WashingtonPost)

The banks are the continued beneficiary of the Fed’s low-interest rate policies.  (Big Picture)

Should Pimco clients be worried about the company’s proposed actively managed Total Return ETF?  (Morningstar)

A look at the Carlyle Group in anticipation of an IPO.  (Economist)

Global

How is the UK’s experiment in fiscal austerity working out?  (Marginal Revolution)

Even the Swiss Franc is down in gold terms.  (Economist)

BRYuKI are the new, new BRICS.  (Schott’s Vocab)

Economy

Why Q1 GDP growth slowed to below 2.0%.  (FT Alphaville, EconomPic Data, Calculated Risk, Economist’s View)

Jobless claims have stopped going down and are picking back up again. (Bloomberg, Capital Spectator, Calculated Risk)

Henry Blodget on why the economy sucks.  (Business Insider also Curious Capitalist)

More reflections on the Bernanke press conference.  (Gavyn Davies)

Who’s pocket is the Fed picking?  (Buttonwood)

Still waiting for housing and business investment to kick in.  (Econbrowser, Calculated Risk)

How technology affects prices paid.  (Big Picture)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

US GDP growth may be disappointing of late, but the rail sector continues to chug along just fine.  (AR Screencast)

Check out what you missed in our Thursday morning linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

Aswath Damodaran’s The Little Book of Valuation “is a gem.”  (Reading the Markets)

Another way big investors play the grain markets:  buying silos.  (Climateer Investing)

We will not be talking about the issue of iPhone location issue a couple weeks from now.  (TechCrunch, CNNMoney)

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

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.