Quote of the day

Bianco Research, “In other words, earnings estimates are becoming less accurate, not more accurate.”  (Big Picture)

Chart of the day

A cool graphic on the dismantling of Harold Geneen’s ITT.  (Fortune)

Markets

Where have all the bulls gone?  (Bespoke)

The market has already voted for a double-dip.  (Money Game)

Are we sure long term Treasury rates can’t go lower?  (Mankiw Blog)

How the media affects our perception of the markets.  (Bigger Capital)

Strategy

Richard Bernstein is in the China bubble camp.  (Marketwatch via TRB)

Time to start thinking about pairs trades again.  (Derek Hernquist)

Thinking about the cause of adverse market timing.  (Vanguard Blog)

Do you need to take a break from Twitter?  (Tyler’s Trading)

Skepticism about the “Twitter hedge fund.”  (Falkenblog)

Active commodity investors need to make sure they are not paying alpha fees for beta exposure.  (Pension Pulse)

LinkedIn

Henry Blodget, “Professional investors think LinkedIn (LNKD) is the next Open Table (OPEN).” (SAI also TechInsidr, TRB, Minyanville)

We would need to see a lot more IPOs to get to frothy levels.  (Phil Pearlman)

Pricing a hot IPO, like LinkedIn, is more art than science.  (SAI, Crossing Wall Street contra BI)

Taking a crack at a valuation of LinkedIn.  (Musings on Markets)

Using the term “bubble” obscures the broader reality of market moves.  (Term Sheet)

Finance

John Carney, “Diversity really is strength in financial systems, just as it is in ecological systems.”  (NetNet)

Why is Citigroup (C) paying up to keep Vikram Pandit?  (Street Sweep)

AIG (AIG) is apparently reaching for yield these days.  (Bloomberg)

The ETF boom continues.  (Ticker Sense)

On the paradox of running a publicly traded asset manager.  (Breakingviews)

What is a ‘death derivative‘?  (Atlantic Business, Aleph Blog)

Global

Japan’s economy is sputtering along.  (EconomPic Data)

Greece is solvent?  Seriously? (Global Macro Monitor)

What the market thinks about the relative risk of emerging markets and the G7.  (Felix Salmon)

Electricity shortages could put a real damper on Asian economic growth this summer.  (Confessions of a Macro Contrarian)

On the extent of the uncertainty surrounding Longtop Financial’s (LFT) financials.  (Bronte Capital also Bloomberg)

Economy

The four-week average of initial unemployment claims remains above 400,000.  (Calculated Risk)

Not so hot numbers from the Philly Fed.  (Real Time Economics)

No matter your thoughts on financial regulation having no one in leadership roles is an issue.  (ProPublica via Big Picture)

What is “financial repression” and is it even feasible as policy?  (Gavyn Davies)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

What you missed in our Thursday morning linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

Are network effects online all that strong?  (SAI)

Why education is important:  it gives you choices.  (Time)

Americans are increasingly waiting to get married.  (Bloomberg)

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