Quote of the day

Katie Benner, “Ira Sohn feels a little like the church where people gather to renew their faith in the gospel of hedge fund managers as truth tellers, soothsayers and heroes.”  (Term Sheet)

Chart of the day

Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) keep on finding new ways to compete.  (SAI)

Markets

High yield bonds as indicator of the ‘risk-on’ trade.  (All Star Charts)

Dylan Grice sees value in the world’s crisis spots.  (Marketwatch)

A new class of investors, index funds, has changed the commodity markets.  (FT)

No matter how you slice it corporate profits are still strong.  (Calafia beach Pundit)

Strategy

Bradford Cornell, “Active investing isn’t cheap.”  (Atlantic Business)

You sometimes need a longer time horizon to recognize opportunity.  (ContrarianEdge)

Companies

How to price LinkedIn (LNKD) options.  (Investing With Options)

Why investors continue to shun ‘big tech.’  (Fortune Tech)

Zillow is going to attract some attention with a single-letter stock symbol.  (Bloomberg)

Finance

A review of the explanations behind IPO underpricing.  (Dealbook)

Why are we getting so worked up about the drop in US listings?  (Paul Kedrosky)

We still have a lot to learn about the Fed’s actions in the midst of the financial crisis.  (naked capitalism, Felix Salmon)

Global

A look at sovereign debt default risk.  (Bespoke also Term Sheet)

Are Greek bonds pricing in a massive default?  (Felix Salmon)

Chinese financial fraud now seems to be bank sponsored.  (Floyd Norris)

China has been successful in reducing exports of soaring rare earth metals.  (FT)

Economy

The ECRI WLI continues to roll over.  (MarketBeat)

A steep yield curve is still pointing to economic growth down the road.  (Bloomberg)

Is Washington taking note of economic weakness?  (NYTimes)

A more pessimistic take on economic growth.  (Freakonomics also Free exchange, Economist’s View)

Is the US manufacturing economy doing well or not?  (Modeled Behavior)

Unemployment is coming down the fastest in the Midwest.  (Global Macro Monitor)

Tough times for residential real estate brokers.  (Atlantic Business)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Seasonal market trends are fun to talk about but often have little statistical backing.  (AR Screencast)

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

Mixed media

How much does genetic determinism play in our approach to money and personal finance?  (Megan McArdle)

Fun with Google Correlate.  (Real Time Economics)

Commuting is a killer.  (Slate)

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