Quote of the day

“The longer Europe muddles through, the more banks’ demands on the ECB will grow.”  (Free exchange also Felix Salmon)

Chart of the day

The slow bleed in the $VIX accelerates. (Bespoke, CBP)

Markets

The silver/gold ratio points towards a lower S&P 500.  (Dragonfly Capital)

How the stock market historically performs around the New Year.  (CXO Advisory Group)

The stock market is filled with unfollowed gems.  (Crossing Wall Street)

The market is already well aware of the home remodeling boom.  (TheArmoTrader)

Do we want a President is so actively betting on economic catastrophe in his portfolio?  (Total Return)

Strategy

Why are people making such a big deal of dividend stocks outperforming?  (Big Picture)

11 dividend streaks set to end.  (Dynamic Dividend also Income Investing)

Is Ray Dalio the Steve Jobs of investing?  (ValueWalk)

Can you teach trading without actually trading?  (bclund)

Technology

Apple ($AAPL) vs. Research in Motion ($RIMM):  a study in earning estimate contrasts.  (Asymco)

What can Yahoo! ($YHOO) actually get for its Asian assets?  (SAI, ibid)

Can Oracle ($ORCL) really grow earnings over the long run at a 15% rate?  (research puzzle pix)

The startup world does not need premature Internet IPOs.  (A VC)

Finance

M&A activity “collapsed” in the Q4.  (FT)

What exactly is “bank capital” these days?  (Dealbreaker, Aleph Blog)

Bank of America ($BAC) is a perfect example of why you can’t mimic Warren Buffett.  (DailyFinance)

Is the CBOE ($CBOE) running low on potential “dance partners”?  (Deal Journal)

Funds

Distressed debt investing themes for 2012.  (Distressed Debt Investing)

US money market funds want nothing to do with core European banks.  (FT Alphaville)

The growing problem of ‘zombie’ ETFs.  (WSJ also IndexUniverse)

Economy

Weekly initial unemployment claims continue to ebb.  (Capital Spectator)

3Q GDP is finally in the books.  (Bloomberg, WSJ, Crossing Wall Street, EconomPic Data)

The Philly Fed Index improves.  (Calculated Risk)

Trucking volume picked up in November.  (Calculated Risk)

Rail traffic holds tough.  (ValuePlays)

Have positive economic surprises been played out?  (MarketBeat, The Atlantic)

How warmer weather could affect the economy (and its statistics).  (Crackerjack Finance)

Economy

The employment economy is not signaling a recession.  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

Without more investment don’t expect the unemployment rate to drop.  (Money Game)

The most important graphs of 2011.  (The Atlantic also Money Game)

The LEI vs. ECRI:  a divergence based on bond yields.  (Bonddad Blog)

Why ZIRP doesn’t work.  (Felix Salmon)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

Mixed media

Can Funny or Die become a real business?  (Bloomberg)

The top psychology and philosophy books of 2011, including Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow.  (Brain Pickings)

How to minimize your holiday stress.  (The Atlantic)

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