Quote of the day
Interloper, “(N)o one regards the current state of financial regulation as optimal. ” (Interloper)
Chart of the day

Is $100 oil going to bring the economy down again? (FT Alphaville also Finance Addict, Climateer Investing)
Markets
Always interesting to look at S&P 500 sector weightings. (Bespoke)
Parsing the S&P 500/VIX relationship to an even greater degree. (EconomPic Data, VIX and More)
The price of natural gas just keeps on falling. (Money Game)
The big drop in real yields drove Treasury rates in 2011. (Economic Musings)
The trend towards de-equitisation continued apace in 2011. (Bloomberg)
Strategy
What assets are relatively safe in an era of “financial repression.” (The Psy-Fi Blog)
China is the new Europe, at least for now. (The Reformed Broker, MarketBeat)
A look at January options expiration weeks. (Quantifiable Edges)
What to do when the range of possible outcomes is large. (Systematic Relative Strength)
Companies
Hewlett Packard ($HPQ) still has a big problem: a dysfunctional board. (Eric Jackson)
Why has Sears Holdings ($SHLD) spent so much for its own shares? (Jeff Matthews also MarketBeat)
On waiting for the turnaround at eBay ($EBAY). (Fortune)
Finance
The man behind Wall Street bonuses wishes they were lower. (NYTimes)
Morgan Stanley ($MS) caps cash bonuses. (WSJ, FT)
In defense of private equity. (Dealbook)
Thank Mitt Romney for the return of the carried interest debate. (The Atlantic, Wonkblog)
How do states justify an 8% return assumption on their pension funds? (Free exchange)
Hedge funds
The number of hedge fund of funds keep shrinking. (Institutional Investor)
The shine is off of Eton Park. (Fortune)
Renaissance Technologies just launched a new fund with low fees. (Bloomberg)
Funds
Given the performance of active managers in 2011 they had better hope for a bounceback in 2012. (Big Picture)
The downside of owning a fund every one else is seemingly selling. (research puzzle pix)
Building bond indices when tough when many of the countries may go bust. (WSJ)
Global
London banks shrink but look to renminbi trading to help. (Bloomberg, Dealbook)
Europe should stop freaking out about settling up Greek CDS. (Sober Look)
Economy
Whoever is President in the next term is going to look like a genius. (Wonkblog via Pragmatic Capitalism)
A look at monthly GDP estimates. (Macroeconomic Advisers)
Where is inflation headed? (Pragmatic Capitalism)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
What you missed in our Tuesday morning linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
Mixed media
Nassim Taleb talks “antifragility” with Russ Roberts. (EconTalk)
Reading Denise Shull’s Market Mind Games: A Radical Psychology of Investing, Trading and Risk. (Reading the Markets)
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