Quote of the day
Richard Thaler, “So here is some advice for companies. First, before taking some action, consider whether you would be willing to publicly announce the policy to your customers. If not, don’t do it.” (Bloomberg)
Chart of the day
Caterpillar ($CAT) is the new market bellwether. (Reformed Broker also FT, MarketBeat)
Markets
J.C. Parets, “Are we overbought? Sure. So what.” (All Star Charts)
Five risk-on indicators are all pointing up at the moment. (Ivanhoff Capital)
The bears have stepped aside for now. (Bespoke, Pragmatic Capitalism)
Gold hearts the Fed. (Total Return, Bespoke)
Strategy
“(S)hort-term option hedges are a lot cheaper than longer term option hedges.” (SurlyTrader)
The two realistic choices for asset allocation. (Systematic Relative Strength)
Lessons learned from the rise and fall and rise again of the Harvard endowment fund. (Financial Advisor)
Companies
What does Netflix ($NFLX) want to be when it grows up? (AllThingsD)
John Carney, “It’s tempting to think of Apple’s cash hoard as a shield it can hide behind in tough times. But that’s not quite right. It’s more like a sword — a weapon to strike against weaker rivals.” (NetNet)
The one area where Apple’s management is failing miserably. (Slate)
Finance
High frequency trading is moving beyond the equity markets. (Institutional Investor)
Regulators really don’t understand how trading works. (Points and Figures)
Who is David Einhorn kidding? (Kid Dynamite)
Ah, the irony. Even as private equity comes under fire, public pension funds pour more money in. (WSJ)
Mark Andreessen has big plans these days. (Dealbook)
Personal finance
The “megatrend” that is likely to break the Wall Street brokerage model. (Financial Adviser)
401(k) investors can be pushed to save more without too much complaint. (Total Return)
The ongoing saga of Suze Orman’s investing guru. (Total Return)
Funds
How do fundamental indices for sovereign bonds change the developed/emerging mix? (IndexUniverse)
US money market funds are dipping their toes back into European banks. (FT Alphaville)
Global
How a persistently strong Aussie dollar may affect the domestic economy. (FT)
European banks are necessarily tied to the fates of their sovereign nations. (Clusterstock)
Portugal is defying the trend toward tighter PIIGS spreads. (Calafia Beach Pundit)
2012 is looking like the year of BRIC (and Egypt). (beyondbrics, ibid)
A look at big, global demographic trends. (Crackerjack Finance)
Economy
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index is showing growth. (Money Game, MarketBeat)
Average weekly initial unemployment claims continue to decline. (Calculated Risk)
Low natural gas prices don’t help the economy that much if no one takes advantage. (WSJ)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
What you missed in our Thursday morning linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
Mixed media
A podcast with Jonah Lehrer talking about why brainstorming doesn’t work. (New Yorker)
The 10 keys to selling anything. (James Altucher)
In praise of wearing pajamas in public. (Slate)
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