Quote of the day

Josh Brown, “Don’t buy penny stocks.”  (The Reformed Broker)

Chart of the day

The rise in Ponzi schemes in America.  (Economist)

Markets

The “dumb money” is in junk bonds.  (Aleph Blog)

FX traders can’t key off of short term interest rates these days.  (The Source)

Another sign stock correlations are coming down.  (MarketBeat)

Beware the magazine cover lauding government officials.  (Market Antrhopology also Global Macro Monitor)

Strategy

Can you sum up your investing philosophy in ten words?  (Total Return)

Phil Pearlman on the advantages of day trading.  (Globe and Mail)

Inside one traders’ “trading cave.”  (Crosshairs Trader)

On the importance of “intellectual flexibility.”  (Farnam Street)

Earthmover indicator

Why should we think Caterpillar ($CAT) can do a better job of forecasting the global economy than anyone else?  (Risk and Return)

What the “China earthmover indicator” says about the economy.  (beyondbrics)

Companies

Bullish on China?  Buy Starbucks ($SBUX).  (Money Game)

JC Penney ($JCP) has a $2 billion CEO.  (Bespoke)

Have Home Depot ($HD) and Lowe’s ($LOW) gotten ahead themselves in hopes of a housing revival?  (WSJ)

The case for Hewlett-Packard ($HPQ) stock.  (YCharts Blog)

Apple ($AAPL) options are pricing in pretty low volatility post-earnings.  (Tyler’s Trading)

Management always gets paid…even in bankruptcy.  (WSJ)

Finance

Where to put your cash?  Looking to startups.  (Points and Figures)

Good advice for any company approached by an acquisitive competitor.  (Deal Journal)

Are smart, young graduates still going to sign up for the rigors of the investment banking life?  (FT Alphaville)

ETFs

The Permanent Portfolio guys are rolling out an ETF.  (World Beta)

Just in case you thought mutual funds still had a future.  (Six Figure Investing)

The oil sands are in the news, hence an ETF.  (IndexUniverse)

Is there any proof that ETFs have increased market volatility?  (Fortune)

Global

Europe’s banks would do well to examine the example of the US’ “dry run” last year leading up a potential government default.  (FT)

An ominous switch in Portugal CDS pricing.  (FT Alphaville also Sober Look)

Poland is a growth standout in Europe.  (beyondbrics)

Looking for a change in trend for the Japanese Yen.  (MarketBeat)

Economy

4Q GDP comes in below 3% growth.  (Calculated Risk, Money Game, Capital Spectator, EconomPic Data, Economist’s View, Real Time Economics)

Checking in on the recovery.  (Modeled Behavior)

The ECRI WLI continues to recover.  (MarketBeat)

Rail traffic is settling in at a positive growth rate.  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

A look at the new, new index of leading economic indicators.  (EconomPic Data)

The end of America’s coal era is near.  (Economist)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

Author talk

Do hedge fund work?  A Q&A with Simon Lack author of the The Hedge Fund Mirage: The Illusion of Big Money and Why It’s Too Good to Be True.  (All About Alpha)

A Q&A with George Szpiro author of Pricing the Future: Finance, Physics, and the 300-year Journey to the Black-Scholes Equation. (Forbes)

Michael Martin talks with Jared Dillian author of Street Freak: Money and Madness at Lehman Brothers.  (Martin Kronicle)

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