This is an early (and incomplete) edition of the daily linkfest. We will catch up with you tomorrow.
Quote of the day
Bud Haslett, “All option strategies have both positive and negative attributes. The key to using options successfully is to make sure the positive attributes are more valuable to you/your client than the negative attributes are detrimental.” (Enterprising Investor)
Chart of the day
Happy third birthday to the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETF ($VXX). (VIX and More also Tyler’s Trading)
Markets
How much longer can corporate profit margins stay at these elevated levels? (Money Game)
Don’t forget that dividend stocks are still stocks. (Fortune)
Four ways to hedge portfolio gains in a low vol environment. (Investing With Options)
Strategy
2011 Investment mea culpas. (Big Picture)
A look at the momentum effect overseas. (Forbes)
Want to understand distressed debt? Follow the money. (Distressed Debt Investing)
On the continued existence of the equity risk premium. (Falkenblog)
Companies
On the limits of corporate cash on the balance sheet. (Aleph Blog)
When is Yahoo! ($YHOO) going to defend its patent portfolio? (Eric Jackson)
Bigger ships equals bigger risks for insurers. (FT)
Finance
Chicken or egg: the case of the ratings agencies and MF Global. (Dealbreaker)
The Volcker Rule has critics….overseas. (Dealbook)
Has the environment turned for the better for long-short equity hedge funds? (Institutional Investor)
Did hedge funds trigger the financial crisis? (NetNet)
ETFs
A comparison of the monthly returns of two VIX ETFs. (VIX and More)
Why buy a complex fund when other alternatives are available? (IndexUniverse)
Global
The collapse in Euro area repos visualized. (Alea)
Canada is running out independent, publicly traded technology companies. (Globe and Mail)
Why Japan might want to intervene to push down the value of the Yen. (Sober Look)
Dealing with three great “global tribes.” (Economist)
Economy
Case-Shiller shows continued erosion in home prices. (Calculated Risk, Real Time Economics)
Why is unemployment duration so long? (FRBSF)
Are federal workers overpaid? (The Atlantic)
The next great debate is going to center on Charles Murray’s Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010
. (NYTimes, Marginal Revolution)
What role should complexity play in the study of modern economies? (Tim Harford)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
What you missed in our Tuesday morning linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
Financial advisers
It only takes one. The Jean Valjean problem for financial advisers. (Josh Brown)
When a financial adviser fires a client. (Total Return)
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