Quote of the day

Josh Brown, “Broker-sold private placements are death.”  (The Reformed Broker)

Chart of the day

By this model Apple ($AAPL) should already be at $500.  (Asymco)

Markets

When bears turn into bulls, look out.  (MarketBeat)

Corporate insiders have stepped up their selling.  (Market Montage)

2012 is to-date the year of the dividend.  (MarketBeat)

Investors just can’t quit emerging market equity funds.  (Morningstar)

Why is the Euro still overvalued?  (Fatas & Mihov via EV)

Strategy

Jeremy Grantham hates bonds.  (The Source)

Should investors follow multiple asset allocation models?  (Aleph Blog)

A look at the joint performance of the $SPY and the $VIX.  (VIX and More)

Adding up the Sector SPDRs doth not the SPY make.  (IndexUniverse)

Companies

Google ($GOOG) has a “me-too” problem.  (GigaOM)

The real battle brewing between Apple and Google:  mobile search.  (AllThingsD)

Some big tech companies are playing catch-up in the cloud computing space.  (peHUB)

How the mechanics of the Facebook IPO is going to lead to a $100 billion valuation.  (Dealbook)

Housing deal

Trying to get some sense for the practical impact of the mortgage settlement on the housing market.  (Calculated Risk, Huffington Post, FT Alphaville, WSJ, Bloomberg)

Not surprisingly the banks won the settlement negotiations.  (Credit Slips, Huffington Post)

Economy

A pause in the upswing in consumer sentiment.  (Calculated Risk, Capital Spectator)

Will inequality keep getting worse?  (Megan McArdle)

How affordable are houses?  (Bondad Blog)

Why the ‘sheepskin effect‘ is real and long-lasting.  (Modeled Behavior)

The geography of dollar stores.  (The Atlantic)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

Mixed media

An interview with Yves Smith of naked capitalism fame.  (FT Alphaville)

Guinness’ contribution to statistical analysis.  (Wonkblog)

Are successful people nice?  (HBR)

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