Quote of the day

Mark Hulbert, “The lesson to learn, therefore, as we approach Nasdaq 3,000: Broad diversification is a Good Thing.”  (Marketwatch)

Chart of the day

Where have all the all-or-nothing days gone?  (Bespoke)

Markets

The Yale Crash Confidence Index still points to nervous investors.  (Bespoke)

Are dividends already becoming passe?  (24/7 Wall St.)

February was a good month for commodities.  (StockCharts Blog)

Strategy

Jeremy Grantham’s ten lessons for investing.  (Market Folly)

A trend following approach to managing an ETF portfolio.  (ETF Trends)

Can you pick individual equities to help combat inflation?  (SSRN)

The mutual fund ratings sites ranked.  (Mutual Fund Observer)

Apple

Is Apple’s ($AAPL) excess cash hurting the company?  (Aswath Damodaran)

Apple is a world unto itself.  (MarketBeat)

Apple is set to throw its weight around in the TV market.  (SAI)

The joy of the iPad.  (GigaOM)

Finance

The Libor market has been rife with collusion for years.  (Bloomberg)

JP Morgan ($JPM) is the new king of commodities.  (Reuters)

Can WealthFront build a new asset management business model?  (Forbes)

ETFs

Have $VIX ETNs broken the market?  (Investing With Options, Kid Dynamite)

A first look at the portfolio of the new Pimco Total Return ETF ($TRXT).  (IndexUniverse)

Sovereign debt

“Privileged institutions” would like to step in front of the average sovereign debt investor.  (Sober Look)

Why would any one buy sovereign CDS now?  (Big Picture, Dealbook contra Felix Salmon, FT Alphaville)

Economy

Should we be all that shocked by the falling labor participation rate?  (Money Game)

The data certainty don’t back up ECRI’s recession call.  (Bonddad Blog)

A read on the dip in rail traffic.  (ValuePlays, Pragmatic Capitalism)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

Mixed media

Jonah Lehrer, “(O)ur emotions are neither stupid nor omniscient. They are imperfect oracles. ”  (The Frontal Cortex)

If you don’t go on a “news diet” you are going to get swamped.  (The Reformed Broker)

Thinking of the LA Dodgers as content.  (Term Sheet)

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