Quote of the day

Jeremy Grantham, “The cardinal rule is to not underperform in bear markets.” (GMO via Random Roger)

Chart of the day

While you weren’t watching Home Depot ($HD) took off.  (chessNwine)

Markets

If the energy sector is losing, who is winning?  (Bespoke)

Skepticism still reigns when it comes to the homebuilders.  (MarketBeat)

Recent asset class performance.  (Bespoke)

Should investors bother with GDP reports?  (Covestor)

Companies

How Apple ($AAPL) and other tech companies use a global strategy to minimize their taxes.  (NYTimes also Carpe Diem, Apple 2.0)

A short post on Facebook ($FB) valuation.  (ContrarianEdge)

The lucrative global business that is baby food.  (Economist)

Coal

Is coal doomed?  (The Atlantic)

The rocky future for coal.  (Businessweek)

One of these days investors will rotate into oversold sectors like coal.  (UpsideTrader)

Finance

Are investors overlooking the value of asset management at Lazard ($LAZ)?  (Breakingviews)

A nice overview of the seven forces disrupting venture capital.  (TechCrunch)

Global

Hugh Hendry is still really bearish on China.  (Money Game)

The likely solution in Spain is backdoor subsidies.  (Austan Goolsbee)

Liquidity be damned, some hedge funds are shorting core Europe.  (FT)

Why financial repression looks attractive to governments around the world.  (FT Alphaville)

Should real home prices increase over time?  (Calculated Risk)

The new Big Mac Index measures wages.  (Real Time Economics)

Economy

Uh oh. Economic surprises have turned negative.  (Money Game)

Sluggish economic growth, but no sign of a recession.  (Econbrowser)

Economists don’t feel they can take Chairman Bernanke at his word on inflation.  (Tim Duy)

The government investment drought continues.  (Mandel on Innovation and Growth)

Why isn’t the government borrowing more at negative real interest rates?  (Big Picture)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Part one of my discussion about the book with Jared Woodard.  (Condor Options)

Why most investors don’t sell in May and why rebalancing is a viable middle ground.  (Abnormal Returns)

What you missed in our long form Saturday linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Top clicks this week on the site.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

What is the purpose of a newspaper?  (GigaOM) also Digitopology)

In which league do teams play the most meaningful regular season games?  (Slate)

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