Quote of the day
Tyler Craig, “Keep in mind one can’t simply cobble together two crappy strategies and expect magic to happen. If both strategies yield profits independently then the combination of the two has a much better chance of succeeding.” (Tyler’s Trading)
Chart of the day
How today’s market compares to 1929. (Political Calculations)
Markets
“Freaked out investors” equals lower trading volumes. (FT Alphaville)
Rich guys heart cash. (Big Picture)
How selection and timing kill investor returns. (Greenbackd)
No one seems to care about earnings beats. (Term Sheet)
What happens after the $VIX hits a new high. (Quantifiable Edges)
Commodities
Gold is a commodity, not a currency. (Big Picture)
Why the WTI-Brent spread is narrowing. (Calculated Risk)
What futures are saying about gasoline prices. (Econbrowser)
Bonds
Cheap financing is making the spread between quality and junk companies even wider. (Sober Look)
How should we assess the credit risk of state general obligation bonds? (LearnBonds)
Personal finance
Five ways to have better financial discussions with your spouse. (Carl Richards)
What is the optimal reporting frequency for clients? (Nerd’s Eye View)
Facebook proxies are ramping in anticipation of the IPO. (Phil Pearlman, ibid)
High demand from unusual areas for the Facebook IPO. (CNNMoney, Business Insider)
A look at Facebook’s accounting standards. (NetNet)
The conundrum of Facebook. (Nancy Miller)
Three headwinds for Facebook ($FB). (HBR)
The C-suite
Dear C-suiters: be careful what you tweet. (WSJ)
The real failure of Jamie Dimon. (Felix Salmon)
Companies should forbid executives from pledging shares for loans and/or margin accounts. (WSJ)
What’s worse than fudging your resume…fudging earnings. (Jeff Matthews)
Finance
Why we need more female traders on Wall Street. (Time)
The Lightsquared bankruptcy is nothing if not interesting. (Distressed Debt Investing)
How private equity squeezes costs. (Slate)
ETFs
A hitchhiker’s guide to the ETF galaxy. (ETFdb also Systematic Relative Strength)
Be way of the idea of paying market makers of ETPs. (Ari Weinberg)
ETFs are a double-edge sword: easy to trade but best for long term investing. (Marketwatch)
Why is the ETF version of the Pimco Total Return fund outpeforming? (InvestmentNews)
How a single stock can roil an ETF. (Focus on Funds)
Global
In the end no one really knows how a disorderly ‘Grexit‘ would affect the rest of the Europe. (FT)
How are Greece’s “new bonds” doing? (FT Alphaville)
India’s economy is facing stagflation. (Sober Look)
Economy
Retail sales were sluggish in April. (Capital Spectator)
Homebuilders are getting downright giddy. (Calculated Risk, Free exchange, MarketBeat)
Just how “great” the Great Recession was depends on your time frame. (Liberty Street Economics)
When are homeownership rates going to bottom out? (Sober Look)
Will labor market dropouts ever return to the workforce? (Wonkblog)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
Three important lessons for putting the financial odds in your favor. (Abnormal Returns)
More on the attraction of low volatility investing. (Abnormal Returns)
What you missed in our Tuesday morning linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
Ask a distinguished panel of bloggers a question: win a copy of the Abnormal Returns book. What’s not to like? (Abnormal Returns)
Sports media
ESPN is doubling down on its ‘30 for 30‘ documentary series. (Media Decoder)
For the Chicago Cubs to win, Wrigley Field must be destroyed. (WSJ)
Is steroid testing working in MLB? (Sports Page)
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