Quote of the day

Tom Brakke, “While there are stories where it is warranted, it has become standard practice for lazy journalists to use the billionaire description virtually all the time it can be applied.  And my guess is that there are lots of investors who think it matters when a billionaire says or does something, even when it doesn’t.”  (the research puzzle)

Chart of the day

Negative economic surprises are a global phenomenon.  (The Short Side of Long)

Markets

Are low volatility strategies becoming too popular?  (Total Return)

Beware the pronouncements of Street strategists.  (The Minimalist Trader)

Why are stock pricing conventions so sticky?  (Felix Salmon)

Investor risk appetites are stuck in neutral.  (Sober Look)

A framework to examine gold and silver prices.  (Mark Dow)

Brent oil futures are now in contango.  (WSJ also Sober Look)

Strategy

Chuck Jaffe, “There aren’t really any new ideas left under the investment sun, just different ways to execute existing strategies. While everyone loves the idea of “new and improved,” it’s also another way of saying “green and unproven.”  (Marketwatch)

On the challenges of piggybacking on hedge fund picks.  (Covestor)

Why you shouldn’t listen to sector fund managers: they have an axe to grind.  (The Reformed Broker)

What are you buying when you buy an index fund?  (Leigh Drogen)

Finance

Don’t underestimate the role lower credit ratings could have on Wall Street.  (Dealbook also Felix Salmon)

The market wants more high yield bond issuance.  (Sober Look)

Money manager Blackrock ($BLK) is experiencing a fair amount of turnover of late.  (Reuters)

Funds

Have you checked in your ETN provider’s credit lately?  (IndexUniverse)

Stop blaming the money market mutual funds.  (Aleph Blog)

Global

Does Chinese economic data understate the extent of the slowdown?  (NYTimes)

Shareholders are angry, but they’re not seeing much in the way of results.  (Project Syndicate)

The Fed won’t buy foreign government bonds, but maybe it should.  (FT Alphaville)

Economy

The Fed and the Treasury are somewhat at odds.  (Real Time Economics)

The Fed now seems to be at odds with itself.  (Money Game)

State pension plans are facing even bigger shortfalls. (WSJ)

Inflation is melting away according the BBP@MIT.  (Carpe Diem)

Why do we let Congressmen actively trade stocks?  (The Reformed Broker)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

What others were reading on the site this week.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

Five tweeps to follow on Europe.  (Barron’s)

How companies use controlled experiments in Jim Manzi’s Uncontrolled: The Surprising Payoff of Trial-and-Error for Business, Politics, and Society.  (Farnam Street)

Financial fiction, including John Lanchester’s Capital, is in ascendance.  (Felix Salmon)

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