Quote of the day
Umair Haque, “Our institutions are corrupted — but it’s not just money that corrupted them. It’s the norms that you and I endorse, every second of every day, with every tiny decision we make…” (HBR)
Chart of the day

Dividends are up 15% year-to-date. (Crossing Wall Street)
Markets
Just about every major asset class is up for the year-to-date. (EconomPic Data also Capital Spectator, Bespoke)
Investors are once again in panic mode. (Money Game)
Where a TAA model stands for July. (MarketSci Blog)
Leon Cooperman thinks stocks are cheap. (InvestmentNews)
Correlation as a sentiment gauge. (Focus on Funds)
Strategy
Why reaching for yield so often leads in disaster. (Big Picture)
Three steps to building wealth from investing. (Rick Ferri)
A critical look at lifecyle investing from William Bernstein’s The Ages of the Investor: A Critical Look at Life-Cycle Investing. (CBS Moneywatch)
Three mistakes investors make. (Minyanville)
What does good risk management mean? (Adam Grimes)
Companies
Three cheap megacaps. (Economic Musings)
Microsoft ($MSFT) is turning its hardware partners into frenemies. (The Reformed Broker)
The tailspin in Research in Motion ($RIMM) in pictures. (Asymco)
How higher food prices affect food stocks. (Minyanville)
Finance
Libor manipulation: where’s the outrage? (naked capitalism also FT Alphaville)
Will individual stock research ever make a comeback? (Zero Hedge via TRB)
Investment banks are shifting jobs out of New York. (NYTimes)
On the potential for more municipal bankruptcies. (Time)
Floor traders are fighting CME Group ($CME) to stay in business. (Crain’s Chicago)
Money management
The big public asset managers, like BlackRock ($BLK), have a “incessant drive for growth.” (Mutual Fund Observer)
Most “hedge fund titans” are grossly overpaid. (Pension Pulse)
Money market funds
Your next money market fund could be an ETF. (Ari Weinberg)
What exposures do money market mutual funds have to Europe these days? (WSJ)
ETFs
The ETF approval process is antiquated. (Marketwatch)
A look at some June ETF launches. (Invest With an Edge)
New ETF entrants are having a tough time of it. (Focus on Funds)
Global
Global manufacturing is slowing. (Real Time Economics, Free exchange, Money Game)
Poland is defying the Euro slump. (FT)
Ireland is the hottest economy in Europe at the moment. (Money Game)
Economy
The ISM Manufacturing Report for June was a big disappointment. (Calcuated Risk, Money Game, Bespoke, CBP)
The story of housing in 2012. (Bonddad Blog)
Don’t expect natural gas to make big inroads into transportation just yet. (Econbrowser)
We need to fix slow speed rail before investing in high speed rail. (Marginal Revolution)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
It helps to put your best foot forward presentation-wise especially if you are a start-up mutual fund firm. (Abnormal Returns)
What books Abnormal Returns readers purchased in June. (Abnormal Returns)
What you missed in our Monday morning linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
Mixed media
Why don’t Americans take more vacation? (The Atlantic)
Why does everyone want to be (and seem) so busy? (NYTimes)
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