Quote of the day
Richard Thaler, “If you want to encourage some activity, make it easy.” (NYTimes)
Chart of the day
The drought/heat wave illustrated: behold the move in corn. (StockCharts Blog)
Markets
As Spain goes, so goes Europe. (VIX and More)
Gold just can’t catch a break these days. (Bespoke)
Growth, value, small, large: it hasn’t mattered all that much year-to-date. (research puzzle pix)
Most financial news is simply noise. (Noahpinion)
Strategy
On the difference between analysts and “market makers.” (All Star Charts)
A “fiduciary standard” for financial advisers is not necessarily a panacea. (NYTimes)
Our brains just aren’t equipped to easily do the risk analysis that successful investing requires. (Big Picture)
Traders, and their managers, need to recognize the important role their bodies play in their reactions to risk. (FT)
Companies
A simple strategy for picking bank stocks based on funding costs. (Economic Musings)
Coal companies are cheap…if they can survive low prices. (Barron’s)
High stakes boardroom politics at Duke Energy ($DUK). (WSJ)
Apple ($AAPL) is taking a go-slow approach to mobile payments. (WSJ)
Roberto Baldwin, “Does the world really need an Amazon smartphone? ” (Wired)
Finance
The Libor scandal widens. (Reuters)
Why the Libor scandal is not that big a deal. (Pragmatic Capitalism)
A profile of the best hedge fund manager who isn’t a household name: Seth Klarman. (Economist)
ETFs
The Pimco Total Return ETF ($BOND) is putting its mutual fund cousin to shame. (ETF Trends)
How the biggest bond fund managers go about their business. (Barron’s)
ETF stats for June 2012. (Invest With an Edge)
Are ETFs always the best choice? (Barron’s)
Global
Traders are using the Euro to fund a more exotic carry trade. (WSJ)
What the ECB (and the BoJ) have been able to accomplish. (Sober Look, ibid)
Could Finland be the first country to leave the Euro? (Wonkblog)
Employment
Summer data of late seem to have a potential seasonality issue. (FT Alphaville)
The employment data is not screaming recession. (Macrofugue)
Be patient. The construction jobs are coming. (Calculated Risk)
Some good news on the employment front. (Pragmatic Capitalism)
Many unemployed are mysteriously becoming disabled. (EconomPic Data)
Economy
The Fed is floating trial balloons. (WSJ)
Crossing our fingers and hoping for autos and housing to lead the recovery. (Econbrowser)
Economic data fell off a cliff this Spring. (VIX and More)
The shift from coal to natural gas is clear. (FT Alphaville)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
What you missed in our Saturday long form linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
What everyone else was clicking on this week. (Abnormal Returns)
Mixed media
Nice list of economics professors to follow on Twitter. (StockTwitsU)
Barry Ritholtz, “The lack of understanding today of an unknowable future always gets revealed as the future becomes known to us.” (WashingtonPost)
Prediction markets are not a panacea for the problem of forecasting. (NYTimes)
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