Quote of the day

Rick Ferri, “You would think ETF companies would stop throwing JELL-O and take a more targeted approach. That doesn’t seem to be happening.”  (Rick Ferri)

Chart of the day

The US is clearly the strongest major economy in the world.  (Money Game, ibid, Reuters)

Markets

Individual investors are feeling pretty bullish of late.  (Bespoke)

QE3 is meant to drive yields higher.  (Calafia Beach Pundit)

The S&P 500 has diverged from this measure of value.  (Dr. Ed’s Blog)

Strategy

Franchise power helps define a quality business.  (Turnkey Analyst)

On the relationship (or not) between dividends and low volatility strategies.  (IndexUniverse)

Why long-term Treasuries are different.  (Aleph Blog)

Trading

Jason Zweig, “To a trader, price is all that matters. To an investor, value is the only thing that counts.”  (Total Return)

Traders need to have some defenses as self-destructive behaviors.  (Rogue Traderette)

On sizing your trades.  (Price Action Lab)

Companies

Zynga ($ZNGA) is approaching ‘cigar butt’ territory.  (Bloomberg)

Kayak ($KYAK) needs to keep a wary eye on Google ($GOOG).  (Businessweek)

Does Peter Thiel need to defend his sales of Facebook ($FB) shares?  (Dan Primack, Howard Lindzon)

Finance

There is a notable difference between the TARP performance between the big and small banks.  (Dealbook)

Just how much did Nasdaq’s problems cost Facebook underwriters?  (Dealbreaker)

The hurdle is getting raised to define ETF viability.  (Institutional Investor, IndexUniverse)

Private equity

Private equity is selling companies to other private equity firms a lot more these days.  (Term Sheet)

Private equity deals are getting done, they just aren’t the big, flashy deals of old.  (WSJ)

Global

September is going to provide all manner of material for Euro “strategists.”  (The Reformed Broker)

Canada’s economy and the TSX index have little in common.  (Globe and Mail)

The Australian resources boom is officially over.  (Reuters)

Is Japan becoming the US?  (Stone Street Advisors)

Economy

Weekly initial jobless claims continue their track.  (Calculated Risk, Capital Spectator)

The Millenials aren’t buying stuff like cars and homes that previous generations.  (The Atlantic)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

In search of a broader definition of alpha.  (Abnormal Returns)

What you missed in our Thursday morning linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

On the twin challenges of being a scholar AND public intellectual.  (Daniel Drezner also Justin Fox)

Everything is speeding up. Even whiskey makers are trying to accelerate the aging process.  (NYTimes)

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