Quote of the day

James Saft, “Few advisers want to say it, and no client wants to hear it, but your best bet isn’t obsessing over funds and strategies but simply raising your savings rate.”  (Reuters)

Chart of the day

How to invest like we eat: on the need for clear risk labels for managers.  (Institutional Investor)

Markets

Charts are breaking out all over.  (research puzzle pix, Global Macro Monitor)

Net new highs are soaring.  (All Star Charts)

For the tenth straight year it looks like a simple 60/40 portfolio will beat the hedge fund averages.  (In Pursuit of Value)

On the relationship between betting on horses and low volatility anomaly.  (Portfolio Probe)

Strategy

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to hold onto a big winner.  (Bigger Capital)

Tips on how to stay disciplined as a trader.  (StockCharts Blog)

On the difference between actuaries and quants.  (Aleph Blog)

Portfolio management

Robert Seawright, “Dealing with investment risk is insufficient if you don’t deal effectively with the broader risks you face in life.”  (Above the Market)

How to implement an index-focused investment strategy.  (Rick Ferri)

Markets may be volatile, but risk tolerance is anything but.  (Nerd’s Eye View)

Companies

A look at the special opportunity that is the Special Opportunities Fund ($SPE).  (The Brooklyn Investor)

The short case on Manchester United ($MANU).  (market folly)

What if Amazon ($AMZN) had bought Palm and WebOS.  (SplatF)

Finance

Asset managers are failing to adapt to the new market reality.  (aiCIO)

Where are all the startups?  (Felix Salmon)

For whom IPO lockups really matter.  (Dealbreaker)

ETFs

Some iShares ETFs that are need of a price cut.  (IndexUniverse)

Checking in on the performance of relative strength ETFs.  (ETFdb)

Global

Sovereign CDS prices have plummeted.  (Bespoke)

China’s growth rate is headed to 3-4%.  (MacroBusiness)

India is taking steps to open up the economy.  (Bloomberg)

The Fed

The blogger who my have just saved the American economy.  (Clusterstock also The Atlantic)

What QE is all about: the wealth effect.  (Dynamic Hedge, Kid Dynamite, TRB)

Ben Bernanke really wants you to buy a house.  (Businessweek)

The Fed is ginning up inflation expectations.  (BCA Research)

Why the past two weeks have been so important.  (Free exchange)

What happens when the central bank becomes the market?  (Total Return)

Economy

The contrast between the industrial and consumer sectors.  (Capital Spectator)

Our patent system is a mess.  (The Atlantic)

2012 will be another year of record robot sales. (FT Alphaville)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Confusing fact and opinion is an easy way to get far off track. (Abnormal Returns)

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

Mixed media

The press has soured on Apple ($AAPL).  (CJR via Talking Biz News)

Now value investing conferences are going online.  (Turnkey Analyst)

The short list for FT/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year award includes the newly released William Silber book Volcker: The Triumph of Persistence.  (FT)

Abnormal Returns is a founding member of the StockTwits Blog Network.