Quote of the day

Kevin Murphy, “Every time you pay for a financial asset, it is absolutely right you should feel scared that you could lose your money. That is what should lead you to analyse the risk of the asset yourself. That is your best protection.”  (The Value Perspective)

Chart of the day

A look at ETF statistics for September 2012.  (Invest With an Edge, Ticker Sense)

Strategy

25 (or so) golden investing rules.  (Cassandra Does Tokyo)

Does the DALBAR study overstate the “behavior gap“?  (Nerd’s Eye View)

Revisiting the diversification potential of managed futures.  (SSRN via CXOAG)

The lessons from Lord Keynes: the investment edition.  (The Psy-Fi Blog)

More evidence that envy trumps greed.  (Falkenblog)

Companies

What is Google ($GOOG) up to in Kansas City?  (Digitopoly also WSJ)

Why buy Berkshire Hathaway ($BRKB) stock when you can buy the LEAPS?  (The Brooklyn Investor)

Thinking about the Kraft Foods split-up.  (Old School Value, The Reformed Broker)

The long transformation of big pharma from growth to income vehicles.  (research puzzle pix)

Finance

Countrywide Mortgage is back, kinda sorta.  (Fortune)

Post-crisis stock option grants are showing some big gains for execs.  (Dealbook)

Today’s universal banks are not only too bit to fail they are also “too complex-to-price.”  (FT)

ETFs

Vanguard’s squeeze on the mutual fund industry continues apace.  (IndexUniverse, The Reformed Broker)

One of these days target-date bond ETFs are going to take off.  (WSJ)

Economy

Recent economic releases show little sign of a recession.  (Money Game, Bonddad Blog)

Mortgage refinancing applications are surging.  (Calculated Risk)

A modest gain in the ADP payrolls report.  (Capital Spectator, CBP)

The ISM non-manufacturing report for September shows continued expansion.  (Bespoke, Calculated Risk)

Auto sales were strong in September.  (The Daily Beast, Calculated Risk, FT Alphaville)

Beer sales in the US are no longer falling.  (WSJ)

On the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.  (Econbrowser)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

Devices

The new iPad Mini is rolling off the lines.  (WSJ also TUAW, SAI)

The Nest thermostat just got better.  (Slate)

Mixed media

Don’t think in terms of “goals”, think about “themes.”  (Altucher Confidential)

The secret of Harvard’s success: alumni governance.  (Project Syndicate)

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