Quote of the day

Derek Hernquist, “Everywhere I turn, I’m reminded that the optimal analysis of data is a physical act. By keeping records this way, we are engaging in deliberate practice and activating our intuition to help us make decisions.” (Derek Hernquist)

Chart of the day

Low real interest rates are usually bad for equity markets.  (Economist)

Rates

Treasuries now have the worst risk/return profile in a decade.  (Sober Look)

Rates from rise from here and still be historically low.  (The Basis Point)

What the Fed is doing is far more important to your portfolio than which party is in the White House. (Jason Zweig)

Strategy

Some advice from Jeff Bezos: people who are often right change their minds a great deal.  (37signals)

Tyler Hamilton, “You can’t block out the pain. You have to embrace it.”  (Mortality Sucks)

Fiscal cliff

Some advisers are telling clients to lock in capital gains in 2012.  (Bloomberg)

Is the fiscal cliff going to put a damper on holiday sales?  (Real Time Economics)

Just how big a deal would the expiration of the payroll tax cuts be for the economy?  (Slate)

Four ways the fiscal cliff is hurting business.  (Quartz)

Finance

Why institutional investors owe a debt of gratitude to Haim Bodek.  (Themis Trading)

Why CEOs so love their private jets.  (Daniel Gross)

Dividend recaps

Why private-equity backed firms are choosing now to do PIK-toggle financed dividend recaps.  (Dealbreaker)

What private equity firms are trying to accomplish with dividend recaps.  (Epicurean Dealmaker)

Funds

Two low volatility options for the emerging markets.  (ETF Trends)

Goldman Sachs ($GS) is closing some BRIC-related funds.  (SmartMoney)

89 ETPs have closed year-to-date.  (Invest With an Edge)

Global

Has China pulled off a soft landing?  (Money Game also Free exchange)

Why traders have been selling the Japanese yen.  (Sober Look)

Japan’s lost decade has been tough on the youngest generations.  (Money Game)

All over the world older workers are hanging onto their jobs.  (Quartz)

Economy

The shale gas revolution has created big swaths of winners and losers in the industry.  (NYTimes)

How big a role have investors played in the housing market recovery?  (macroblog)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

What you missed in our Saturday long form linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Top clicks this week on the site.  (Abnormal Returns)

Felix Salmon

Felix Salmon reviews the William L. Silber biography Volcker: The Triumph of Persistence.  (NYTimes)

A profile of the aforementioned Felix Salmon.  (TNR)

Mixed media

Felix Baumgartner’s jump was a “master class in brand building.”  (Telegraph)

Will blogs ever get the chance to become “old media.”  (kottke)

Could Newsweek have been saved?  (The Atlantic)

What would a future of a la carte television look like?  (The Atlantic)

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