Quote of the day
Roger Nusbaum, “It seems to me that if someone is inclined to spend a lot of time arguing on what amounts to message boards about how great some sort of investment is, then that person is also a candidate to meltdown when/if there are negative consequences to that particular investment.” (Random Roger)
Chart of the day
Nationstar Mortgage ($NSM) a mortgage broker is the year’s hottest IPO. (Term Sheet)
Markets
Are markets set to enter a period of relative tranquility? (Money Game)
Are stocks a little pricey for Warren Buffett? (Pragmatic Capitalism, CNBC)
Fixed income market imbalances are pronounced. (Economic Musings)
What does it mean to be in transportation in the digital age? (The Reformed Broker)
Strategy
Are hedge funds ever expensive? (In Pursuit of Value)
Why low vol make sense if you don’t have any alpha. (Falkenblog)
What Intrade volatility tells us about how markets work. (Rajiv Sethi)
Companies
The effect Wal-Mart ($WMT) has on local businesses. (ScienceBlog)
Why Apple ($AAPL) doesn’t worry much about its competition. (Felix Salmon)
Mark Zuckerberg’s attitude towards Facebook ($FB) has changed. (SAI)
Finance
Some inside dope on the SEC filings industry. (Dealbook)
Order types are the new flash point in the battle against high frequency trading. (WSJ)
Buyout firms have a new strategy to reduce company debt pre-IPO. (Term Sheet)
Housing
Expect single-family residential REITs to come public sooner rather than later. (Institutional Investor)
Why the decline in homeownership rates should soon reverse. (Sober Look, The Atlantic)
New home sales are trending higher. (Calculated Risk)
Mutual funds
Kathleen Gaffney leaves Loomis Sayles for Eaton Vance. (InvestmentNews)
The story behind the rise and fall of Marsico Capital Management. (Morningstar)
ETFs
When does tracking error matter for ETF investors? (IndexUniverse)
A look at three major dividends ETFs. (allETF)
Factor-tilted ETFs are growing in popularity. (Institutional Investor, IndexUniverse)
Global
Forex volatility has returned to pre-crisis levels. (FT Alphaville)
Aussies are taking global economic weakness in stride…for now. (Quartz)
Bond investors are getting more comfortable with Africa. (WSJ)
Petrobras ($PBR) is no longer the largest oil company in South America. (Money Game)
Economy
Why the Fed should buy munis not mortgages. (NYTimes)
Trucking volume is moving sideways. (Calculated Risk)
The skilled worker shortage is overblown. (Wonkblog)
Just how big would a hit would the fiscal cliff be to the US economy? (Quartz)
ADP is overhauling its monthly employment report. (Capital Spectator, Real Time Economics)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
An interview with me on bonds, blogging and the book. (Learn Bonds)
Reactions to the death of the financial blogosphere. (Abnormal Returns)
What you missed in our Wednesday morning linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
Mixed media
More evidence that short interval training helps burn calories. (Scientific American)
There’s no such thing as espresso. (Smithsonian)
Contrary to popular belief men are better multitaskers than women. (Medical Xpress)
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