Quote of the day

Tim Richards, “In investing, as in life, dogmatic persistence with a particular approach is a good thing right up until it isn’t.”  (The Psy-Fi Blog)

Chart of the day

SPY Total Return Price Chart

SPY Total Return Price data by YCharts

The best and worst S&P 500 stocks since the 2007 market peak.  (Quartz)

Markets

Is it a bull market if defensive sectors continue to lead?  (All Star Charts)

Strategists’ annual forecasts are pretty much useless.  (A Dash of Insight)

How will investors react to the strong first quarter for US equities?  (Avondale Asset)

The run in low vol strategies has been impressive YTD.  (Focus on Funds)

Day of the month seasonality for April.  (MarketSci Blog)

Strategy

Cash is now at-risk.  (II Today)

What kind of returns are we talking about?  (Big Picture)

Targeting 15-25% returns today seems a bit excessive.  (Cassandra Does Tokyo)

An investor who is betting big on Berkshire Hathaway ($BRKB) and Bank of America ($BAC).  (Marketwatch)

Companies

Price matters with buybacks.  (Aleph Blog)

Private equity is the new retirement home for former CEOs.  (WSJ)

Private equity is loving the Pinnacle Foods ($PF) IPO.  (Quartz)

Wal-Mart

Could package delivery get crowdsourced?  (Reuters)

Wal-Mart ($WMT) wants an injection of Silicon Valley ethos.  (Wired)

Finance

Five years after the financial crisis checking on the CLO landscape.  (Inside Investing, research puzzle pieces)

Bond investors can’t help buying stocks.  (WSJ)

Twitter is the new tape.  (TABB Forum, The Reformed Broker)

Economy

Weekly initial unemployment claims tick up.  (Calculated Risk, Capital Spectator)

Is the economy stronger than we think?  (Bonddad Blog)

Laying the groundwork for an end to QE.  (Wonkblog)

The ultimate goal of QE is to get you to spend it.  (FT Alphaville)

Mixed media

Messaging apps are draining profits from the carriers.  (WSJ)

Twitter is on track to $1 billion in annual revenue.  (Money & Co.)

The paradox of being a VC.  (A VC)

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