Quote of the day
Dan Ariely, “Markets are a mathematical outcome of the interaction between buyers and sellers—some of whom successfully manipulate the prices.” (WSJ)
Chart of the day

Sector performance year-to-date. (Bespoke)
Markets
Keep an eye on market breadth. (Dynamic Hedge)
Real earnings yields are still pretty high. (@mbusigin)
The yield curve is steepening. (Barron’s also IndexUniverse, StockCharts Blog)
Alpha is out there: you just need to know where to look. (Howard Lindzon)
Strategy
Some investors are quite happy to have sworn off stocks. (WSJ)
Emphasize stocks that can thrive in an era of rising interest rates. (A Dash of Insight)
Don’t let slow jobs growth deter you from investing. (Investing Caffeine)
Are small accounts a drag on financial advisory practices? (Financial Planning)
Companies
The future of Microsoft ($MSFT) is in the cloud. (Pando Daily)
The CEO of Zynga ($ZNGA) has big incentives to sell the company. (Quartz)
Finance
How to solve the problem of high frequency trading in one second. (Tim Harford)
Do companies taken private perform better than public counterparts? (Mark Hulbert)
Funds
Keep an eye on fund managers who go out on their own. (Barron’s)
In the end ETFs are only as liquid as their underlying. (IndexUniverse)
Bond ETFs have been stress tested lately. (Barron’s)
Economy
The number of part-time workers continues to rise. (RTE, WSJ)
Are we satisfied with the June jobs report? (The Atlantic, Tim Duy, Wonkblog)
Trying to put a timeline on Fed tapering. (Calculated Risk, Sober Look)
A look back at the economic week that was. (Bonddad Blog)
The economic schedule for the coming week. (Calculated Risk)
The opportunity cost of streets. (Marginal Revolution)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
What you may have missed in our Saturday morning linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
Top clicks this week on the site is back! (Abnormal Returns)
Mixed media
When big data fails: the case of Google Flu. (HBR)
Five ways to robot-proof your career. (WSJ)
Alcohol
Wineries are popping up around the country including Virginia. (NYTimes)
What are the societal costs of hangovers? (The Atlantic)
The most famous alcohol brands by state. (Thrillist)
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