Quote of the day

John Rekenthaler, “I suspect, though, that the very top M.B.A. programs will continue to thrive. Regardless of what students learn from those programs, they are likely to be bright, ambitious, focused, and hard working when they graduate. Employers will happily pay for those attributes.”  (Morningstar)

Chart of the day

US 30 Year Mortgage Rate data by YCharts

Check out the rise in mortgage rates to a two-year high.  (Income Investing)

Markets

Ben Bernanke is too focused on market reactions.  (UpsideTrader, Crossing Wall Street)

The case for a rally in Shanghai.  (Market Anthropology)

A pause in the downtrend in Brazil.  (ZorTrades)

Speaking of downtrends a look at the (oversold) mining stocks.  (Kimble Charting, The Short Side of Long)

Where’s the volatility hiding?  (Adam Warner)

What are the odds of another flash crash?  (CNNMoney)

Strategy

Markets generally do a good job of discounting news.  (Charts etc.)

How to (properly) use the Shiller CAPE ratio.  (A Dash of Insight)

In defense of concentrated portfolios.  (Aleph Blog)

Bonds

Where can you hide from rising interest rates?  (MoneyBeat)

A comparison of bond ETFs and bond mutual funds.  (IndexUniverse)

Good timing. Simon Lack has a book Bonds are Not Forever: The Crisis Facing Fixed Income Investors coming out soon.  (In Purstuif of Value)

Emerging markets

Market participants think equity risk has increased in the emerging markets.  (Musings on Markets)

When multinationals venture into emerging markets, danger lurks.  (Dealbook)

Companies

It shouldn’t be surprising that as companies near bankruptcy insiders sell.  (WSJ, Dealbreaker)

Amazon ($AMZN) has an open field in the e-book business.  (NYTimes)

Are markets undervaluing the dominant positions of Samsung and Apple ($AAPL)?  (ReadWrite)

Walt Disney ($DIS) is not a movie studio it is a television behemoth.  (The Atlantic)

Finance

Do we really want Wall Street advertising hedge funds to the masses?  (Guardian, Dealbook, Term Sheet)

More advice to avoid hedge funds.  (The Atlantic)

Thanks to the JOBS Act startups are able to advertise shares more widely.  (A VC, WSJ, peHUB)

Lending Club loan rates are falling. Crowded trade?  (Learn Bonds)

Global

Can Japan undertake fundamental reforms?  (FT Alphaville)

Why are energy prices still rising?  (Quartz)

Economy

Weekly initial unemployment claims are ticking higher.  (Calculated Risk)

The practice of monetary policy by the Fed is not static.  (Real Time Economics)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

Mixed media

17 rules for investing and life.  (Random Roger)

How cellphones, and the like, take us out of the moment.  (Minyanville)

In praise of the McDonald’s McDouble.  (Freakonomics)

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