Quote of the day

Seth Godin, “Mass marketers love the promise of big data, because it whispers the opportunity of once again making average stuff for average people, of sifting through all the weird to end up with that juicy audience that’s just waiting to buy what they’ve made.”  (Seth Godin)

Chart of the day

A global look at the cyclical/defensive stock ratio.  (Sober Look)

Markets

Why you can’t rely on Wall Street strategists for market direction.  (The Reformed Broker)

Why Netflix ($NFLX) is the new Amazon ($AMZN) for traders.  (SMB Training)

Sell in May is not working out so well this year.  (InvestmentNews)

A look at the hated bull market.  (Investing Caffeine)

Market volatility is a friend of investors with a plan of action in place.  (A Dash of Insight)

Strategy

William Bernstein on the differences between “shallow risks” and “deep risks.”  (Jason Zweig)

The case for having a little gold in your portfolio.  (Greg Mankiw)

On the triumph of narrative over data.  (Barry Ritholtz)

There are no guarantees when it comes to investing.  (See It Market)

Companies

Welcome to the new Leucadia National ($LUK).  (The Brooklyn Investor)

David Einhorn has given up on Microsoft ($MSFT).  (MoneyBeat)

Finance

VCs are at-risk of being disrupted by “syndicators.”  (Startup Jackson)

Why 401(k) plan advisers are none too happy to have their fee data publicized.  (Forbes)

ETFs

Why investors should take backtest data for new ETFs with a grain of salt.  (Barron’s)

Fidelity is getting into the sector ETF business.  (IndexUniverse)

Economy

Why are firms holding so much cash?  (Conversable Economist)

Rising home prices are not good news for all Americans.  (Sober Look)

Does the chairman of the Fed need to be a good economist or good manager?  (HBR also The Atlantic)

On the US infrastructure deficit.  (Noahpinion)

The past week in economic releases.  (Bonddad Blog)

The economic schedule for the coming week.  (Calculated Risk)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

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

Mixed media

Would a private university have saved Detroit?  (The Atlantic)

Technopessimism is bunk.  (PBS)

Thanks for checking in with Abnormal Returns. You can follow us on StockTwits and Twitter.