Quote of the day
Justin Fox, “Nowadays financial markets often drive the economy, and while this would seem to give the Fed more power, the amount of effort and attention now put into forecasting monetary policy and assessing its impact mean that exercising that power is far more complicated than it used to be.” (HBR)
Chart of the day
The $VIX may be low but SKEW is high. (Andrew Thrasher)
Strategy
The biggest mistakes investors need to avoid. (A Wealth of Common Sense)
Why a focus on “income” leads investors astray. (Morningstar)
Barry’s predictions for the markets in 2014 are spot on. (Bloomberg)
On the return of political risk to the emerging markets. (FT)
Companies
Ten weird things about the Herbalife ($HLF) saga. (FT Alphaville)
The case for Walt Disney ($DIS) to be the company of the year. (Michael Santoli)
How SnapChat plans to become a (big) business. (Fortune)
The worst CEO of 2013 is…..? (Herb Greenberg)
Finance
Facebook ($FB) is really good at selling stock. (Felix Salmon also SL Advisors)
Why strategy opacity matters when a firm undeperforms. (WSJ)
The case for single-family home REITs. (Peridot Capitalist)
Funds
The year in closed-end fund IPOs. (Morningstar)
Six more dumb mutual fund moves. (Chuck Jaffe)
Economy
Q3 GDP was up at a 4.1% annualized rate. (Calculated Risk)
The economy is “chugging along” in spite of the pessimists. (ValuePlays)
A sign that household deleveraging is over. (Business Insider)
Rail traffic is heading higher. (Pragmatic Capitalism)
How to measure America’s huge corporate profits. (Real Time Economics)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
What you may have missed in our Thursday linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
Mixed media
Reviews of The Wolf of Wall Street are rolling in. (The Wrap, Metacritic)
The stuff left out of The Wolf of Wall Street: the swindled investors. (Dealbook)
An interview with Terence Winter who wrote the screenplay for The Wolf of Wall Street. (WSJ)
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