On the high cost of active management from Lars Kroijer author of Investing Demystified: How to Invest Without Speculation and Sleepless Nights.  (Monevator)

Quote of the day

Morgan Housel, “One of the biggest ironies in investing is that while almost everyone thinks they are a contrarian, almost no one actually is.”  (Motley Fool)

Chart of the day

Agricultural prices are on the rise.  (Bonddad Blog)

Strategy

Stop orders don’t protect you from gaps.  (Kid Dynamite)

Good luck picking winners in the emerging markets.  (The Reformed Broker)

Just about any business is worth buying at the right price.  (Business Insider)

Not all low vol indices are created alike.  (ETF)

Experts

A serial forecaster is back for another bite of the apple.  (Above the Market)

Why you can’t rely on any single expert.  (Daily Finance)

Hedge funds

Where John Paulson sees further industry consolidation.  (MoneyBeat)

Comebacks are possible in the investing game.  (TRB)

Companies

Times really are changing at Berkshire Hathaway ($BRKB).  (The Brooklyn Investor)

Here’s betting Twitter ($TWTR) would like to have purchased Instagram.  (Quartz)

Net of cash Google ($GOOG) is now more valuable than Apple ($AAPL).  (Daring Fireball)

IBM’s ($IBM) $20 earnings goal is a tough slog.  (GigaOM)

AOL ($AOL) is not the only company trying to put the squeeze on 401(k) benefits.  (Bloomberg)

Finance

What are the odds that the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal goes through unscathed?  (Quartz, Dealbook, The Guardian, WSJ, Recode)

Why Comcast is a serial acquirer.  (Economist)

Private equity is the new banking.  (FT)

Be careful what you read online about companies.  (Barron’s)

Economy

Industrial production fell in January.  (Calculated Risk, Capital Spectator)

Why wages are starting to rise.  (Fortune)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

What you missed in our Thursday linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

A rave review for Meghan McArdle’s The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success.  (Aleph Blog)

Why the New York Times ($NYT) hired a data scientist to comb through its data.  (Fast Company)

How to get the most out of your media experience.  (Farhad Manjoo)

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