Quote of the day

James Stewart, “Why do people the rich and famous put their fortunes and reputations at risk by even approaching the line of insider trading?”  (NYTimes)

Chart of the day

In terms of post-financial crisis recoveries the US is doing pretty well.  (Oregon Economic Analysis via Calculated Risk)

Markets

Big brokers hate low volatility environments.  (The Reformed Broker)

Individual investors are holding onto cash with two hands.  (NYTimes)

News flow was uniformly positive last week.  (A Dash of Insight)

Hard to say that corporate credit is cheap.  (Sober Look)

Strategy

Why balanced portfolios are easier to hold through thick and thin.  (Mark Hulbert)

How one stock picker focuses on the very, very long run.  (Jason Zweig)

Companies

Uber garners a near record valuation. Are private companies the new public?  (TechCrunch, Digits, Businessweek, Vox)

Dropbox is need of a mobile strategy.  (Buzzfeed)

iOS 8 will turn your iPhone into a digital hub.  (TechCrunch)

Finance

Morgan Stanley ($MS) is now more a wealth manager than investment bank.  (Barron’s)

Don’t expect huge changes to the stock markets due to the SEC’s plans.  (CNBC also Mathematical Investor)

An interview with Ray Dalio CEO of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates.  (WSJ)

Hedge fund of funds have a “dull future.”  (Economist)

Global

Nine charts on the global economy from this past week.  (Quartz)

The world’s cheapest stock markets.  (Telegraph)

The “obvious downsides” of the ECB’s strategy.  (Econbrowser)

Economy

Bank lending and consumer credit are ticking higher.  (Business Insider)

There are some benefits to a recession.  (Morgan Housel)

A look back at the economic week that was.  (Bonddad Blog, Big Picture)

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

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

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

Mixed media

How to negotiate yourself a better cable deal.  (Vox)

What if anything can economists teach us about happiness?  (Tim Harford)

How Stephan Pastis got Bill Watterson to (briefly) come out of retirement.  (Stephan Patsis, Washington Post)

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