Quote of the day
The Investor, “If you want to beat the market, it’s a good idea to do something different. Not being driven by short-term performance is one way to do so.” (Monevator)
Chart of the day
2014 has been all about small cap underperformance. (Pension Partners)
Markets
Three lessons from recent market tops. (The Reformed Broker)
Normal markets are not all that normal. (The Irrelevant Investor)
Ranking the factors behind the low volatility market regime. (FT Alphaville)
Notes from the Delivering Alpha 2014 conference. (The Reformed Broker, part 2, part 3)
Why you should be wary of goldbugs. (Bloomberg View)
Strategy
Rule #1 for investors: don’t be consistently stupid. (Random Roger)
Investment plans have embedded forecasts whether you realize it or not. (Pragmatic Capitalism)
Momentum strategies work, period. (Alpha Architect)
Corrections happen: you just don’t know when. (A Wealth of Common Sense)
Very few of us have optimized our work (trading) environments. (TraderFeed)
Companies
Intel ($INTC) and Microsoft ($MSFT) are now hitting decade highs. (TechCrunch)
How good have Warren Buffett’s forays into retailing been? (WSJ)
Why HBO is such an attractive asset. (Quartz)
How the 21st Century Fox ($FOXA) with Time Warner ($TWX) dance will play out. (Business Insider, Buzzfeed)
Finance
Car insurance is about to get upended by pay-per-mile models. (TechCrunch)
Network effects happen. Just not as often as investors anticipate. (Musings on Markets)
Quants jumping from one financial firm to another are finding it tougher and tougher. (Bloomberg)
ETFs
The downside of ETFs: overtrading. (Focus on Funds, Larry Swedroe)
Should you tilt your portfolio? (Rick Ferri)
Global
Health care spending is falling around the world. (The Upshot)
Economy
Weekly initial unemployment claims continue to trend lower. (Calculated Risk, Bespoke)
How housing prices are tracking. (Real Time Economics)
The downside of central bankers jawboning the markets. (The Upshot)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
What you might have missed in our Wednesday linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
Mixed media
How to feel better about your spending. (Behavior Gap)
How to become a cable news pundit. (The Week)
How mindfulness has become a competitive weapon for professionals. (New Yorker)
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