On the bookshelf: @TimHarford “strongly recommends” Ed Catmull’s Creativity Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration.

Quote of the day

Cullen Roche, “I don’t know what the “value” of stocks are today. And I don’t think anyone else really does. And I think trying to put a value on them through these sorts of metrics is just a big waste of time…”  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

Chart of the day

Should we be worried that consumer staples are outperforming?  (Dana Lyons)

Piggybacking

Ten stocks the “ultimate stock pickers” are buying.  (Morningstar)

Using Warren Buffett’s portfolio as a watchlist.  (James Altucher)

Maybe investor should be watching more closely where Google is putting its cash.  (Globe and Mail)

Why discipline is more important than IQ when it comes to investing.  (Farnam Street)

Junk bonds

Do high yield bonds really add much to a diversified portfolio?  (Larry Swedroe)

Junk bond shorts are expensive to maintain.  (Bloomberg)

Pimco used the junk bond sell-off to add to their positions.  (Bloomberg)

Strategy

Intuition is earned over time.  (TraderFeed)

On the value of keeping your trading systems simple.  (NAS Trading)

An examination of one trader’s path to understanding.  (Adam Grimes, ibid)

Companies

Google ($GOOG) went public ten years ago and still a little weird.  (Ryan Detrick, MoneyBeat, TRB, Fortune)

Elon Musk’s SpaceX just raised money at a $10 billion valuation.  (TechCrunch)

The golf business is terrible.  (Business Insider, Businessweek)

Finance

How the JOBS Act has affected information uncertainty with recent IPOs.  (SSRN)

Why didn’t the Dutch Auction IPO take off?  (CNBC)

While you weren’t looking the credit derivatives markets have revived.  (FT)

The financial markets could use a big slug of additional T-bills.  (FT Alphaville)

Should business schools be teaching high frequency trading?  (Businessweek)

ETFs

Pimco and Blackrock ($BLK) are shuttering a slew of ETFs.  (ETF)

Energy

Surprise! There is a global solar panel shortage.  (Bloomberg)

Retail gasoline prices are falling.  (Bespoke)

Economy

Housing starts were up solidly in July.  (Calculated Risk, ibid)

So much for that tick up in inflation.  (Crossing Wall Street)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Bundling, unbundling and the app economy.  (Abnormal Returns)

You can now get Abnormal Returns content on Yahoo Finance.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mindfulness, intuition and “intentional trading.”  (Abnormal Returns)

What you might have missed in our Monday linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

More people are going on social media diets.  (TechCrunch)

Can companies successfully get workers to work fewer hours?  (FT)

America is not vacationing as much as it used to.  (Vox)

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