Quote of the day

Joshua Brown, “Portfolios are now free – valueless. Advice, on the other hand, is invaluable– but only if it’s delivered with meaning and when it counts.”  (The Reformed Broker)

Chart of the day

Agricultural commodities seem to be bottoming out.  (Barron’s)

Markets

Where are we in the credit cycle?  (Aleph Blog)

Never say never in the stock market.  (Brian Lund)

Strategy

Successful investing is more about avoiding mistakes than anything else.  (ThinkAdvisor)

It’s rarely a good idea to make a decision based on a single data point.  (Bucks Blog)

A look at Guy Spier’s The Education of a Value Investor.  (BeyondProxy)

Companies

Why Amazon ($AMZN) spent nearly $1 billion to buy Twitch.  (Recode, TechCrunch, Dealbook, WSJ, Slate)

Will anything really come of the Apple ($AAPL)-IBM ($IBM) venture?   (Monday Note)

An interview with Horace Deidu about the coming new iPhone and iWatch.  (Eric Jackson)

Finance

Warren Buffett is playing a role in the Burger King ($BKW) acquisition of Tim Horton’s ($THI).  (WSJ, Dealbook, Matt Levine)

Regulatory arbitrage is a waste of everyone’s time and talents.  (John Kay)

Wickr wants to create a Bloomberg messaging competitor.  (FT)

Funds

Pimco is going extend its active ETF business to equities.  (ETF)

Why are alternative asset mutual funds still so expensive?  (Morningstar)

The ETF Deathwatch for August is out.  (Invest with an Edge)

Economy

Who actually pays corporate taxes?  (Justin Fox)

According to Case-Shiller the rise in home prices is slowing.  (Calculated Risk)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

Mixed media

What does the Twitter “favorite” button actually do?  (Farhad Manjoo)

Will the Napa Valley earthquake affect wine prices?  (Wonkblog, NYTimes)

The best, portable closed headphones ranked including the #1 ranked AKG K551.  (Marco Ament)

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