Books for the holidays: The Education of a Value Investor: My Transformative Quest for Wealth, Wisdom, and Enlightenment by Guy Spier.
Quote of the day
Cullen Roche, “If more people tried to stop beating the market they’d almost certainly reduce their tax bill and fee structure thereby increasing the average real, real return.” (Pragmatic Capitalism)
Chart of the day
Energy stocks are in a bear market. (StockCharts)
Gold
Gold bugs are unique in their ability to twist the narrative. (Barry Ritholtz)
Gold market timers have room to get even more bearish. (Mark Hulbert)
Strategy
When the ultimate stock pickers are buying. (Morningstar)
Three ways to stay fresh as a trader. (TraderFeed)
Companies
What the f@*# happened to Apple ($AAPL) stock yesterday? (Matt Levine)
Have Apple’s share buybacks been a positive? (Above Avalon)
Google ($GOOG) Chromebooks are overtaking Apple iPads in the classroom. (FT)
Uber is pulling a Facebook ($FB) to raise money from Goldman Sachs ($GS) clients. (Fortune)
Finance
When share buybacks cover up poor corporate performance. (David Nelson)
Amidst low returns hedge funds are closing left and right. (Bloomberg)
Funds
The December MFO commentary is up with a look at the ValueShares US Quantitative Value ETF ($QVAL). (Mutual Fund Observer)
How managed ETF portfolios can help investors stay on track. (Alpha Baskets)
The quality factor comes in many different flavors. (Monevator)
One fund category where active managers seem to be able to outperform the benchmark. (A Wealth of Common Sense)
The downside of indexing in illiquid markets. (Morningstar)
Global
“The ruble has lost 40% of its value against the dollar since the start of the year.” (MoneyBeat)
Just how much are carbon-based assets in ground worth? (Bloomberg)
Economy
The US economy is entering a really interesting zone. (Tim Duy)
Lower oil prices will hurt, not kill, the US fracking boom. (Fortune)
How to fix generational data. (Real Time Economics)
Creative home appraisals are once again on the rise. (WSJ)
Why economists are paid so much. (Noah Smith)
Solar power
Solar power pricing is nearly on par with the grid across America. (Scientific American)
Your solar panels may be pointing in the wrong direction. (NYTimes)
Solar panels are now a normal feature on new homes. (WSJ)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
Zero commissions and the growing risk of trivial trades. (Abnormal Returns)
What books Abnormal Returns readers purchased in November 2014. (Abnormal Returns)
What you might have missed in our Monday linkfest. (Abnormal Returns)
Mixed media
Why it is more valuable to study failures versus successes. (Tim Harford)
Today’s cultural manias, like Serial or True Detective, are not all that popular. (Slate)
Law schools are now having to battle it out for top candidates. (Dealbook)
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