Ten books that will make you smarter in 2015 including Christian Ruder’s Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One’s Looking. (Inc.)
Quote of the Day
"Enduring pain in the markets provides the very best lessons we can learn as investors. The trouble is, it’s been awhile since we’ve been able to learn anything useful."
(Joshua Brown)
Chart of the Day

Asset class performance over the past decade shows how we often we get surprised.
Markets
- CAPE had a bad year in 2014. (mebfaber.com)
- Why most robo-advisors underperformed the global market portfolio in 2014. (pragcap.com)
- The equal-weighted S&P 500 has been outperforming since October. (stockcharts.com)
- How futures markets performed in 2014. (managed-futures-blog.attaincapital.com)
Strategy
- Did you get caught up in the $CUBA hype? (thereformedbroker.com)
- Why you can safely ignore 2015 market forecasts. (statisticalideas.blogspot.com)
- Luck plays a large role in markets. (smbtraining.com)
- How to be a better all around trader. (traderfeed.blogspot.com)
- The upside of "wasting your time" with failed investment strategies. (alephblog.com)
Startups
- While you were out SnapChat raised a slew of cash at a $10 billion+ valuation. (theverge.com)
- Why startups and staying private longer: because they can. (wsj.com)
Companies
- Shake Shack vs. McDonald's ($MCD): a tale of the tape. (ft.com)
- Yahoo ($YHOO) is still on the acquisition hunt. (businessinsider.com)
- Expectations for Apple ($AAPL) are set pretty high. (aboveavalon.com)
- Will adding a "while you were away" featuer help Twitter ($TWTR)? (gigaom.com)
Hedge funds
- Five signs your hedge fund is a Ponzi scheme. (finalternatives.com)
- Blown M&A deals were the bane of hedge funds in 2014. (wsj.com)
Funds
- Why Rick Ferri is planning to shifting more towards international assets in 2015. (rickferri.com)
- Five rules on simplifying your investing life. (mutualfundobserver.com)
- How to clone the world's biggest hedge fund. (mebfaber.com)
- Hope springs eternal: the case for active management in 2015. (thereformedbroker.com)
Economy
- The December ISM Manufacturing survey declined. (econintersect.com)
- Government expenditures are finally adding to GDP. (valueplays.net)
- How much will the economy grow in 2015? (calculatedriskblog.com)
- Small business optimism is on the upswing. (wsj.com)
- On the prospects for cheap oil for longer. (wsj.com)
- On the prospect for payroll growth in 2015. (calculatedriskblog.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Longform links: the man who invented Scotch tape. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: a discussion with Jason Calcanis. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you may have missed in our Wednesday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)