Book review: Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals by John LeFevre is “a pitch-black account of last decade’s Asian credit boom and the maniacs who enabled it…” (The Reformed Broker)
Quote of the Day
"(T)he businesses of shaping metal or shaping actors might or might not themselves get disrupted by software, but everything downstream will be, and, again, what tends to happen is that a new layer gets created on top and that new layer shapes how consumers spend money. The old doesn't go away but it becomes less relevant."
(Benedict Evans)
Chart of the Day

There is “little evidence that the feared global hard landing is actually happening…” – Gavyn Davies
Markets
- The bears are betting China's problems spread widely. (thereformedbroker.com)
- Mortgage REITS have almost never been this cheap. (barrons.com)
- The risk of a rate hike is a change in psychology. (ftalphaville.ft.com)
Strategy
- How long does it take to prove yourself as an investor? (fool.com)
- Traders don't need to trade all the time. (traderfeed.blogspot.com)
Apple
- Can Apple ($AAPL) bring casual gaming into the living room? (nytimes.com)
- Is even possible to make a perfect TV? (wired.com)
Finance
- Is online lending all that innovative? (ft.com)
- Franklin Resources ($BEN) is too darn cheap. (barrons.com)
- Can the Blackstone Group ($BX) business model persist? (mobile.nytimes.com)
- There is a surplus of funds out there looking to invest in infrastructure debt. (ft.com)
Funds
- In defense of risk parity strategies. (awealthofcommonsense.com)
- Welcome to the hedgefundification of bond funds. (ft.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Research links: stress-filled decisions. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you may have missed in our Sunday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Top clicks last week on the site. (abnormalreturns.com)