Book notes: Why simplicity is such a hard sell. Three insights from Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense: Why Simplicity Trumps Complexity in Any Investment Plan. (Canadian Couch Potato)
Quote of the Day
"Based on recent data, they no longer expect another US rate increase until September at the earliest. For now, the US economy does not support further monetary tightening."
(Gavyn Davies)
Chart of the Day

All major asset classes have negative one-year trailing returns.
Strategy
- On the challenge of telling the difference between an investment that has stopped working versus simply being out of style. (awealthofcommonsense.com)
- Scott Fearon, "Finding and profiting from crooked businesses is incredibly hard. For every accounting fraud, many, many more companies simply fail." (deadcompanieswalking.tumblr.com)
Companies
- Executive departures and the hot mess that is Twitter ($TWTR). (ibankcoin.com)
- Johnson Controls ($JCI) to merge with Tyco ($TYC). (nytimes.com)
- An Apple ($AAPL) Q1 2016 earnings preview. (aboveavalon.com)
Offers
- Tax time is rapidly approaching. Get up to 40% off TurboTax at Amazon. (amazon.com)
- Sign up for an Audible.com free trial and get two audio books including "Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World." (amazon.com)
- Amazon series, like "Mozart in the Jungle," won more Golden Globes than Netflix. Check them all out with a 30-day Prime trial. (amazon.com)
Finance
- Why hedge funds need to care about cybersecurity. (next.ft.com)
- Chicago-based traders are jumping into venture capital. (chicagobusiness.com)
- Baupost Group had a down year in 2015. (businessinsider.com)
Funds
- The three most unloved fund categories in 2015 were domestic large caps. (news.morningstar.com)
- Investors are using the PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio ($BLKN) to short debt. (bloomberg.com)
Economy
- What CEOs had to say about the economy last week. (blogs.cfainstitute.org)
- Can lower oil prices actually cause a recession? (econbrowser.com)
- The Saudis will not kill the US shale industry. (telegraph.co.uk)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Research links: simple strategies. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you may have missed in our Sunday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)