Book notes: Many of our economic ills stem from the rise of finance. Insights from Mohamed El-Erian’s The Only Game in Town: Central Banks, Instability and Avoiding the Next Collapse. (Time)
Quote of the Day
"Smart beta is really just dumb beta plus marketing. It is taking stuff we all know -- like value, momentum, quality or profitability, whatever you want to call it -- and saying, “Oh look, these are different takes we have to worry about."
(James Montier)
Markets
- Algorithmic trading is the new day trading. (fortune.com)
- More evidence that market timing is tough. (barrons.com)
Companies
- This paradox is limiting Twitter ($TWTR) from taking off. (digitopoly.org)
- Diageo ($DEO) is trading at a discount to its spirits rivals. (bloomberg.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
- The hedge fund crowd is down in the dumps. (thereformedbroker.com)
- You should invest in the best hedge funds...the challenge is identifying them beforehand. (bloombergview.com)
Funds
- Cullen Roche, "Indexing isn’t eating hedge fund returns. As I noted recently, it’s high fees that are eating hedge fund returns." (pragcap.com)
- Do TDF investors understand what they are getting? (vanguardinstitutionalblog.com)
Global
Economy
- Weekly initial unemployment claims are still trending at low levels. (calculatedriskblog.com)
- The March FOMC meeting is going to be much more angst-filled. (economistsview.typepad.com)
- Housing and chemical activity point towards continued economic expansion. (valueplays.net)
- There is no sign of waning economic confidence. (scottgrannis.blogspot.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Longform links: bring your own device. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Cost-obsessed ETF investors run amok. (abnormalreturns.com)
- A new Essential Listening is up with a talk with the inventor of 'Bowie bonds.' (blogs.cfainstitute.org)
- Treasury bonds: the ultimate 'alternative asset' class. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Ongoing gender disparity in money management. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you may have missed in our Wednesday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
