Book review: A. O. Scott’s Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Beauty, Pleasure, and Truth shows readers how criticism works. (Vox)
Quote of the Day
‘‘Workplace satisfaction is so much higher if you eat with your colleagues...You like your job more — and you like your colleagues better.’’
(Brian Wansink)
Chart of the Day

The things Warren Buffett mentions most in his annual shareholder letters.
Markets
- The gap between GAAP and pro-forma earnings is growing. (wsj.com)
- What do the biggest investors expect for major asset classes? (mebfaber.com)
- Why are TIPS breakevens so low? (blogs.barrons.com)
Strategy
- More investors are jumping on the emerging market debt bandwagon. (bloomberg.com)
- Investment charlatans tell you their are secrets to wealth. There are none. (thealephblog.tumblr.com)
- We humans are prone to seeing patterns where none exist. (psyfitec.com)
Offers
- The gadget reviewers are crazy for the new Eero home wi-fi solution. Buy it here: (amzn.to)
- MODERN TRADER Magazine—the essential journal for professional traders and active investors. This special subscription offer includes free classic investment book! (moderntrader.com)
- Try Audible.com and Get Two Free Audiobooks including "When Breath Becomes Air." (amazon.com)
- Join Amazon Prime Music - The Only Music Streaming Service with Free 2-day Shipping - 30-day Free Trial. (amazon.com)
Target
- Target ($TGT) is making a strong push online. (washingtonpost.com)
- Target ($TGT) seems to have turned things around. (ibankcoin.com)
Finance
- Crowdfunding is becoming common place in real estate investing. (techcrunch.com)
- The slowdown in high yield debt underwriting is going to hurt banks. (bloomberg.com)
- Hedge funds are an easy target in an election year. (institutionalinvestor.com)
Global
Economy
- Weekly initial unemployment claims ticked up but are still below 300k. (calculatedriskblog.com)
- Fade any hawkish talk heading into the March FOMC meeting. (economistsview.typepad.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- A new Essential Listening is up with talks about the restaurant industry, selling volatility and daily fantasy sports. (blogs.cfainstitute.org)
- Longform links: the frugal guru. (abnormalreturns.com)
- The case for "blind auditions" in money management. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you may have missed in our Wednesday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- I recently spoke with Nate Geraci of The ETF Store about investor behavior and the proliferation of ETFs. (etfstore.com)