Book notes: Matt Levine, “I tend to think of the Wall Street memoir as a sub-category of the addiction memoir.” and that includes For the Love of Money by Sam Polk. (Bloomberg View)
Quote of the Day
"(E)asy alpha is only a dream. This is because the vast majority of portfolio managers, traders, investment experts, and analysts are highly educated and credentialed, have access to the latest technology and information, and have expert knowledge of the financial markets."
(Chris Philips)
Chart of the Day
The VIX is now at its lowest level since August 2014. (via @TheStalwart)
Markets
- Americans don't think highly of stocks as a long-term investment. (bankrate.com)
- Stocks have caught up with strategist targets. (blogs.wsj.com)
- Credit risks are on the rise. (valuewalk.com)
- The contrary case for active investing. (jessefelder.tumblr.com)
Offers
- Subscribe to Modern Trader magazine and get 4 big bonus offers. (moderntrader.com)
- Try Audible.com and get two free books like "Originals" by Adam Grant. (amazon.com)
- Hey Trekkies! Sign up for Amazon Prime and get access to The Star Trek Collection on Amazon Instant Video. (amazon.com)
Companies
- Microsoft's ($MSFT) cloud business is growing nicely. (theverge.com)
- Unilever ($UL) buys Dollar Shave Club for a billion bucks. (fortune.com)
- Yahoo's ($YHOO) acquisition of Tumblr was "the worst deal of the decade." (businessinsider.com)
- Microsoft's ($MSFT) Bing is becoming a real business. (bloomberg.com)
- Your company needs to be prepared for the "talent wars." (strategy-business.com)
Fintech
- A Q&A with Greg Becker CEO of Silicon Valley Bank ($SIVB). (strategy-business.com)
- Fintech now has its own index. (wsj.com)
Funds
Economy
- The US housing boom was a function of lending standards. (ftalphaville.ft.com)
- How well does GDP measure the digital economy? (conversableeconomist.blogspot.com)
- Real GDP growth has shockingly non-volatile. (awealthofcommonsense.com)
- On the benefit of putting "boots on the ground" for economists. (next.ft.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Personal finance links: acquired wisdom. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you missed in our Tuesday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- My piece up at Enterprising Investor: "Academic finance as a check on pretensions." (blogs.cfainstitute.org)
- How a "vague sense of returns" works against you as an investor. (abnormalreturns.com)
