Book list: NPR’s best books of 2016 including My Marathon: Reflections on a Gold Medal Life by Frank Shorter with John Brandt. (NPR)
Quote of the Day
"Bond funds’ positioning arises from necessity...They realize that they will get nowhere by mimicking the index’s safe, low-yielding Treasuries. They must differentiate their offerings. They must boost their funds’ yields by conceding liquidity, or accepting more credit risk, or increasing the portfolio’s duration. They must take their chances."
(John Rekenthaler)
Chart of the Day
A closer look at the factors behind Berkshire Hathaway ($BRKB) performance.
Strategy
- Where investors went wrong trying to emulate the Yale Model. (ai-cio.com)
- What's Vanguard going to do with all its newfound power? (fortune.com)
Companies
- LinkedIn is now officially a part of Microsoft ($MSFT). Let the synergies begin! (nytimes.com)
- Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat ($GOOGL) is trying to bring some financial discipline to the company. (bloomberg.com)
Atlas Obscura
- James Altucher talks with Joshua Foer co-author of "Atlas Obscura." (jamesaltucher.com)
- If you are buying "Atlas Obscura" for a holiday gift remember to get it in hard back. (amazon.com)
Finance
- The market is betting that Abbott ($ABT) will get out of its deal for Alere ($ALR) using a MAC clause. (nytimes.com)
- Is the Snap ($SNAP) hype machine running a big too hot pre-IPO? (buzzfeed.com)
Funds
- More evidence that female fund managers need to be all that much better to succeed. (businessinsider.com)
- In what asset classes do advisors use active managers? (alphabaskets.com)
Tools of Titans
- How Tim Ferriss works to "keep the demons at bay." (brainpickings.org)
- Get Tim Ferriss' brand new book "Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers." (amazon.com)
Global
- A pickup in Chinese IPOs is underway. (wsj.com)
- Resistance to infrastructure projects has become the norm in Canada’s resource sectors. (business.financialpost.com)
Economy
- Weekly initial unemployment claims continue to trend at low levels. (calculatedriskblog.com)
- We need more data on how a UBI would work. (qz.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Startup links: dating your VC. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you missed in our Wednesday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Personal finance: quit trying so hard. (abnormalreturns.com)