Book notes: Learning isn’t easy and other insights from Ulrich Boser’s Learn Better: Mastering the Skills for Success in Life, Business, and School, Or, How to Become an Expert in Just about Anything. (The Atlantic)
Quote of the Day
"(L)ife is sacrifice and risk taking, and nothing that doesn’t entail some moderate amount of the former, under the constraint of satisfying the latter, is close to what we can call life. If you do not undertake a risk of real, reversible or even potentially irreversible, harm from an adventure, it is not an adventure.
(Nassim Nicholas Taleb)
Chart of the Day
Bond index investors are getting less yield for more risk. (chart via Pimco)
Markets
- ValueAct is sending money back to investors due to "high valuations." (cnbc.com)
- Microsoft ($MSFT) has been buying a boat load of Treasuries. (ftalphaville.ft.com)
Strategy
- Five defenses of dividend investing. (monevator.com)
- Good luck predicting market reactions to geopolitical events. (bloomberg.com)
- Even the best strategies, investing or sports betting, go through periods of losses. (dualmomentum.net)
Communication
- Analysis+Communication=Gold. (freezingassets.org)
- How to put on a better investment conference. (danielsolin.com)
Sponsored link
Whole Foods
- This is the biggest challenge facing Whole Foods ($WFM). (washingtonpost.com)
- Amazon ($AMZN) considered buying Whole Foods ($WFM) last year. (bloomberg.com)
Retail
- Wal-Mart ($WMT) will begin giving customers a discount for picking up items in-store. (recode.net)
- Online shoppers are increasingly turning to Amazon ($AMZN) first over Google ($GOOGL). (geekwire.com)
Finance
- The downside of anonymity in finance media. (barrons.com)
- M&A booms lead to goodwill writedowns down the road. (bloomberg.com)
- Credit card charge-offs are on the rise. (bloomberg.com)
Funds
Offers
- Need some new tunes? Start a free-trial to Amazon Music Unlimited. (amazon.com)
- Need a spare tablet around the house? Get Amazon's best-selling Fires for $10 to $20 off. (amazon.com)
- Start a 6 month free trial to Amazon Prime Student and get $15 off a $40 order. (amazon.com)
Airlines
- Does America need greater consumer protections, we're looking at you United ($UAL). (slate.com)
- You really don't have many rights on a commercial airliner. (theatlantic.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Personal finance links: egregiously priced index funds. (abnormalreturns.com)
- My most recent post at the Enterprising Investor: "Keep ETFs Weird." (blogs.cfainstitute.org)
- A Q&A with Jonathan DeYoe author of "Mindful Money: Simple Practices for Reaching Your Financial Goals and Increasing Your Happiness Dividend." (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you missed in our Tuesday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Research links: idiosyncratic momentum. (abnormalreturns.com)
