Today’s post represents a bit of catch-up from the past week. We hope you enjoyed the finance blogger wisdom series we ran while we were away.

Markets

Why do people insist markets are that much more volatile today?  (The Brooklyn Investor)

Real market professionals make even difficult plays look routine.  (Interloper)

One of these days there will be a monster rally in Europe.  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

Some lessons from Q1 hedge fund letters.  (Distressed Debt Investing)

Plans on the table for a better way of trading corporate bonds.  (WSJ)

Strategy

Should you be investing in equities if you still have a mortgage?  (Nerd’s Eye View)

An investor’s guide to the low volatility anomaly.  (Tradestreaming)

Can value investors make money simply by using screens?  (Musings on Markets)

Managed futures are not a new asset class.  (Nerd’s Eye View)

We traders are far more driven by hormones that we care to admit.  (Tim Harford)

Companies

It is hard to be too pessimistic about the economy when there are so many companies doing cool stuff.  (World Beta)

Workday is upending the business of enterprise software.  (Businessweek)

How does Southwest Airlines ($LUV) continue to churn out profits year after year?  (Slate)

Why newspapers were doomed all along.  (Justin Fox)

Finance

How technology will eventually obliterate current finance business models.  (The Psy-Fi Blog)

We have enough risk managers, what we need are risk doctors.  (The Epicurean Dealmaker)

A tick-by-tick breakdown of the Facebook ($FB) trading disaster for the Nasdaq ($NDAQ).  (WSJ)

Blackrock ($BLK) is the new Goldman Sachs ($GS).  (FT)

Why are penny stock promotions even legal?  (Aleph Blog)

The most important provision of the JOBS Act.  (Seth Levine)

Hedge funds

The future of hedge funds.  (Felix Salmon, Barry Ritholtz, WSJ)

Why hedge funds are no longer the ‘smart money.’  (Phil Pearlman)

ETFs

Franklin Templeton ($BEN) is getting into the active ETF game.  (IndexUniverse, ibid)

One investment firm is thriving these days: Vanguard.  (Businessweek)

Private equity is sniffing around model ETF portfolio managers.  (NYTimes)

ETF launches are slowing.  (IndexUniverse)

Global

Germany, not Greece, should exit the Euro.  (Bloomberg)

The Nonna State: how grandparents serve as a social safety net in countries like Italy and Spain.  (WSJ)

Books

An excerpt from Scott Patterson’s Dark Pools: High-Speed Traders, A.I. Bandits, and the Threat to the Global Financial System.  (WSJ)

An excerpt about Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates from Maneet Ahuja’s The Alpha Masters.  (Market Folly)

Technology

How Apple ($AAPL) is competing against Google ($GOOG) in mobile.  (Search Engine Land)

What can you learn about someone solely on Twitter?  (Joe Fahmy)

What has changed on the Internet in the past 17 years?  (Altucher Confidential)

Is the new MacBook Pro the last great PC?  (Slate)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Parts one and two of our Q&A with Hedge Fund Wizards author Jack Schwager.  (Abnormal Returns, ibid)

Ed Thorp on future trend following.  (Abnormal Returns)

I talked with Jeremy Glaser about importance of having a rigorous investment plan.  (Morningstar)

Mixed media

An oral history of the Dream Team.  (GQ)

Why smart people still make “thinking errors.”  (The Frontal Cortex)

For children at what age do all parents become ridiculous and/or embarrassing?  (BBC via The Browser)

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