Quote of the day

Howard Lindzon, “In my opinion, social buttons do not mean you have a social and new media site.”* (True Ventures)

Chart of the day



It took a while, but transport outperformance eventually succumbed to higher energy prices.* (Bespoke)

Markets

Have we run out of room for further upside economic surprises?* (Big Picture)

The US leads the world in IPOs for 2011.* (Deal Journal)

Why hedge fund managers hate when their investor letters surface online.* (Clusterstock)

Retail CDS options coming to a screen near you.* (Zero Hedge)

Strategy

For traders what is the proper mix of timeframes to examine?* (Dragonfly Capital)

Step away from the screen to become a better trader.* (Tyler’s Trading)

Why aren’t universities teaching trading?* (SMB Training)

The “contingent-market hypothesis” and our inability to calculated equity prices.* (Economist)

Companies

AIG (AIG) is planning a May ‘re-IPO.’* (WSJ, ibid)

“In the world of physical trading — buying, transporting and selling the basic stuff the world needs — Glencore is omnipresent and controversial, just as Goldman is in banking.”* (Reuters also Felix Salmon)

In the information age (and leaks) how should corporations protect their secrets?* (Economist)

ETFs

Are the new leveraged spread ETFs from FactorShares an “innovation” too far?* (Felix Salmon)

State Street adds an emerging market dividend and local bond ETF to the mix.* (IndexUniverse)

Vanguard continues to push ETF fees lower.* (IndexUniverse)

Munis

The “roller coaster ride” in muniland is not over.* (Bond Buyer)

Muni funds with large holdings in unrated paper are particularly vulnerable to outflows.* (InvestmentNews)

John Carney, “Without BAB, the evidence of trouble in the muni market may have been apparent even earlier.”* (NetNet)

Global

Michael Pettis, “Let’s face it – most Chinese growth is the result of overheated investment, and removing the sources of overheating without eliminating growth is going to prove impossible.”* (China Financial Markets)

What countries gets hurts most by rising oil prices?* (beyondbrics, FT Alphaville)

How is it that Germany continue to perform well?* (Curious Capitalist)

Despite 4Q GDP, the UK recovery seems to be on track.* (Gavyn Davies)

The case of the SNB shows that central banks can lose money.* (naked capitalism)

An index to countries at-risk of unrest.* (The Source)

Economy

According to 4Q GDP revisions the economy continues to “recover.”* (Economist’s View, WSJ)

Consumer sentiment continues to recover.* (Calculated Risk)

TIPS breakeven rates are back to where they were for the past decade.* (the research puzzle)

The ECRI WLI continues to trend higher.* (ECRI)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Hedge funds may have a tendency to herd, but owning Apple (AAPL) has to-date been a boon not a mistake.* (AR Screencast)

Our Friday morning live link look-in.* (Abnormal Returns)

Errata

Four rules to win your Oscar pool.* (Nate Silver)

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