Country returns since the collapse of Lehman Brothers.  (Bespoke)

Gold is a lousy inflation hedge.  (The Money Game)

Gold is not the same thing as gold mining stocks.  (EconomPic Data)

After adjusting for inflation are fund managers holding excess cash?  (Trader’s Narrative)

What story is the bond market telling us about the economic recovery?  (Breakingviews, Free exchange)

What causes trading slumps?  (Big Picture)

“Spend more time focusing on the process than on the end results. If it was not for randomness, every decision we made would be right or wrong based solely on the outcome.”  (Real Clear Markets)

Will floating-NAV money market funds undermine the money fund model?   (WSJ, FT Alphaville, Felix Salmon)

What should we make of all the talk surrounding the September effect this year?  (Abnormal Returns)

How the US stock market trades around Labor Day.  (CXO Advisory Group)

Hedge fund investors want management’s interest aligned with their own.  (DealBook)

The real reason why Deutsche Bank is liquidating the PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Long ETN (DXO) exchange traded product.  (IndexUniverse)

One reason why Citigroup (C) has become a volume leader.  (MarketBeat)

People lie about alpha, in part because alpha is a residual.  (Falkenblog)

A review of Finding Alpha by Erik Falkenstein.  (Aleph Blog)

The number of IPOs on deck is a heartening sign for the market.  (WSJ, ibid)

A product in search of an audience.  State-specific ETFs set to launch.  (IndexUniverse)

How much investment research is enough?  (SSRN)

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is no Brady Commission.  (Nerds on Wall Street)

Maybe Bernie Madoff would have done less damage as Chairman of the SEC.  (TPM, 24/7 Wall St.)

Private equity firms are trolling through the bankruptcy courts for “loan-to-own” opportunities.  (Bloomberg via Heidi Moore)

David Weidner, “Wall Street pay, more than deadbeat borrowers, crooked credit officers or corrupted credit ratings firms, is the reason we reached a crisis point that required government intervention.”  (WSJ)

How big a deal is BP’s big oil discovery?  (Atlantic Business, Barron’s)

Would US consumers have spent as much if they didn’t have self-storage facilities to put all their stuff in?  (NYTimes)

Who invested, how much for a stake in Skype.  (GigaOM)

Happy sixth blogiversary!  (Kirk Report)

Techniques used by “false prophets and charlatans.”  (Wall St. Cheat Sheet)

Ten characteristics of great companies.  (A VC)

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