Sentiment tells us the easy money has been made in this rally.  (Big Picture)

Utility stocks have finally joined the rally.  (Barron’s)

ExxonMobil (XOM) is just the first of many majors that will expand via US-based natural gas acquisitions.  Who is next?  (Gregor Macdonald also WSJ, DealBook, The Money Game, FT Alphaville)

What now for the “BRIC bull“?  (VIX and More)

What sovereign credits are most “miserable”?   (FT Alphaville)

Don’t be surprised if 2010 is the year of the IPO.  (24/7 Wall St.)

Is the “pessimism bubble” about to be burst?  (The Pragmatic Capitalist)

“(W)ill buybacks bounce back or were those levels of purchases made from 2005-2008 an extreme outlier caused by the excess liquidity in the system?”  (EconomPic Data)

Large hedge funds continue to dominate fundraising.  (DealBook)

The record shows that hedge fund managers should remain private and not go public.  (Bloomberg)

Burton Malkiel, “The paradox of the efficient market hypothesis is that the people whose trades help make the market efficient must be compensated for their efforts.”  (FT)

Brown’s Law of Wall Street Product Creation:  “Wall Street products decline in quality, popularity and necessity with each iteration after the original.”  (The Reformed Broker)

Brett Steenbarger, “To have a passion for trading–but not a need to trade: that’s a great place to be if you’re going to last in the markets.”  (TraderFeed)

GE (GE) is eyeballing Rockwell Automation (ROK).  (Deal Journal)

Wells Fargo (WFC) joins the parade of banks looking to exit the TARP.  (WashingtonPost, DealBook, Atlantic Business)

Can Paul Volcker move the consensus on financial reform?  (Baseline Scenario, Big Picture)

TIPS-derived inflation expectations have rebounded to pre-crisis levels.  (Capital Spectator)

Mixed messages from the Feds on bank lending.  (Kid Dynamite also Felix Salmon)

Jobs are coming.  Seriously.  (Slate)

John Carney, “In short, the American people are hugely exposed to any losses at the Fed.”  (Clusterstock)

The Fed has kept interest rates at 0% for the past year.  (Bespoke)

What bubbles should the Fed pop?  (Atlantic Business)

In praise of maximizing your contribution by finding your blogging niche.  (A Dash of Insight)

Arnold Kling, “Should we approach famous thinkers by digesting distilled versions, or should we study them in the original?”  (EconLog also Marginal Revolution)

Myopia rates are on the rise.  (LATimes)

Just a couple more days to enter our big holiday book giveaway.  (Abnormal Returns)

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