This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy.

• George Soros (Financial Times): Do not ignore the need for financial reform, October 25, 2009. It is not the right time to enact permanent reforms. The financial system is far from equilibrium. The short-term needs are the opposite of what is needed in the long term.

• Paul Sandison: The two main threats to democracy and modern capitalism, October 20, 2009. In the present burgeoning economic crisis, already well over a hundred million people across the globe have been thrown into poverty, despair, sickness and are struggling to avoid a premature death. Billions of people abroad are vowing never to allow the United States and the United Kingdom to do this to them again. The remaining question is whether the

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As stock markets attempt to notch up a sixth consecutive week of gains, the debate as to the longevity of the nascent rally rages on. The featured video material sees Steve Leuthold stating that the S&P 500 Index will rise to 1,100 this year, but Laslo Birinyi taking a bearish stance and advising that the “odds are not with you”. Similarly, Jim Rogers expects more “bottoms”, Nouriel Roubini claims markets to be “way too optimistic” and acclaimed Cazenove chartist Robin Griffiths is looking for a retest of the March 9 lows.

As far as the economic outlook is concerned, Martin Feldstain refers to the “faux recovery”, whereas Wilbur Ross and Abby Cohen comment on the slowdown in the econimic deterioration. Adding to the economic debate and related issues such as bank stress tests, the blame game, Goldman Sachs and commercial real estate, this week’s harvest

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Finally something Matt Hougan and I can agree on…

I can’t believe it, but Matt and I are actually on the same
page.  Just when you felt like there was no other ETF launch that could come out and feel like it hit the spot…I’m always a bit embarrassed when I’m a market
timer, but in this instance, I really am one. 
I’m an indexer at heart, but deep down inside I’m a contrarian. So I
love the current market environment as an investor, because it makes me feel
good about my rebalancing, and it allows me to do a bit of activist work on the
fringes.

And I LOVE this PowerShares launch.  I really do. 
I am almost ashamed to admit it as an index investor, but I absolutely
agree with Bruce Bond’s quote that the mortgage backed

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First item; Yesterday I mentioned a risk I think I see of a huge rally that ends up drawing people in too late who end up panic selling potentially doubling their losses from the current bear market.Regardless of whether this is the depression, the end of the US financial system or something worse the path down has been remarkably fast and all encompassing. Some sort of massive retracement, even if short lived, should not be a shock.Regardless of whether yesterday was short covering or natural buyers coming in I believe it speaks to a willingness (hopefulness?) to take them higher very quickly. I would not take this as a prediction but more something to think about in terms of what you would or would not do in case it happens.Second item; There have been a few sour comments left ...

Yesterday I came across three different articles that I thought all tied to a similar theme about whether we should or should not rely on the idea of stock prices going up over the very long term. There were also comments on the blog this weekend along the same lines.Regardless of what the futures holds, asking these types of questions has become much more popular because the S&P 500 is 18% lower than where it was exactly ten years ago and the world is in the middle of a financial crisis that has yet to be sorted out.The first article was by Felix Salmon that makes a case for reorienting expectations toward dividends rather than capital gains.The second article is from David Leonhardt about why prosperity is not an unalienable right.The last one was ...