Michael Tsangaris'  Instablog

Quote of the Week

"reality is too painful to bear, so you just distort it until it's bearable." - Charlie Munger

Weekly Investment Commentary

'Fiscal Cliff Deadlines Draw Near' by by Russ Koesterich, BlackRock's Global Chief Investment Strategist

Calendar for Next Week

Monday:

· U.S. stock exchanges close at 1 p.m.

Tuesday:

· U.S. financial markets closed

Wednesday:

· October S&P Case-Shiller housing price index

Thursday:

· November new home sales

· Conference Board's December consumer confidence survey

Friday:

· November pending home sales

· December Chicago PMI will be published on Friday.

Articles

Our favorite charts of 2012 (Quartz)

Domestic and Global Banking: A Look Ahead - 2013 (Weiss Ratings)

The Biggest Surprise of 2012 (The Motley Fool)

Jeremy Siegel on 'Dow 15,000' (Advisor Perspectives)

The secret to Warren Buffett's investing success (The Globe and Mail)

Ken Fisher Talks the Fiscal Cliff (Forbes)

Stock-focused Articles

What's Apple Doing With Foursquare? (The Street)

SAC E-Mails Show Steve Cohen Consulted on Key Dell Trade (Bloomberg)

Pershing Square's Ackman shorts Herbalife; stock skids (Reuters)

Books

The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: Risk Taking, Gut Feelings and the Biology of Boom and Bust by John Coates

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.