Volatility, signs of recovery and the ostrich effect.

• The Globe and Mail. Volatility back with a vengeance. “One day the market swoons, the next it soars. Volatility is back, big time.”
• Reuters. TSX surges as China comments lift resources. “Toronto’s main stock index ended higher for a second straight session on Thursday as commodity-linked stocks surged after China soothed investor worries by saying Europe was a key investment market.”
• National Post. Big investors hold faith through stock rout. “Institutional investors hung on to their equities exposure more than might have been thought in May, given extreme volatility on financial markets, but also put more money in safe-haven cash, Reuters polls showed on Thursday.”
• National Post. Spanish austerity vote helps reverse euro decline. “Spain turned to austerity while China and the United States offered soothing words about Europe on Thursday, providing a respite in the euro-zone debt crisis that allowed markets to recover.”
• The New York Times. Europeans fear crisis threatens liberal benefits. “Across Western Europe, the ‘lifestyle superpower,’ the assumptions and gains of a lifetime are suddenly in doubt.”
• Bloomberg. Treasuries plunge as Europe concern diminishes, stocks rally. “Treasuries tumbled, with two-year note yields capping the biggest three-day increase since December, as concern eased that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis will worsen and higher-yielding assets rallied.”
• Financial Times. The world economy is recovering. “Despite all the portents of doom the world economy has been quietly mending itself.”
• The Economist. World economy: Fear returns. “It’s not quite a Lehman moment, but financial markets are more anxious today than at any time since the global recovery took hold almost a year ago.”
• The Economist. American output: Minor disappointments. “America’s economy performed just a little worse in the first quarter of 2010 than the Bureau of Economic Analysis previously estimated.”
• The Vancouver Sun. Flaherty unveils national-securities regulator bill. “Finance Minister Jim Flaherty unveiled federal legislation on Wednesday that would establish a national securities regulator to oversee Canada’s financial markets.”
• Canadian Business. National securities regulator no help. “The move toward having a national securities regulator seems to be gaining some momentum and could finally achieve a successful outcome. However, I am not hopeful a shiny brand new regulator at the national level will materially improve things for investors in Canada.”
• Humble Student of the Markets. Buy Australia, sell Canada. “The economies of Australia and Canada are similar in character. Both are resource based economies and about the same size.”
• Million Dollar Journey. Using put options to protect your portfolio. “One way to protect a portfolio is to purchase insurance in the form of put options.”
• Where Does All My Money Go. How to do a background check on your advisor. “The victims of Bernie Madoff and Earl Jones didn’t see what hit them until after the fact. These poor swindled investors all thought these were stand-up guys.”
• Canadian Finance Blog. Maternity leave and parental leave 101 – just the facts, baby. “Compared to most industrialized nations, Canada has a better than average national parental leave program.”
• Balance Junkie. Passive investing and the ostrich effect. “A lot of smart people advocate passive investing. Passive investors do not try to time the markets. They are usually buy and hold investors who set an asset allocation and rebalance periodically.”

Subscribe to the Today’s economy blog RSS feed or email. And please follow me on Twitter.