Taking the long view. The pursuit of shareholder value is attracting criticism—not all of it foolish. Economist

Photo: Brett Ryder - Economist

Baghdad Broker Dodges Bombs to Rack Up Stock Trades. A profile of Shwan Taha, chairman and sole owner of Rabee Securities, a brokerage that handles 80 percent of stock trades by foreign investors on the Iraq Stock Exchange. Bloomberg

Jim Sinclair on George Soros: [He] is an old fox who will do whatever he deems necessary for the success of his ventures. A man that rich is smart and dangerous. It is not good to get in his way. He is near the top of the list of the financial feeding chain. He would consider this a compliment. Jim Sinclair's Mineset

Become an entrepreneur, not a VC. "The ten-year returns for venture funds ending June 30, 2012 averaged 5.3 percent, compared to 6.0 percent for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and 7.2 percent for the Nasdaq Composite... For an asset class in which managers get a 2 percent management fee and 20 percent of the profits and the capital is locked up for as much as ten years, the returns are unacceptable." Venture Capital Needs to Downsize or It Will Continue to Stagnate. Institutional Investor

Photo: Steve Marcus/Reuters

Will hedge fund magnate Stevie Cohen dodge the bullet? "Mr. Bharara said in the charges that Mr. Martoma obtained secret data from a doctor about clinical trials for an Alzheimer’s drug being developed by the companies Elan and Wyeth. The information enabled SAC to avoid losses of almost $194 million on the stocks, which it sold and then bet against, reaping $83 million in profit — a total benefit to the firm of more than $276 million. SAC executed the trades shortly after Mr. Martoma e-mailed Mr. Cohen and said he needed to discuss something important." New Trading Case Casts a Deeper Shadow on a Hedge Fund Mogul. Dealbook

Rogue trader awaits verdict. "Adoboli testified that in UBS “Ascent” -- an internal program he took part in for employees the bank deemed to be future leaders -- they were told that if they saw a “stage laid bare,” they should “step into the limelight.”" Diamond, Dimon’s Early Risks Made Them Better: Adoboli. Bloomberg

The Top 75 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2012. Twisted Sifter