The CEO is widely accepted to be the most important person in a company, but new research shows that their past history tells us very little about their future performonce; activist short selling on the rise in Australia as Corporate Travel Management threatens legal action against VGI Partners; and the AFR provides a translation guide for reporting season spin. Here's what's happening in market's today. 

What I'm reading

The MBA Myth and the cult of the CEO

In this excellent piece of research for Institional Investor magazine, the authors investigate whether investing in CEOs with a great track record or education produces better results. 

Read research

Activist short selling in Australia

Love them or hate them, activist short sellers are on the rise in Australia. But not everyone's happy about this. Corporate Travel Management are threatening legal action against VGI Partners following their short campaign against the company last year. 

Read article

Decoding the reporting season spin

James Thomson from AFR just published this amusing guide to reporting season spin. Next time you see "Weather impacted our results" you'll know what it really means. 

Good for a laugh (AFR subscription required)

Stocks to watch

• The last few companies are releasing results this morning, however it’s primarily exploration and development companies, and early stage technology and biotech.
• The only company of note to report so far today was Silver Chef, who reported a net loss of $11.7m following a 16.7% fall in revenue.

Key market data

• ASX Futures: 6,155.0 (+0.39%)
• AUD/USD: 0.7097 (-0.58%) 
• ASX200: 6,169.00 (+0.30%)
• S&P 500: 2,784.49 (-0.28%)
• China A50: 12,515.41 (-0.08%)
• Australia 2-yr bond: 1.737 (+1.76%)
• Australia 10-yr bond: 2.152 (+4.26%)
• US 2-yr bond: 2.518 (+0.73%)
• US 10-yr bond: 2.717 (+1.15%)
• Gold (USD/oz): 1,314.65 (-0.50%)
• Copper (USD/lb): 2.944 (-0.51%)
• Brent Oil (USD/bbl): 66.41 (+0.03%)
• 62% Iron Ore (USD/t): 84.5 (+1.44%)

Upcoming releases and events

• HIA New Home Sales data for January are released at 11am
• European Unemployment for January is released at 9pm tonight AEST
• The TD Securities Inflation Gauge (Feb), ANZ Job Advertisements (Feb), and Buildings Permits (Jan) are all released on Monday morning AEST.

Never miss an update

Stay up to date with my morning notes by hitting the 'follow' button below and you'll be notified every time I post a wire.