This article is part of our Rising Star Portfolios Series.

Presidents' Day was a great time to catch up on reading. Here are the top articles and stories I found through my own reading this past month, in order of how long it takes to read.

Buffett Says Pricing Power More Important Than Good Management
Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B) Warren Buffett has long captivated investors with his investing wisdom. In an interview with the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission released last week, Buffett briefed the investigators on his thoughts on what makes a good business, namely, pricing power. Click here to read an account of the interview.

James Altucher's Blog
James Altucher has worn many hats: author, investor, trader, venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and many others. He now blogs at his site The Altucher Confidential. From his posts, you get a sense that James has either lost his mind or loves attention, but one thing is for sure, his writing is enthralling! Check it out for yourself, recent favorite posts of mine include:

CAPS' Weekly Top Stock Idea
Shameless plug. Each week, I cull a top stock idea from the pitches made on CAPS, The Motley Fool's 170,000-member free investing community. Recent picks included RAIT Financial Trust (NYSE: RAS), click here for the write-up, and short iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (NYSE: FXI), click here for the write up. There's been a variety of stock ideas with a full write-up for each. If you're interested, you can subscribe to the series' RSS feed here, or follow on Twitter here. You can also see an archive of all the articles here.

Which Stocks Will Rise? Ask Google
A soon-to-be-published study from professors at Notre Dame believe traders can use Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) search trends to beat the market by 10%a year. Their research showed that stocks whose search volume moved one standard deviation volume beat the market by two-tenths of a percentage point over the following week. Click here to read an account of the study.

The Best for Last: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
No matter if you are a fan of Harry Potter or never read it, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is a must-read and the best thing I've read in a while. This work-in-progress book, currently 70 chapters, uses Harry Potter to teach lessons in rationality, with each chapter devoted to one aspect of the subject. (For fans, Harry's Aunt Petunia married a scientist instead of Vernon Dursley, and Harry grows up to be a rational scientific prodigy.) While you may roll your eyes, I hope you give the book a chance; everyone I've passed it on to has become hooked. The author of the story is Eliezer Yudkowsky, an AI researcher as well as an expert in decision sciences and rationality. Click here to read Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.

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