Tuesday links bonanza and more than one reminiscence

Craig Coben for the FT: SpaceX and the myth of independent Wall St research. On my first encounter with Wall Street analysts I also wondered what they were for. Here is Coben’s take: It is possible some retail investors may follow the research ratings, but in my experience the audience that matters most is the company itself. Management teams appreciate reports seeing their narrative endorsed in a report carrying the logo of a major bank. Flattery takes you a long way in finance, as it does in life. And in turn management teams may, if the analysis reflects what they believe is the true and right way to talk about the company, prioritize that particular bank to be on the left side, or the upper right corner, or the bottom third paragraph of the second-to-last-page, of the term sheet. And if you have no idea what that last part was supposed to mean, I envy you, truly. Gideo Rachman, also for the FT: My journey down the rabbit hole at the Conspiracy World Cup. One of my earliest…