David Kesmodel and John R. Wilkie at WSJ.com on the simply unbelievable conduct of Whole Foods Market (WFMI) CEO John Mackey.

Roger Ehrenberg, FT Alphaville, Felix Salmon are all scratching their heads.

Will recent court ruling slow the pace of going private transactions? (via WSJ.com)

DealBook on the carried interest debate “raging” in Washington.

The Epicurean Dealmaker on the unexpected effects a rise in taxes may have on the private equity industry.

MarketBeat takes a closer look at a favored strategy of activist hedge funds.

Think insider trading is bad in the U.S. Then check out Brazil. (via DealBreaker.com)

Bespoke Investment Group on the divergence in performance of the stock market while open and overnight.

Yves Smith at naked capitalism wonders whether the credit contraction has finally begun.

Will investors use the subprime mortgage meltdown as “catalyst for a reassessment of other risks in the system..” (via FT Alphaville)

Good work, if you can get it. (via DealBreaker.com)

David Merkel at the Aleph Blog has seven observations on real estate.

Tom Murcko at InvestorGuide.com has an interesting interview with value investor and author Mohnish Pabrai. (via Stockbee)

How would you asset allocate a $45 billion fund? (via WSJ.com)

Chris Hughes at FT.com notes how dividends have become the “accidental asset class.”

Gorton, Rouwenhorst (and Hayashi) delve once again into “The Fundamentals of Commodity Futures Returns.” (via SSRN.com)

“Professional economists” are not very good at forecasting stock market returns. (via CXO Advisory Group)

Brett Steenbarger at TraderFeed has identified “ten principles of short-term trading.”

Kevin Kelley at BloggingStocks with an introduction to piggyback investing.

Bond ETFs are benefiting from asset inflows as interest rates rise. (via TheStreet.com)

Random Roger on the launch of some new international equity ETFs.

Matthew Hougan at IndexUniverse.com on the new Nasdaq ETF market.

Tyler Cowen in the New York Times on how national, natural resource audits can serve the purposes of better government. In short, “In general, transparency can improve governance.”

Ameritrade-founding family, the Ricketts, are reportedly joining the throng interested in bidding for the Chicago Cubs. (via Chicago Tribune)

Thanks for checking in with Abnormal Returns. For you new to the blog you can stay up-to-date with all of our posts via our feed.

This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment.

The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client.

References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.

Please see disclosures here.

Please see the Terms & Conditions page for a full disclaimer.