Another Abnormal Returns book giveaway is coming in time for holidays. Stay tuned for more details.

Quote of the day

Barry Ritholtz, “Investors need to remember this whenever they are told a story. Narrative may be entertaining, but they won’t make you money.”  (Big Picture)

Chart of the day

Interest in special dividends is on the rise, but don’t hold your breath for an Apple ($AAPL) special dividend.  (@stevenplace, MarketBeat)

Markets

How major asset classes performed in November.  (Capital Spectator)

Sector rotation has not been particularly helpful.  (Dynamic Hedge)

A tough year for Dow Theorists.  (The Reformed Broker)

Money is flowing out of high yield bonds.  (InvestmentNews also Pragmatic Capitalism)

Don’t forget about Taiwan.  (All Star Charts)

Fitch warns on muni bonds.  (FT contra Bloomberg)

Strategy

Investor, know thyself.  (Attitrade)

Why embedded leverage doesn’t pay.  (Falkenblog)

The basics behind the Permanent Portfolio.  (AAII)

Four requirements for asset allocation. (Rick Ferri)

Companies

Is same-day delivery the future of retail?  (WSJ)

Did Yahoo! ($YHOO) get blindsided by a court ruling?  (footnoted)

The stock is up but has much really changed at Facebook ($FB)?  (Pando Daily)

Ford ($F) is selling a lot of F-150 trucks.  (Bespoke)

Finance

Quant hedge fund startups were the flavor of the year.  (FT)

The challenges facing bank prop desk traders who are going out on their own.  (Institutional Investor)

James Surowiecki, “If Buffett didn’t exist, the rich would have had to invent him.”  (New Yorker)

Under what conditions do high frequency trading thrive?  (FT Alphaville)

The SEC has let the stock market become a tangled mess.  (Bloomberg)

Funds

The new Mutual Fund Observer commentary for December is out.  (MFO)

You have to look beyond the ETF label.  (WSJ)

The ETF industry is “maturing.”  (WSJ)

Global

Europe’s PMI comes in weak, as usual.  (FT Alphaville)

The BRICs are bouncing back.  (Money Game)

Japan’s coming election is a biggie, policy-wise.  (Gavyn Davies)

China’s real estate market is bubbling again.  (FT)

Is the shale gas revolution exportable?  (WSJ)

What’s eating the Canadian economy?  (Wonkblog)

Economy

The November ISM manufacturing survey indicated contraction.  (Calculated Risk, Quartz)

What would $50 oil mean for the economy?  (Money Game also FT)

More signs of muted growth.  (Econbrowser also Bonddad Blog)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

What books Abnormal Returns readers purchased in October including Market Sense and Nonsense and The Success Equation.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

Roger Ehrenberg, “Career management doesn’t just happen; it requires planning, effort and self-awareness.”  (Information Arbitrage)

Apple’s iTunes business would rank amongst the world’s biggest media companies.  (Tech Blog)

Truly disruptive services like Uber always attract opposition.  (NYTimes)

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