It has been a follow-up Friday here at Abnormal Returns HQ. In earlier posts we discussed options backdating and hedge fund legitimacy.

In that same light two articles in the New York Times discuss issues raised by the newly created CME Group (CME). Heather Timmons discusses the fears of some market participants that the new behemoth could exhibit monopolistic tendencies absent adequate competition. Jenny Anderson looks at the issues raised by the size and strength of the newly combined entity in contrast with its relatively weak regulator.

The Ticker Sense crew is next up in the Blog Spotlight over at the Big Picture on “what’s driving CPI.” In addition they have neat graphs up on the “net purchases of US securities by foreigners” and “Dow thousand point milestones.”

Emily Thornton at Business Week on the “feeding frenzy” that is the private equity industry today.

Jonathan Burton at Marketwatch.com on a shift in sponsorship for the uber-popular Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock (QQQQ).

The October 30, 2006 edition of Fortune has a number of articles on the “secrets of greatness” including this piece by Geoffrey Colvin.

The Stalwart outsources some stock picks from Bill Miller, while Controlled Greed highlights the holdings of David Winters.

Greg Newton at NakedShorts introduces a new feature/blog that focuses on insights gleaned from investor letters.

On the subject of launches, the FT.com has joined the blogging revolution with Alphaville – “instant market insight.”

John M. Berry at Bloomberg.com on the case for the Federal Reserve to stay on hold, while Chris Isidore at CNNMoney.com finds those looking for further hikes.

David Altig at macroblog is “oddly optimistic” on the economy.

Jeff Miller at A Dash of Insight reminds us that, “Substantive and statistical signficance are two completely different things.”

CXO Advisory Group reviews a paper on the extent to which overnight moves in individual stocks are reversed the next trading day.

All About Alpha reviews a paper that explores the relationship between alpha and hedge fund betas.

Jon Markman at MSN Money thinks “cell phones are the new cigarettes.”

Paul Kedrosky at Infectious Greed with an interesting post on information externalities and store clustering.

Scott Adams at the Dilbert Blog has this nugget for you: “Sometimes you think you’re unhappy, but you’re really tired.”

Just in time for Halloween, scientists develop a “cloak of invisibility.” (via AP/Yahoo!)

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