We always find something of interest in this visual perspective on global equity market returns from Ticker Sense.

Gary Rivlin in the New York Times on how the Internet and Blue Nile (NILE) have changed the retail diamond business.

All About Alpha beat us to this interesting (longer) profile of Barclays Global Investors and their “bifurcated” approach of money management at Bloomberg.com.

Daniel Akst in the New York Times thinks average investors are “lucky” to be shut out of hedge funds.

Brett Steenbarger at TraderFeed with a longer term look at the (positive) role of falling oil prices on the overall equity market.

Michael Santoli at Barron’s on the changing nature of block trading in an era of “dark liquidity pools.”

Barry Ritholtz at the Big Picture passes along some sensible New Year resolutions for investors.

Paul J. Lim in the New York Times on the fact that “…Americans today are simply not saving sufficiently.”

Adam Warner at the Daily Options Report has a most august readership.

Stephen Kotkin in the New York Times with another look at an investment classic, “A Random Walk Down Wall Street.”

Who “Revived” the Electric Car? (via WSJ.com & AutoBlog Green)

Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt in the New York Times on the “gift card economy” and the inefficiency of gift-giving.

Thanks again for checking in with Abnormal Returns. You can always reach us with us with your questions and comments.