The Bancroft family opens the door to talks with Rupert Murdoch over the fate of Dow Jones (DJ). Apprently financial reality intervened and the just say no defense is off the table. Felix Salmon, John Carney, Mark DeCambre and DealBook all weigh in.

Diya Gullapalli at WSJ.com on the collapse of ETF market-making in light of the decline of floor-based specialists.

Mark Hulbert at Marketwatch.com looks back at a portentous technical event from March of ’07.

Middling performance for U.S. markets relative to the rest of the world in May. (via Bespoke Investment Group)

Brett Steenbarger at TraderFeed on the market climbing a “wall of pessimism.”

A new highlights and commentary piece is up over at FundAlarm.com.

Aaron Pressman at BusinessWeek.com has been reading up on a newish hedge fund-like mutual fund.

Zubin Jelveh at Chartistry with a small victory for technical analysis.

Eddy Elfeinbein at Crossing Wall Street on the rise of the machines on trading desks.

Bess Levin at DealBreaker.com on the decline of Wall Street’s equity analysts.

Vikas Bajaj and Julie Creswell in the New York Times on the smart money seeking opportunities in the wreckage that is subprime mortgage lending.

All About Alpha on the nitty gritty of hedge fund replication strategies.

The Economist.com on the age of the “imperial shareholder.”

Knowledge@Wharton on a study that documents the returns to hedge fund activism. (via The Deal)

Mebane Faber at World Beta examines the differences between buying the highs versus buying the lows.

Brett Steenbrager at TraderFeed on a rising stock market in the face of rising bond yields.

The Economist.com on the downside of picking underperforming hedge funds and private equity funds.

Going Private on how private equity represents “debt attitude arbitrage.”

Chet Currier at Bloomberg.com on how buyouts are siphoning off opportunities for the mutual fund crowd.

Marcia Vickers at CNNMoney.com talks with the head of Harvard University’s endowment.

Adam Warner at the Daily Options Report with a refresher on how to play deep in-the-money calls.

The Fly on the Wall on “celebrity” stock pickers.

Free exchange on “ratchet effects” and the prospects for better automobile fuel mileage.

We trust you have a good first weekend of summer. Go out and see “Knocked Up” which is charming critics like Joe Morgenstern at WSJ.com.

Thanks for checking in with Abnormal Returns, where your feedback is always appreciated.