Going Private has all manner of thoughts on liquidity, complexity and the distressing rise in correlations in times of need.

Justin Fox at the Curious Capitalist writes “This mortgage mess was not the making of the insured, depository financial institutions. It was the independent lenders and their Wall Street backers that drove it.”

Roger Lowenstein at NYTimes.com writes “The absence of scrutiny on Wall Street had a profound effect on mortgage origination.”

Accrued Interest doesn’t much care for the Bush Administration’s housing borrower bailout plan.

Yves Smith at naked capitalism on the trade-off between “the cost of regulation” and a “full blow financial crisis.”

Floyd Norris at NYTimes.com on “rapid reversals” and the “wild days of August” for the stock market.

Greg Ip at Real Time Economics “..proving or disproving bubbles is still, for now, beyond the ability of mainstream economics.”

David Gaffen at MarketBeat looks at where the stocks of the major credit rating firms stand.

Economist.com notes “The quant funds had become central players in the financial system, effectively acting as market makers.”

David Snowball‘s Fundalarm Annex is up and all new.

“Social investing” gets some notice by Mike Hogan at Barrons.com.

Chad Brand at the Peridot Capitalist writes “Don’t blindly follow Carl Icahn (or anyone else for that matter).”

Howard Lindzon on the market “September is shaping up to be a wild one.”

Bill Luby at VIX and More sees an “ISEE buy signal” coming.

Paul J. Lim at NYTimes.com on the history of stock market corrections.

Brett Steenbarger at TraderFeed tests an old market saw and “..wonders why traders would follow untested assumptions in putting their capital at risk.”

Bespoke Investment Group on the surge in “all or nothing days” in the stock market.

Great for a holiday weekend. Barry Ritholtz at the Big Picture highlights “20 timeless money rules”

Paul Kedrosky at Infectious Greed on “why do we want people to own homes?”

Busy Wall Streeters had to sacrifice their summer vacations. (via DealBook)

Then again you shouldn’t worry too much, investment banking is the highest paid industry in the U.S. (via NYTimes.com)

Given recent credit woes, it should not be all that surprising that art-backed loans are now under more scrutiny. (via WSJ.com)

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution is a fan of ‘neuroeconomics’ but warns against too much hype.

Judith Chevalier at NYTimes.com on the economic logic behind traffic citations.

Thanks for checking in with Abnormal Returns. We hope you have a pleasant holiday weekend.