Abnormal Returns is on a bit of a hiatus this week but here are some links we think are worth a further look. Good luck to everyone out there affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Quote of the day

MS, “Markets aren’t completely efficient, but they are mostly efficient. Easy money tends to be rapidly removed by the largest, fastest, most connected participants. In other words, someone other than you.”  (Mortality Sucks)

Markets

Four timeless investing rules from Joseph de la Vega, circa 1688.  (The Psy-Fi Blog)

Exponential patterns don’t end in a plateau.  (Zikomo Letter)

Yield is the last refuge of scoundrels.  (Aleph Blog)

Strategy

On the dangers of home country bias.  (ETF Replay)

Smart investment analysis is worthless without effective communication skills.  (the research puzzle)

Where one TAA model stands, hint China, going into November.  (MarketSci Blog)

Apple

What is Apple ($AAPL) buying with all their capital expenditures?  (Asymco)

Five reasons why Apple is in trouble.  (Quartz)

Finance

What the underwriters were doing on the bid in the aftermath of the Facebook ($FB) IPO.  (Liberty Street Economics, Dealbreaker)

What is Carl Icahn doing with his new, big Netflix ($NFLX) position?  (Dealbreaker, YCharts Blog)

Of course companies overprice their IPOs.  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

Has the worm finally turned for the banking business?  (FT)

Funds

Comparing the dividend ETFs.  (Morningstar)

Nasdaq is getting into the dividend index business, then again who isn’t?  (IndexUniverse)

The new iShares “core” ETFs are compelling.  (Invest With an Edge also IndexUniverse)

WisdomTree Investments ($WETF) “welcomes” the ETF price war.  (ETF Trends)

On the structural downside of muni bonds funds.  (Muniland)

Economics

ADP and weekly initial claims data.  (Calculated Risk, ibid)

Global PMIs are turning up.  (Money Game, FT Alphaville)

A mixed bag in the ISM manufacturing report for October.  (Bespoke)

The US economy is the globe’s new laggard.  (Money Game)

Books

A look at Michael Mauboussin’s The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports and Investing.  (Falkenblog)

An interview with Jack Schwager, author of the newly published Market Sense and Nonsense: How Markets Really Work (and How They Don’t).  (MartinKronicle)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

What books Abnormal Returns readers bought in October 2012.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

Many of the world’s biggest cities are located near the ocean, like New York City.  (FT)

On the economics of self-driving cars.  (Conversable Economist via Economist’s View)

What are the economics of a new Star Wars movie?  (AllThingsD)

Happy fourth blogiversary, Josh.  (The Reformed Broker)

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