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

Gatis Roze, “I suggest that individual investors spend less time looking to others to generate investable ideas and instead devise their own system to piggyback upon the ideas and money flow of the big institutions.”  (StockCharts Blog)

Markets

A tale of two sectors: technology and financials.  (Bespoke)

Lumber prices are surging.  (WSJ)

Investment grade credit spreads are plumbing post-crisis lows.  (Sober Look)

Employment days ain’t what they used to be.  (Quantifiable Edges)

Japan’s big electronic manufacturers have lost their way (in charts).  (Finance Trends Matter)

Strategy

The next big question facing investors: what to do when interest rates star rising?  (research puzzle pix)

Why CNBC causes investors so much stress.  (AdvisorOne via Systematic Relative Strength)

The logic behind the Permanent Portfolio.  (CSS Analytics)

Notes from the Great Investors’ Best Ideas Conference.  (Market Folly)

Some notes on Adam Grime’s The Art and Science of Technical Trading.  (CXO Advisory Group)

Research

Risk harvesting through dual momentum.  (SSRN)

Does academic research destroy stock return predictability?  (SSRN via peHUB)

Just what does an 80% probability really mean?  (Justin Fox)

Companies

What next for Netflix ($NFLX), Carl Icahn and Reed Hastings?  (Pando Daily, Dealbook)

Microsoft ($MSFT) is testing a smartphone.  (WSJ, Quartz)

Finance

A bunch of stock certificates were ruined by flooding from Sandy.  (FT)

The fiscal cliff is becoming an important risk factor for companies.  (Dealbook)

For years now corporations around the world have been hoarding cash.  (Economist)

Funds

Has the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF ($LQD) gotten too big for its own good?  (Learn Bonds)

The latest monthly fund commentary is up.  (Mutual Fund Observer)

Global

Europe’s manufacturing PMI is stuck in contractionary territory.  (Money Game)

Is Asia headed for it’s own credit crisis?  (Quartz)

Poland’s economy is getting squeezed.  (Sober Look)

Economy

A solid October jobs report.  (Calculated Risk, RTE, Quartz)

The consumer economy, homes and autos, has turned up just in time for Election Day.  (Daniel Gross, Calculated Risk)

On the relationship between GDP and employment.  (Econbrowser)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

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

Hedge funds are the rock stars of the investment world…for now.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

The pumps that are saving New York.  (WSJ)

Why does a used iPad still get so much?  (Wired)

Should software design echo real world design?  (Slate)

Why MIT is leaving Harvard in the dust.  (Boston)

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