Holiday book alert! Today (Monday) you can still get an extra 30% off of any book at Amazon. Check out the books on Jason Zweig’s list of the best books for investors for some ideas.

Quote of the day

Jason Zweig, “With any asset, be skeptical of anyone who forecasts either an epic boom after prices have risen or an even more catastrophic collapse after they have fallen hard.”  (MoneyBeat)

Chart of the day

Crude_1214

Markets are trying to come to terms with lower oil prices.  (Bloomberg)

Markets

A look at major asset class performance in November 2014.  (Capital Spectator)

Investors have been losing faith in the stock market for a decade now.  (Kimble Charting)

Emerging market equities are cheap.  (Short Side of Long)

China is starting to outperform.  (The Reformed Broker)

Strategy

Has technology wrecked our brains so that we can’t be long-term investors any more?  (Think Advisor)

On the need to begin saving for retirement, however small.  (A Wealth of Common Sense)

Insights from an ETF strategist.  (Alpha Architect)

Companies

The dispiriting rise of self-storage in America.  (Businessweek)

Finance

Hackers are now targeting M&A data to facilitate insider trading.  (Bloomberg, NYTimes)

Institutional investors are computerizing their approach to peer-to-peer lending.  (Bloomberg)

Funds

Big bond funds are holding more cash: the reasons differ.  (WSJ)

Pimco continues to experience big fund outflows.  (FT)

Oil

Oil isn’t going to stay down here for long.  (Econbrowser)

Falling oil prices are going to put a crimp on capital spending.  (WSJ)

The pros and cons of falling oil prices.  (Pragmatic Capitalism, Dr. Ed’s Blog)

Economy

Why homebuilders are confident.  (Sober Look)

The US manufacturing economy is undergoing some rotation.  (Calafia Beach Pundit)

The US economy is stronger than most people think.  (Tim Duy)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Zero commissions and the growing risk of trivial trades.  (Abnormal Returns)

What books Abnormal Returns readers purchased in November 2014.  (Abnormal Returns)

What you might have missed in our Sunday linkfest.  (Abnormal Returns)

Mixed media

Amazon ($AMZN) is continuing to roll out robots across its warehouses.  (Wired)

26 cool gadgets of 2014 including the Google Chromecast.  (Fortune)

Girls Scouts can now sell cookies online.  (Fast Company)

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