Book list: Some great books for the geek in your life including Jenny Lawson’s Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things. (Bad Astronomer)
Quote of the Day
"In short, algorithms reflect the people who create them and the organizations that use them: mostly (but not always) good and well-intentioned but also imperfect and sometimes caught up in unintended consequences."
(John Villasenor)
Chart of the Day

Not many bright posts when it comes to YTD asset class performance (USD terms).
Markets
- A look at November asset class performance. (capitalspectator.com)
- Stock valuations look "reasonable" at current levels. (scottgrannis.blogspot.com)
Apple
- The Apple ($AAPL) Watch feels like a "stalled platform." (qz.com)
- Apple ($AAPL) spends a lot less on R&D (as a percentage of sales) than other big tech companies. (bloomberg.com)
- How Apple ($AAPL) could compete in the car business. (mondaynote.com)
- Apple ($AAPL) still wants to get into the payment biz. (bloomberg.com)
Offers
- It's hard to imagine going through the holiday season without Amazon Prime. You can get a 30-day free trial here. (amazon.com)
- MODERN TRADER Magazine—the essential journal for professional traders and active investors. Special Subscription Offer! (moderntrader.com)
- Sign up for Audible.com you can get two free books including "Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction." (amazon.com)
Finance
- Morgan Stanley ($MS) is cutting trading jobs. (wsj.com)
- Another big hedge fund manager is returning outside capital. (bloomberg.com)
- Three reasons why students funnel into banking. (news.efinancialcareers.com)
- IPOs in Hong Kong don't typically experience "pops." (ft.com)
Funds
- Vanguard is saving investors billions of dollar a year in fees. (bloomberg.com)
- In defense of closet indexing. (news.morningstar.com)
- There really is no defense of closet indexing. (pragcap.com)
- Alternative asset funds show a "behavior gap." (news.morningstar.com)
Global
- China's Renminbi is now an official "reserve currency." (nytimes.com)
- Canada's economy grew in Q3. (business.financialpost.com)
- Are the Saudis "overproducing" oil? (valueplays.net)
Economy
- The Fed may raise rates over the next year in "fits and starts." (economistsview.typepad.com)
- The November manufacturing ISM showed contraction. (crossingwallstreet.com)
- Business investment is "fizzling out." (wsj.com)
- Americans are still dining out at restaurants at a good clip. (calculatedriskblog.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- What books Abnormal Returns readers purchased in November. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Just in case you weren't looking forward to "The Big Short" movie. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Startup links: re-seed rounds. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Guest post: Josh Maher on what we can learn from the best startup investors. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you may have missed in our Monday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)