The weekend is a great time to catch up on some of the reading you skipped during the week.  We hope you enjoy this set of long-form links.

Investing

Are traders dumber than drooling dogs?  (The Psy-Fi Blog)

Howard Marks’ take on why the markets swooned in August.  (Zero Hedge)

A profile of the very high profile hedge fund of fund manager Anthony Scaramucci.  (Bloomberg also Felix Salmon)

The Efficient Markets Hypothesis is as silly as an Efficient Atmospheres Hypothesis.  (The Physics of Finance)

The big book

James Grant (and Roger Lowenstein) in praise of Sylvia Nassar’s new book Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius.  (WSJ, Businessweek)

Financial engineering

A wide-ranging interview with Satyajit Das on the financialization of our economy.  (naked capitalism)

Real engineering vs. financial engineering.  (Wired and Ready)

Startup culture

How Zynga gets people to spend real money on virtual goods.  (WSJ)

The Groupon model is not all that revolutionary.  (The Frontal Cortex)

There are six types of startups and only one successful government program to nurture them.  (The Atlantic)

Technology

Microsoft ($MSFT) vs. Apple ($AAPL): which company changed the world more? (SAI)

How AT&T conquered the 20th century.  (ArsTechnica via @longreads)

Content

On the dangers of trying to keep with your RSS feeds.  (ArsTechnica)

Can curation be a serious business?  The case of The Browser.   (GigaOM also WashingtonPost)

Psychology

Self-control can be improved through training.  (The Frontal Cortex)

Can probiotic yogurt cure your mental illness?  (Scientific American)

Culture

Italy, India, immigration and the production of Grana Padano.  (NYTimes)

Noel Gallagher after Oasis.  (Grantland)

Thanks for checking in with Abnormal Returns. You can follow us on StockTwits and Twitter.

This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment.

The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client.

References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.

Please see disclosures here.

Please see the Terms & Conditions page for a full disclaimer.