“Over the last 25 years December options expiration week has been the most consistently positive week of the year for the SPX.”  (Quantifiable Edges)

Some hints at new sector leadership. (VIX and More)

BRINK is the new BRIC. (WSJ)

ExxonMobil (XOM) bets big on natural gas.  (DealBook also Peridot Capitalist, Deal Journal)

Ten bad investment ideas for 2010.  (Morningstar)

“The strategies employed are not the only element that is changing in hedge funds. Fund sizes are smaller, fees structures are mutating, and investors’ liquidity and transparency demands are rising.”  (FT)

Are all of Europe’s hedge funds going to head to Switzerland.  (Clusterstock)

Naked access‘ is the new buzzword in high-frequency trading.  (WSJ)

Do investors need a “physical gold” ETF?  (market folly)

Just how good are rates of change in leading economic indicators as a buy/sell indicator.  (The Pragmatic Capitalist)

Why did Dubai World get a “lifeline”?  (naked capitalism also MarketBeat)

Citigroup (C) taps the markets to pay back the TARP fund.  (NYTimes, WSJ, Felix Salmon)

The government has given up its best lever for financial reform.  (The Business Insider)

Should the Fed be the nation’s “bubble fighter“?  (Econbrowser)

The Treasury levers up.  (EconomPic Data also The Money Game)

Americans are not benefiting from lower mortgage rates.  (Expected Returns)

RIP, Paul Samuelson.  (Real Time Economics, Economix, Curious Capitalist)

Why James Altucher attract so much controversy.  (BloggingStocks)

How to read a fund brochure.  (The Reformed Broker)

John Tamny, “No longer a descriptive noun, “bubble” has become the default term for lazy writers seeking to explain what they cannot.”  (Forbes)

(S)imple economics are compelling the book world to move online, and those simple economics are as compelling as they were for the newspaper world a few years back.”  (Jeff Matthews)

Nice summary of the debate on the end of “hand crafted content”  and  why “social beats search.”  (A VC)

The new Google (GOOG) phone is all about mobile ads. (Atlantic Business also Silicon Alley Insider, 24/7 Wall St.)

AT&T (T) vs. iPhone “data hogs.”  (Daring Fireball, Breakingviews)

Due to falling prices look for flat-panel TVs and Blu-ray DVD players under the tree.  (NYTimes, ibid)

Tiger Woods will never recover his endorsement appeal.  (New Yorker, The Balance Sheet)

Abnormal Returns among the “75 Best Business Blogs of 2009″ in the Investing category.  (Business Pundit)

Check out our holiday book giveaway.  (Abnormal Returns)

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