But the trading and profit bit often brings to mind the "Ferengi Rules Of Acquisition"

Actually there are excellent Ferengi tips in there for publishers, I'll share a few that strike home most in their similarities to the AdSense scene:
(You will need to lookup the rules and open them in a separate window)
[en.wikipedia.org...]

Rule # 3 Arbitrage
Rule # 28 & 114 TOS
Rule # 29 The topic of endless debates on WW
Rule # 40 & 77 & 157 Choosing your site niche
Rule # 51 The solution to many I've been banned threads
Rule # 55 & 264 & 276 Optimizing Earnings
Rule # 64 & 119 Explains Smartpricing and conversion
Rule # 72 & 97 & 168 Disclosing your statistics
Rule # 76 Ad blindness
Rule # 80 Publishers diversifying
Rule # 82 & 128 Explains where clicks come from
Rule # 92 Testing your ads over short periods
Rule # 94 Competitive ads filter
Rule # 103 Publishers working hours
Rule # 140 Explains MFA
Rule # 144 PSA Public Service Ads
Rule # 150 The Heat Map
Rule # 184 WebMasterWorld Rules
Rule # 194 Contextual targeting Ads
Rule # 248 PIP threads