Links and Minifeatures 2008 01 24 Thursday

Michael Barone: The Political Plot Thickens

Obesity surgery seen as diabetes cure

The patients had stomach band surgery, a procedure more common in Australia than in the United States, where gastric bypass surgery, or stomach stapling, predominates.

Gastric bypass is even more effective against diabetes, achieving remission in a matter of days or a month, said Dr. David Cummings, who wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal but was not involved in the study.

FYI, a few days ago I wrote how links to the former Carnival of Debt Management had been redirected/replaced by spam sites? After I deleted my links to them, my search engine traffic jumped by about 40% within 24-48 hours. It could be partially or even completely due to an unrelated cause. Coincidences do happen. However, that's not my primary hypothesis at this point.

Did SocGen trades trigger market rout, Fed cut?

Societe Generale's shock disclosure of a fraud that lost it $7 billion has left investors wondering about a link between the fiasco and Monday's European stock market rout.

The sharp fall, which was followed by an emergency U.S. rate cut, came as SocGen tried to close out positions built up by one of its traders.

I strongly doubt that this was the entire reason, but it was a significant fraction.

History offers lessons for economic stimulus

Even if stimulus packages come late, they have a psychological impact, says Robert Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute and a former Congressional Budget Office director. "Almost always the kick comes too late to moderate the decline or begin the turnaround," he says. "But it does add a little oomph to the recovery that was going on anyway."

No kidding.

Wall Street extends its rebound

Wall Street scored its second straight big advance Thursday after economic figures suggested the job market is holding up and as lawmakers agreed on measures that could ease concerns about consumer spending. The Dow Jones industrials rose more than 100 points, bringing its two-day gain to more than 400.

On a 625-point run, Dow blasts out of deep hole

Wall Street is making a habit of turning stock death spirals into buying opportunities.

This stimulus package is about buying votes, not helping the economy.

Frustrated with air travel delays?

Air Traffic Safety vs. Capacity

Why is your flight so late? Finally, the explanation

I wrote about this almost a year ago.