The Unknown Son and Late-Stage Effects of Chemo (and a Link Dump, of course)

Today's a bit busy - I teach in the morning, and meet Unknown Wife immediately after so we can go to meet Unknown Son's new oncologist. He's in remission from his Neuroblastoma, so it's not a "serious" meeting. But he does have to issues to deal with.

Most chemotherapy works primarily by attacking ALL fast-growing cells, and he's had a lot of it. So, it often has implications for childhood growth. Unknown Wife and I are both on the smallish side, so we didn't expect U.S. to be a giant in any case. But he's by far the smallest in his class (most people guess him to be about 6 instead of 8, at least until he open his mouth). In addition, he probably has some slight neuropathy (nerve damage), which is a common side effect of pediatric chemo. Both U.W. and I have the reflexes of tree sloths, but U.S. is even more uncoordinated.

In any event, the new oncologist has specialized in late-stage effects of chemo. She actually did "write the book". So, we'll be consulting with her today to determine what options we have, or even if we need to be concerned.

Meanwhile, here's some stuff to keep you busy:

CXO Advisory group has been going back and forth with Jim Cramer on his investment performance. I think they've gotten under his skin.

Theresa Lo is guest blogging at Alpha and Omega about "computer-replicated hedge funds". It seems that there are a couple of groups that are trying to do it on an automated basis that claim they can do it better than a flesh-and-blood manager.

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative has some good advice on how to present (or discuss) an academic paper.

John Prestbo at Marketwatch.com goes over the ins, outs, ups, and downs of hedge fund indexes. To quote Inigo Montoya, "I don't think that means what you think it means".

Enough bloggery - back to work.