Leading Economic Indicators | The Underrated Goldfish

• The giant HSBC Bank, which was let off the hook in 2012 for its money-laundering by paying a $1.9 billion settlement and promising to vigilantly guard against future money laundering, was revealed in March to be regressing. HSBC's monitor said that the bank somehow failed to stop transactions by a company whose professed business included exporting miniskirts to Iran (which would be against international sanctions but also not exactly smart business). In another incident, a 19-year-old Mexican man in the drug-cartel-intensive Sinaloa state was allowed to open a private-wealth account with just a bagful of cash, claiming to be a "shrimp farmer." [Wall Street Journal, 3-29-2016]

• Veterinarian Tristan Rich, in Melbourne, Australia, was credited in March with saving the life of a 9-year-old goldfish ("Bubbles") by removing its brain tumor. Dr. Rich had to first figure out how to keep Bubbles out of water long enough to operate, but finally rigged a contraption to continually splash water over the gills. This was Dr. Rich's second heroic goldfish surgery. (Bubbles' breed was not reported; ordinary goldfish can be purchased for less than $1.) [Yahoo News Australia, 4-1-2016]