Do traders have souls?

That's a question that always springs to mind when I watch the market buzz surrounding any disaster. Whether it's Hurricane Katrina, the great Tsunami, or this week's coup in Thailand; you'll always see articles like this one in the Wall Street Journal [subscription required]. Teaser: "Analysts React to Thai Coup: 'Bargain Opportunity'"

Lovely. It reminds me of a piece I heard on This American Life, Ira Glass' gripping radio show. A commodities trader recounts his education in chaos after the Chernobyl accident. He got to work late, a little stunned by the news, and was amazed to see the energy level was nearing giddy on the trading floor. "That disaster made more money, in one day, that I had made my entire life up 'til then," he said, chuckling uncomfortably.

Michael Kurtz at Bear Stearns has obviously restrained himself greatly, using words like "regrettable" and "political frictions" and "toll." But you can almost feel a teensy bit of glee sparkling through from the Bear Stearns trading floor (you know those traders are known for their distinct lack of polish, don't you?) when he writes, "Investors have heavily penalized Thai stocks since last year amid deepening political uncertainty, with the benchmark SET Index having gained just 9% in U.S. dollar terms since January 2005; as such, the SETI now elicits some of the region's deepest valuation discounts."

There you have it: scoop up the bargains in Thailand, enjoy the chaos while it lasts. If your soul can handle it.

Can you say "publicity"? Evidently, that's all Jeffrey Toback, a member of the Nassau County (Long Island) legislature knows. He's suing Google for the children, claiming that the company's search engine promotes paid ads for child pornography companies [*cough* EVIL! *cough*].

Naturally, Google says that it is not "the largest and most efficient facilitator and distributor of child pornography in th world." And that this is just a publicity stunt. What? No, not really?

Mike from Techdirt weighs in, explaining that "the law here is extremely clear: a service provider is not directly responsible for what people do on their platform" and calling the lawsuit "ridiculous" and "a misunderstanding both of the law and how Google works." Ridiculous it may be, but Jeffrey Toback's name is on everyone's lips today. Investors evidently agree with Mike; the stock is up $1.50 in intraday trading, to $396.25.