I’ve been hearing some people talk lately about investing overseas – what with tepid results from U.S. markets. For those of you who are so inclined, I thought I’d give a look to which markets are doing well, and which not.

As of around noon today, here’s how the world shakes out on Bloomberg:

The best full-market returns (by percentage gain, year-to-date):
Ghana, +45.75
BLOM (Beirut), +31.30
MSM30 (Muscat), +30.13
Amman General, +26.81
DSM20 (Doha): + 25.39

And the worst:
Ho Chi Minh Stock Index: -57.36
OMX Iceland: -39.26
ISE National 100 (Istanbul): -30.80
CSI 300 (Shanghai and Shenzhen): -28.66
CSE (Cyprus): -27.77

And for reference, the Dow was down about 6.22 percent, the S&P down 5.9, the NASDAQ down 6.28 and the three Russells were ranging between down-3.4 to down-5.12 percent.

Robert Serling, brother of famed "Twilight Zone" author and narrator Rod Serling, this month is publishing a history of SeaTac's Alaska Airlines.

The book, "Character & Characters: The Spirit of Alaska Airlines," chronicles Alaska's 75-plus years of growth.

"Alaska is an airline built from humble beginnings in 1932 by a cast of always dedicated, sometimes quirky and often brilliant characters," said Serling. "For more than 75 years, it has been an airline that has defied all odds. It has proven to be as rugged, as rich in tradition and as resourceful as its namesake state."

Serling has written more than two dozen books, most of them about aviation. Among them are histories of Eastern, Western, TWA, Continental and American airlines.

The book will be available on-line and in bookstores beginning June 15.

Not everyone wants to be on American Idol? Apparently not, according to Chet Fenster, managing partner at MEC, the company that has created a new reality TV-type series to push the Macy's in-house brand American Ragged.

Industry magazine Adweek reported this week that Macy's has selected aspiring musicians to be shuttled around the country as they learn what it takes to launch a music career. A 10-part series of documentaries following the bunch will air on YouTube. It's called "Ragged Road" and is scheduled to air in the fall.

Here's what the Adweek story had to say:

The five music business wannabes will be announced later this week. MEC created a contest in the form of a casting call that was advertised online in partnership with Facebook, on 12 college campuses, at the South by Southwest Music Festival and in Macy's stores around the country. Those interested auditioned in person or uploaded videos.

The five cast members will tour the U.S. this summer, and they will be meeting with "everyone from the curator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to someone who runs a label, to someone who books bands in a particular city. Not everyone wants to be on American Idol," Fenster said.

All five cast members will be wearing American Rag clothing. They will also be given the opportunity to shop for the brand as they travel across the country. For YouTube users interested in buying the clothes, the Macy's site will serve as a shopping portal.

Sea-Tac Airport has won another dubious distinction this week: 13th place on Forbes Magazine's list of the top 20 time-draining airports in the U.S.

Forbes used a combination of airport rankings of security, weather, air traffic and airline-related delays to create a composite score for America's top airports.

Based on that score, which was compiled using 2007 federal figures, the magazine ranked Sea-Tac 13th worst. At the top of that list of most delay-prone airports was Chicago's O'Hare Airport. The best of the 20 worst was Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

Here the link to Forbes' story.

On the list of the nation's 100 busiest airports, here are Sea-Tac's rankings. First is the best and 100th is the worst:

95th - Security delays
85th - Late-aircraft arrival delays
81st - Air traffic control system delays
73rd - Flight cancellation delays
84th - Carrier-related delays
69th - Weather-related delays
67th - Flights arriving on time
52nd - Flights departing on time.

And here's Forbes' list of the 20 worst time robbing airports:

1. Chicago O'Hare
2. Newark Liberty
3. New York JFK
4. New York LaGuardia
5. Dallas-Fort Worth
6. San Francisco
7. Boston
8. Philadelphia
9. Atlanta
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul
11. Denver
12. Detroit
13. Sea-Tac
14. Charlotte
15. Los Angeles International
16. Washington Dulles
17. Phoenix
18. Las Vegas
19. Miami
20. Washington Reagan National

Forbes' advice? Go to Hawaii. The sunny skies and warm temperatures ensure good flight conditions. Hawaiian Airlines and Hawaii's airports always rank high in on-time statistics. Likewise avoid major hub airports in favor of smaller airports in the vicinity. In the Bay Area, San Francisco Airport's delay ranking is far worse than nearby airports in San Jose and Oakland.