Oil traded around $66 a barrel on Monday, steadying after an earlier decline which extended last week’s 8.4 percent slide, as the U.S. dollar lost ground and stock markets moved higher.

In their official statement Wednesday, U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers said they “continue to anticipate that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the Federal Funds Rate for an extended period.”

There’s no question that the big “winner” in the global financial crisis has been China. While for the past two years developed economies have been scrambling to keep afloat China has taken a nuanced approach to achieving its economic and political goals.

China is pressing Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE ADR: RTP) hard for a sharp reduction in the prices the company charges for its iron ore. But mining companies like Rio, who have had their bottom lines eviscerated by a slump in commodities prices, may have a hard time acquiescing.

Brazilians used to joke that their country was the country of the future – and always would be because a new crisis seemed to crop up every time the economy came close to fulfilling its potential.

With the global economy on the mend, could gold be gearing up for another record-setting run? It sure looks that way. 

Equities “are now barely through an 18-year secular bear market,” says our favorite underground analyst David Rosenberg. As illustrated by the nearby chart, US stocks have a historical tendency to move in 18-year cycles.

At this point, it is good to look for the defensive plays that have been neglected in this upturn and for safe havens for investors taking profits from the recent run.  After looking long and hard, I came to General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS).

China Development Bank, one of China’s largest state-owned enterprises, has agreed to lend $10 billion to Brazil’s Petrobras (PBR) in exchange for a long-term supply of oil – the latest illustration of how Beijing is using the global downturn to further its domestic agenda.