China imported record amounts of copper and iron ore in April as its mammoth stimulus program stoked its foundries and mills.  But the nation’s exports remained weak, leaving some to wonder how much longer the country can keep its economic fires lit without an increase in global consumption.

I’m not sure if the stock market has reached its ultimate low for the Great Bear Market of 2007-9.  But even if additional declines lie ahead, there are probably a few stocks worth buying anyway.

Negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate reached a compromise on the proposed economic stimulus bill today (Wednesday) and could have a bill on President Barack Obama’s desk by the end of the week, CNN reported.

Pack your bags, folks – “There’s no more Wall Street.” That’s the damning verdict from Alan Greenberg, former CEO of The Bear Stearns Cos. Speaking on Bloomberg TV’s “Money and Politics” show, Greenberg declared that the existing Wall Street investment-banking model is dead.

The half-trillion-dollar stimulus package that China unveiled on Sunday underscores that country’s growing importance to the global economy and shows Beijing’s willingness to assume a leadership role in the battle to blunt a widening worldwide financial crisis, a top expert on China said yesterday (Monday).

It was a mixed start to the trading week with the big board issues taking on gains, while the junior explorers faced some profit taking during Monday’s session on the Canadian markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added a modest 0.96%, while the TSX Gold Index surged 6.1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, lost 0.85% with the declining issuers out pacing the advancers by a 462 to 277 margin on volume of 138 million shares traded.

If the government demanded U.S. oil be sold at a massive discount to domestic markets, oil producers would stop investing in the U.S. And we’d end up buying all of our oil abroad.