Will November’s emergency global financial summit result in a “new global financial order”? European leaders are pressing for a fundamental change in the US-centric monetary system. Jason Simpkins says a similar crisis meeting in 1944 gave birth to the Bretton Woods gold standard. But there are reasons to doubt such a major reform this time around.

As the dollar continues its historic decline, imported goods will become too costly for many Americans.  In addition, more of those products still made domestically will be exported to wealthier foreign consumers whose appreciated currencies increase their purchasing power.

While 2008 has not been the banner year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) that 2007 was, several blue-chip operations including Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Time Warner Inc. (TWX) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) have picked up where private-equity firms left off last fall.

The optimistic mood on Wall Street is finding support in a pick-up in M&A activity.

Swiss drug maker Novartis is taking Nestle’s 77% slice US eye-care company Alcon for $39 billion. Yahoo!, meanwhile, is sending smoke signals to Microsoft that it wouldn’t be against a bid if the price is right.

According to CityWire in Britain, the FTSE 100 broke through the 6,000 level “on a flurry of major corporate merger and acquisition reports from across the Atlantic.”