he stock market rose again yesterday. It has extended the market's rally since March 9 to climb in excess of more than 20 per cent. For a while the Dow reached over 8,000. By a usual technical definition, an increase of that percentage above a market low could be assessed as a bull market rally. But who knows? Who has any idea if the swiftness of this recent upturn, after last year's devastating losses, could offer any assurance that the gains will be long lasting?

As I write this the world has witnessed, and will now start to assess, the significance of the meeting of the Group of 20 leading high-income and emerging countries in London. The very fact that the G20 is considered to be the correct body to address the challenges is significant. The leaders of the countries that generate the vast bulk of global economic activity must point the way towards working together to find the solutions. If they do achieve this goal the world will be headed in the right direction. This is a defining crisis and the future ...posterity ...will judge these leaders on how they respond.

A worthy assessment of the possible outcome of the meetings was the paragraph written by editorial writers at The Financial Times today; "Posterity will judge these leaders on how they respond. They will either put in place a program for recovery and reform that leads to healthier globalization or they will be held responsible for the collapse of the promise of a better world." This is a choice between advance and retreat. It is one that these leaders must make together. I think they will make the right choice.

Just as it was good to see what appeared to be a warm meeting at Buckingham Palace between Her Majesty the Queen of England and the President and first lady of the United States, so it was good to note the tone (and we hope substance) of the meeting between Barak Obama, our president, and Dmitry Mevedev, his Russian counterpart. Initial reports claim that the meeting was cordial with the possibility of building bridges between Russia and the US. Fortunately a summit between the leaders of the world's two nuclear super-powers no longer dominates the global stage as it certainly did during the long years of the cold war.

There is no doubt that the atmosphere is far better between the superpowers than it was in the Bush years. The Obama administration has toned down the rhetoric of the Bush administration.

The US and Russia can fully cooperate on many issues including Afghanistan, global terrorism, Iran and the middle east. Mr.Obama has been correct in seizing the moment to develop ties on the topic of arms control.

To those who proclaim that the disastrous drug cartel killings in Mexico are likely to bring down the nation's government, I feel the warnings are far from reality. The problems are dire but with the current President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, and his brave stance against the narco-mafias, and the attitude being taken by the current administration, our southern neighbor will resolve the problems. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated unambiguously that the U.S. demand for illegal drugs has fortified Mexican narco-mafias and fueled the drug violence there. Mexico has never before heard such a high-level U.S. official accept shared responsibility for generating and resolving the drug wars. She, as Secretary of State, has been receiving rave reviews proving, as the Los Angeles Times put it, "A little mea culpa goes a long way."

I shudder at the thought of President George W. Bush still being in office facing these situations on our behalf.

More soon,