There have been rumors that Germany is coming to aid of Greece, but there are some formidable obstacles in such a ploy.

First EU law bars the European Central Bank or national central banks from bailing out EU members through buying their debt or offering loans, according to a German parliament research unit."There are no identifiable grounds for an alternative interpretation."

Sugar is one of the most basic commodities. Countries throughout the world are wanting sugar. Supplies of sugar are reaching a 20 year low this year. The shortage may become especially acute in the third quarter.

Here some supply/demand statistics:

• India the biggest importer may need an extra 2.5 to 3 million tons to meet a 7 million ton deficit.
• China, the biggest consumer after India may have a deficit of 3.3 million tons.

Germany is considering an assistance package for fiscally-strapped Greece, two lawmakers from Chancellor 's governing coalition said, Boomberg News reported Tuesday.

"We are considering support," Michael Meister, the Christian Democratic Union's deputy parliamentary leader and the party's financial affairs spokesman, told Bloomberg News Tuesday in a phone interview. "If Greece gets aid, it will only happen under strict conditions and if the Greek government undertakes far-reaching state reforms."

During a crisis, never mind what the media or government officials are saying, follow the money.

The Mercantile Exchange (CME) posts open contracts for each currency traded -- both long and short positions. By subtracting them you can get a sense of whether traders are net long or short. In the case of the euro, traders are net short 40,000 contracts or nearly $8 billion.

Meanwhile, officials of struggling countries, Greece, Spain and Portugal are telling the media that they have things under control. Elena Salgado, Spanish finance minister and Jose Manuel Campo, her deputy flew to London to meet with bondholders, the Financial Times reports. They want to reassure promises to cut Spain's budget deficit by 3% of GDP by 2013. But then the treasury wants to raise 116.7 billion euros.

It sometimes is a small, unpredicted event that moves markets. Today it was Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank. He unexpectedly left a meeting in Australia to attend special meeting of European leaders to address the region's economy.

That was the trigger that shot off a turnaround in world markets. Stocks and commodities are trading higher in anticipation that the Greek sovereign debt problem will be dealt with. The U.S. market, just opened, did it with a bang as the Dow industrials more than recovered its triple digit loss from Monday to be back above the 10,000 mark.

U.S. stock futures advanced Tuesday, a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished below the 10,000 mark for the first time since early November. With investors encouraged by signs the EU could bail out Greece, bargain hunters searched for deals following the selloff.

U.S. stocks dropped Monday for the third time in four sessions, with the S&P 500 falling 0.9% and the Dow industrials falling over 100 points, or 1%. Concerns about European debt weighed on Wall Street as was the outlook for the U.S. economy, especially in light of reports that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will begin laying the groundwork for credit tightening later in the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank below 10,000 Monday, closing at 9,908.39. So what? In market analysis, round numbers like 10,000 often trigger a change in market sentiment.

For example, when the Dow first pushed through 10,000 on the upside in 1999, investors and traders took this as a sign of strength. Conversely, when it crashed through 10,000 on its way down to 6,400, panic gripped Wall Street. Then, in 2009, we had a bounce back through 10,000 on the upside in November. Again, investors and traders saw this as a sign of strength.

It was a big day for aerospace giant The Boeing Company (BA), which celebrated the inaugural flight of the biggest plane the company has ever built.

The plane, the Boeing 747-8, was originally planned to get off the ground over a year ago, but the delay did not dampen the mood at today's take off. Hundreds of employees and spectators on hand to watch the massive 253 foot jumbo jet take flight for the first time.

Monday's upbeat data point concerns the G-7, which agreed over the weekend to maintain economic stimulus measures, even as institutional investors (among others) start clamoring for nations to address large budget deficits.

Meeting amid the frozen tundra of Iqaluit, Canada (as opposed to the almost equally frozen tundra of Washington, D.C.), Canada's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said G-7 ministers "are mutually committed" to continuing stimulus, and will start looking at exit strategies after regional economies are on a sustainable growth track, Bloomberg News reported Monday.

There's been some comparison in the popular press between Greece's serious fiscal condition, and the State of California's. Well, while both are running budget deficits, the similarities stop there.

Greece's fiscal situation is far more serious. Greece's budget deficit as a percent of GDP is roughly 12.7%. California's is about 7%, based on the state's 2008 GDP.

U.S. stock futures were lower higher Monday morning as concerns about the debt situation in Europe continued to weigh on sentiment. The Dow industrials, it seems, for now will continue to flirt with the 10,000 level, following general declines in U.S. stocks markets last week.

[Update: So far this morning futures have changed direction several times as investors try to find a firm footing.]

Stocks slumped last as worries mounted over debt problems in Greece, Portugal and Spain and a mixed bag of economic indicators in the U.S. Meanwhile, concerns over Greece abated somewhat as the government worked Monday on a tax overhaul aimed at getting its deficit under control.

Looking back just a few weeks, the markets ushered in the new year with euphoria. Within a few short weeks, things have turned sour. The Dow dropped below the 10,000 mark last week. S&P 500 is down 7.3% from its 15-month closing peak.

Now the question facing investors and traders is whether the market is in a corrective phase. Eric Kuby of NorthStar Investment Management Group thinks so. "I'm in the camp that believes that we are in a correction," he said.

Germany's industrial production has led the rebound in Europe. That was until the last quarter of 2009. In December, Germany's industrial production dropped 2.6% after rising 0.7% in November.

Germany supposedly turned the corner in the second quarter of 2009. But Alexander Koch, economist for Unicredit in Munich said: "The most vibrant part of the rebound" in industry was apparently over. One reason is that Germany ended subsidies to its auto industry recently.

Trillion dollar deficits extending out, purportedly for a decade. A projected $1.6 trillion deficit for next year, fiscal 2011. A higher U.S. national debt ceiling.

And what's the U.S. dollar doing amid the above? Oh, it's trending higher against the world's major currencies.

The dollar early Friday strengthened more than 1 cent versus the euro and British pound, to $1.3607 and $1.5612, respectively, capping a week of impressive gains for the buck.

Several factors converging on the metals markets are causing a sell off.

First, China has taken steps to curb bank lending. Much of the Chinese stimulus money has gone into the purchase of raw materials. Now, with things cooling down, traders are less willing to stockpile base metals.

Second, U.S. payrolls fell by 20,000 last month, indicating sluggishness in the U.S. economy.