After a dismal 2009, there is hope for the art auction segment. There was reason for optimism at in the past quarter, as the major houses started to move impressive pieces again, and momentum continued through the beginning of this year. Now, we're getting ready to move into the busy months of May and June. Unlike last year, auctioneers, collectors and dealers seem to be ready to play.

May 2008 was essentially the last hurrah of an art market rally that had lasted several years and created incredible amounts of paper canvas and bronze wealth. It was at this point that Sotheby's (BID) sold a fairly late triptych by artist Francis Bacon for an incredible $86 million to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, a transaction that has become the poster child for the excesses of the art market.

Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) had a great night this week, tripling the performance of competitor Christie's (OTC: CRUPF). But, it didn't come soon enough to help the company's third quarter results.

The auction house suffered from the art market slump that was exacerbated by the global financial crisis, posting a net loss of $57.8 million (89 cents a share). This is worse than the $47 million loss (73 cents a share) it delivered a year earlier. Three analysts that Bloomberg surveyed expected a loss of 29 cents a share. Revenue was off 41% to $44.9 million for the quarter.

This week, Oregon Steel Mills (NYSE:OS) received a $2.3 billion buyout offer. The buyer? Evraz Group – which is the biggest steel company based in Russia.

The deal makes a lot of sense for Oregon Steel Mills – which simply does not have the scale to compete against global behemoths.

Evraz said it will take a hands-off approach to Oregon Steel, allowing its management team to continue to run things. After all, they have done a great job over the years (profits for this year have been about $127.9 million).

Interestingly enough, Evraz also has a new owner (as of June): Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Actually, the steel industry is mostly fragmented in Russia. In other words, it looks like Abramovich's next move is to aggressively consolidate the industry – which has been the case with other sectors in Russia, such as oil.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.