You're now free to invest in Iceland ... should you be so inclined. On Sunday, the country will begin lifting its post-financial disaster capital controls, giving investors a bit more elbow room. Foreign currency investments coming in won't be subject to the existing controls.

According to a statement released by Iceland's central bank, "Investors are authorized, without restrictions, to convert into foreign currency the sales proceeds from assets in which they invest after Nov.1." The statement also said, "Previously, non-residents were fully authorized to transfer foreign currency deriving from interest and dividends on investments in Iceland."

On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the global economy will grow next year, but cautioned the recovery will be sluggish. The IMF added that the recovery could even "stall out" if policymakers assume the slump is over. The IMF's recent outlook, however, is better than July's outlook, as the IMF predicts better growth in 2010 thanks to "strong public policies ... that have supported demand and all but eliminated fears of a global depression."

As for the recovery, the IMF believes that it will be subdued and "well below" the growth seen before the economic crisis. The group added that there is a "significant risk" of a reversal, noting that central banks in advanced economies need to wait until the recovery is on firm footing.

Finance ministers and bankers of the G20 nations agreed on two key proposals: 1. to keep the stimulus packages in place and 2. to limit bank bonuses.

Concerning the stimulus packages, a draft copy obtained by Reuters said: "We will continue to implement decisively our necessary financial support measures and expansionary monetary and fiscal policies consistent with price stability and a recovery is firmly secured."

Under the radar: Some trends are obvious enough and visible to all investors. Others are more-subtle, but are just as potent, and these often slip under the radar. Case in point: the International Monetary Fund's most recent analysis of the global economy is a classic 'good news/bad news' development.

I guess that when the United States sneezes, the world catches a cold. Consumer sentiment was announced to be circling the drain in the United States and the world economy dropped for the first time in four months.

The Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index fell to 39.13 this month – from 43.57 last month. Your benchmark: anything below 50 means that there are more pessimists than optimists. In the United States, index fell from 36.7 to 29.5, suggesting that we're more pessimistic than the rest of the world.

The BRIC nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China -- basically the powerhouses of the developing world, recently met to discuss, among other things, the possibility of forming an effort to move away from the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

Among options for consideration: a) a shift to another hard currency, b) a shift to a basket of currencies, and c) the possibility of the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights unit of account serving as the new reserve currency.

Looking for a new emerging market? Try Pakistan! Despite a continued sense of tension with India and open hostility along the Afghan border, the country's bond market is the best in the world, according to data from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). Debt sold by Pakistan has surged 88% this year -- topping the 45 emerging markets that JPMorgan watches and the 19 that Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: BAC) follows.

And, the stock market may be next.

Money managers, according to a report by Bloomberg, believe that the Pakistani equity market could become the next global superstar. The Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index is only trading at 9.6X earnings, making it the lowest in Asia (excluding Japan) . . . and this follows a 21% increase year-to-date.

What does it mean when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) considers issuing bonds to raise cash? Obviously, the organization would be seeking more money to pursue its agenda, but what else could be inferred by this? How would the dynamics of world economic power wielding be affected? What effect could this have on the natural ebb and flow of free market capitalism? How would U.S. Treasuries be affected?

This possible bond issue was examined recently by Bloomberg.com. The Bloomberg article points to what I think is the most significant aspect that an IMF bond issue would present. I'm concerned that IMF bonds would directly compete with U.S. Treasury bonds. That possibility is fodder for a great deal of speculation.

Despite the market being up the last hour, today's stock market made six changes between being up and down. Oil inventories continued their building to record or near-record levels. It was very light on the economic calendar today so traders had to use the cumulative earnings as the directional report. Even very weak global recovery targets from the IMF were ignored.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 7,886.41 -83.15 (-1.04%)
S&P 500 843.56 -6.52 (-0.77%)
Nasdaq 1,645.85 +2.00 (0.12%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

At the G 20 meeting earlier this month in London, members agreed to sell part of the IMF gold stock to help poorer countries, in an amount up to $6 billion.

Now, India and China are drafting a new proposal that would require the IMF to sell all of its gold. The IMF holds 103.4 million ounces (3,217 tonnes) of gold, if sold would bring in about $100 billion.

The Indian/Chinese proposal includes three possible scenarios for the use of the proceeds from IMF gold sales .One would be to increase liquidity of the IMF's fund. Second, the money could be used to help the poorest countries, and third would be a mix of the first two suggestions.

Double your money in 4.6 years -- invest in Iceland. Iceland's central bank just lowered interest rates to 15.5% from 17%. Using the rule of 72's (which says that if you take the number 72 and divide it by the interest rate, it will tell you how many years it takes to double your money), it will take 4.6 years to double your money. So $100,000 becomes $200,000 in 4.6 years.

Iceland received a $10 billion bailout last year from the International Monetary Fund on the condition that it would raise interest rates to stabilize the country. Iceland's government also imposed policies to control local currency sales and capital flight, forcing Iceland exporters to repatriate foreign currency.

The G-20 summit was a true public relations success. There were no walkouts by France or any other country as had been previously feared. There were statements that protectionism should be avoided. It appeared that the world learned the lesson from Smoot Hawley Tariff Act during the Hoover administration. There was a commitment to fund the International Monetary Fund with additional capital. Despite low expectations, there appeared to be an international consensus by the G-20 nations.

President Obama was warmly received by all the G-20 nations. This was in sharp contrast to the chilly reception of the Bush administration at prior G-20 summits.

Have we reached the bottom yet? That's a question that people ask me from time to time. I haven't got an answer yet, but today I have some numbers that may give us an idea. And the preliminary verdict is: No!

Why? Because the commercial banking industry in the U.S. is likely to be bankrupt -- by which I mean its liabilities could exceed its assets -- as we approach the bottom.

Just how bad will it get? It could see 41% of its core capital wiped out by loan losses alone. And when you take into account all the toxic waste and derivatives on the banks' books -- its capital looks mighty thin.

The G 20 countries wrapped up their ground breaking summit with amazing cooperation among members. The tackled a wide range of problems and were able to agree on just about every key issue.

Let's look at some specific policies that the G 20 members agreed upon:

• Regarding the matter of stimulus, they agreed to boost the International Monetary Fund's lending power to around $750 billion.
• They also unveiled a $250 billion expansion of the IMF's reserve currency, referred to as "special drawing rights." This will boost liquidity in the global financial system by expanding member countries' foreign exchange reserves.
• They agreed to selling gold to help poor countries.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's comments on Friday were blunt and pointed. In effect, the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve absolutely must assure China on the safety of its investment in the United States. If we read between the lines, Mr. Wen told the U.S. that it must shore up its financial mess and that China will not stand for any more uncertainty in the U.S. banking sector.

The Chinese government is the largest holder of U.S. public debt. Officials in China are becoming increasingly concerned about the sharp increase in U.S. government spending. They worry it will lead to inflation and the collapse of the U.S. dollar.