WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama is turning to seasoned pros for the Herculean task of overhauling the way the U.S. regulates its financial system, an effort he says is one of his top priorities.

Like so many New Year’s revelers, the U.S. stock market may try to stick to its resolutions -- and fail miserably.

The proposed start of exchange-based spot trading in wheat before the beginning of the coming rabi marketing season will, when it happens, mark major reform of the foodgrain marketing system.

Stock market forecasts tend to be sunny, and 2009 is no exception. Wall Street gurus are again predicting gains. But this year's bullish market call comes with an asterisk.

Oil prices have now dipped-albeit only briefly-below US$40 a barrel, a precipitous plunge from their highs of more than US$147 a barrel in July. Just as high oil prices reworked the international economic order, low oil prices are now doing the same. Such a sudden onset of low prices impacts the international system just as severely as recent record highs.But before we dive into the short-term (that is, up to 12 months) impact of the new price environment, we must state our position in the oi