Global businesses responded to the LEH bankruptcy by shutting plants, firing workers, and curtailing production with amazing speed.  I remember listening to 3Q08 conference calls, just weeks after the event, and hearing about how much production had already been shut in, especially in the materials names.  Businesses cost structures are now vastly improved, so even the slightest uptick in [...]

It takes 7 years and a few billion dollars to open a new potash mine, called greenfield expansion.  But producers can make far smaller investments in existing mines to squeeze out more output when potash prices are high enough to justify the investment, as they are now.  Those are called brownfield investments.
 
POT believes that [...]

POSITIVES:

Dr. Copper is on fire.
Iron ore is on fire.
Many materials stocks have doubled, or come very close to it, from their lows.
Junk credit spreads tightening fast (declined by over 400bps since December Fed meeting).
Corporate fixed income new issuance had the best month in January since early 2007.
Baltic Dry Index is up about 100% from the bottom.
VIX [...]