Reuters – The current rebound in stock markets is a bear rally and could turn by September, according to hedge fund manager Hugh Hendry, who has recently cut exposure to agricultural stocks.

Hendry, who is partner and chief investment officer at Eclectica Asset Management, said that while stock markets have rallied in recent months on hopes for an economic upturn, developed economies are still heading for a 1930s-style depression.

"To date we are maintaining the profile of the economic contraction that we witnessed in the 1930s. Nothing as yet has changed that profile. It’s still a profile of concern to me," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the GAIM 2009 conference in Monaco.

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Vancouver Sun – Prime Minister Stephen Harper won a key commitment for Canada at the G20 summit, getting world leaders to agree to extend for 12 months a pledge not to raise new trade barriers.

“The biggest single thing that could turn this recession into a very long, extended depression would be global protectionism,” Harper said in a television interview Wednesday. “In our recent budget in Canada, we actually lowered tariffs on imported machinery and equipment. It’s important that we start to see some initiatives push in the other direction, to push towards trade liberalization.”

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Tags: 12 months, budget, canada, depression, g20 summit, initiatives, pledge, prime minister stephen harper, protectionism, recession, single thing, stephen harper, tariffs, television interview, trade barriers, trade liberalization, vancouver-sun, world leaders