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The bears were in full retreat Monday as a fresh 15-month low for the U.S. dollar fueled a buying binge in stocks and commodities and pushed the Dow to unseen territory for 2009. 

Today's Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 203.52 points, or 2.03%, to 10226.94, the S&P 500 gained 23.78 points, or 2.22%, to 1093.08 and the Nasdaq Composite added 41.62 points, or 1.97%, to 2154.06. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 picked up 16.08 points, or 2.05%, to 800.69.

The bullish start to the week landed the S&P 500 in the green for the sixth day in a row and the blue-chip index more than 500 points higher in the past week alone, fully recapturing the losses from last month's mini correction. At the same time, crude touched $80 a barrel and gold closed at yet another all-time high above $1100 an ounce.

“It’s been a monetary trade around the world that’s keeping stock prices going,” Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners, told FOXBusiness.com.

The latest dive for the greenback was fueled by new pledges from finance ministers at the G20 summit to keep stimulus efforts in place until the global economy recovers.

“They are basically saying: ‘We are going to continue to print money,’” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.  

Enjoying its second 200-point surge in three sessions, the Dow was guided higher by financial stocks American Express (AXP) and Bank of America (BAC). The index's only decliner was Kraft (KFT), which formally made a hostile takeover bid for British candy giant Cadbury (CBY). 

Now up 56% since plummeting to 6547 in March, the Dow has picked up 455 points in the last four days -- its best four-day performance since late July. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have enjoyed even stronger gains, surging 61.6% and 69.8% respectively since hitting their bear-market lows. But with so much of the recent gains tied to the currency markets, some analysts are preaching caution. 

“This monetary trade can continue for a while but we think ultimately when the music stops we could see a market that could come down 10% to 15% from where we are now," said Nolte.

Monday's gains were fueled by the dollar, which plunged 0.94% against the euro in the wake of the G20 summit. The currency has come under renewed pressure in recent days amid the latest signals that easy-money policies aren't going anywhere despite economic growth. While a long-term worry for officials, a weaker greenback has proven to be a short-term bullish catalyst for the markets by boosting demand for commodities and making U.S. goods cheaper overseas.

The weaker dollar allowed gold to continue its ascent, jumping $5.70 an ounce, or 0.52%, to $1100.80 -- a new record settle high. Basic materials stocks like Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) and Hecla Mining (HL) rallied on the gold highs, leading the markets higher.

At the same time, energy stocks such as Hess (HES) and BP (BP) made headway as crude oil climbed as much as 3% on the weaker dollar. Crude closed at $79.43 a barrel, up $2, or 2.58%. 

Meanwhile, the financial sector climbed 3.6% amid big gains from consumer finance stocks like Discover Financial (DFS) and Capital One Financial (COF), which benefited from an analyst note about the potential end of the credit downturn.

“I think we are watching an economy that is transitioning from a severe recession into growth,” Steve Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments, told FOX Business. “The Fed is going to be very accommodating for a very, very long time. The cost of money, especially for the banks is going to be very cheap for an extended period.”

Insurers like WellPoint (WLP), Aetna (AET) and UnitedHealth (UNH) closed solidly higher after the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved a $1.1 trillion bill Saturday to overhaul the health-care system and create a public entity to compete directly with private insurers.

Corporate Movers

Kraft Foods (KFT) formally launched a $16 billion hostile bid for Cadbury (CBY) but the British confectioner quickly rejected the offer. The bid was essentially unchanged from an earlier one Cadbury’s board turned down.

General Electric (GE) and Comcast (CMCSA) have agreed to value NBC Universal at $30 billion, overcoming a crucial hurdle in GE’s plans to spin off its entertainment division, The Wall Street Journal reported. A deal handing Comcast control of NBCU, which includes NBC and Universal Studios, could be announced as early as the end of this week, the paper reported.

McDonald’s (MCD) said its same-store sales climbed 3.3% globally in October. However, the world’s largest hamburger chain said its U.S. sales sank 0.1% last month. In Europe, McDonald’s saw its same-store sales jump 6.4% in October, compared to a 4.7% increase in its Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa segment.

Clearwire (CLWR) is poised to receive another $1.5 billion from Sprint Nextel (S) and its partners as the wireless broadband company struggles to complete the first “4G” mobile high-speed network, the Journal reported. Sprint plans to invest $1 billion more in Clearwire while Comcast (CMCSA), Intel (INTC), Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Bright House Networks would inject another $500 million, the paper reported. However, search titan Google (GOOG) wouldn’t invest any more money in the joint venture. 

East West Bancorp (EWBC) surged 55% after the bank acquired United Commercial Bank, which was closed by regulators on Friday. The acquisition makes East West the second-largest independent California bank and triggered analyst upgrades from a number of firms, including Morgan Stanley, BMO Capital and Sandler O’Neill.

Dish Network (DISH) disclosed a steeper-than-expected 1.5% decline in third-quarter revenue and a profit of 18 cents per share. Analysts had expected EPS of 43 cents. However, Dish saw its shares climb to 52-week highs as the No. 2 U.S. satellite television provider declared a one-time dividend of $2 per share.

Kohlberg Capital (KCAP) warned it is delaying filing its third-quarter earnings report amid questions from the business development company’s accountants over its valuation determinations for fiscal 2008. Despite the delay, Kohlberg said it is able to say it earned 20 cents per share last quarter.

Global Markets

European markets climbed about 2% across the board. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 1.80% to 5235.18, France's CAC 40 gained 2.11% to 3785.49 and Germany's DAX jumped 2.4% to 5619.72. 

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 advanced 0.2% to 9808.99, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.73% to 22,207.55 and China's Shanghai Composite picked up 0.36% to 3175.58.