News You Can Use for Monday

COMMODITIES

Metals Sector Hot, But for How Long? With gold nudging $1,000 per ounce, silver at 27-year highs and copper approaching record prices over $4 per pound, some metal industry analysts believe the current boom still has years to run. "Base metal prices are up on average 27 percent since the start of the year and copper has reached an all-time high at the same time as the U.S. heads into recession," said Citigroup analyst Alan Heap. "Even in a super cycle this is an amazing performance," he wrote in a research note.

Corn, Soybeans May Drop a Second Week on Recession Risk, U.S. Farmer Sales Corn and soybeans may fall for a second straight week on speculation that a U.S. recession will curb buying by investors and that farmers will step up sales after prices reached record highs earlier this month.

GLOBAL ECONOMY

Slowdown Spreading? YRC Worldwide, with 900,000 customers worldwide, 66,000 employees in 80 countries, ships just about anything that will fit on a truck, and has been struggling for the last six months. Housing and autos are not the only areas of weakness. Conditions are not deteriorating further, but they are “comprehensive,” YRC Worldwide’s Chief Executive Bill Zollars told the Reuters Manufacturing Summit.… and they may be spreading to other parts of the world.

Japan's Machine Orders Surge 19.6%, Fastest Rate in More Than Seven Years Japanese machinery orders rose at the fastest pace in seven years in January, a sign demand from emerging markets may help the economy ride out the U.S. slump.

DEBT MARKETS

TIPS Prove Bernanke Has Lost Control of Inflation as Yields Turn Negative The yield on the five-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Security due in 2012 has been negative since Feb. 29, ending last week at minus 0.16 percent. The notes, which were first sold in 1997, have never before traded below zero. Even so, firms from Deutsche Asset Management to Vanguard Group Inc., the second-biggest U.S. mutual fund company, say TIPS are a bargain

Hedge Funds Reel as Bankers Increase Collateral Demands Even on Treasuries Since Feb. 15, at least six hedge funds, totaling more than $5.4 billion, have been forced to liquidate or sell holdings because their lenders -- staggered by almost $190 billion of asset writedowns and credit losses caused by the collapse of the subprime-mortgage market -- raised borrowing rates by as much as 10-fold with new claims for extra collateral.

Auction-Rate Collapse Spurs Bond Sale `Tidal Wave,' Hearings in Congress California, New York City and the owner of the World Trade Center site will replace auction-rate debt this week, as lawmakers hold hearings on how turmoil in the credit market is raising costs for local governments.

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