Other reason that commodities are looking a better long-term alternative investment?

14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ FED'S BULLARD: POSSIBLE FED WON'T HIKE RATES UNTIL
2012
14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ FED'S BULLARD: MARKET FOCUS ON FED FUNDS RATE
'DISAPPOINTING'
14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ BULLARD: MARKETS SHOULD FOCUS ON ALL ASPECTS OF FED
STIMULUS
14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ BULLARD: FED MINDFUL OF KEEPING RATES TOO LOW FOR TOO
LONG
14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ BULLARD:FED LIQUIDITY PROGRAMS UNLIKELY TO BE
INFLATION SOURCE
14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ BULLARD: FED'S MAIN CHALLENGE IS MANAGING ASSET BUYING
EFFORTS
14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ BULLARD: ECONOMY AIDED BY STABILIZING INCOME, HOUSING
MARKET
14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ BULLARD: GLOBAL GROWTH AIDING US ECONOMIC RECOVERY
14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ BULLARD: INFLATION LOW, BUT UNCERTAINTY IS HIGHER
14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ BULLARD: LABOR MARKET STILL WEAK, BUT LOSSES
MODERATING
14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ BULLARD: TOO-BIG-TO-FAIL ISSUES MUST BE ADDRESSED
14:15 18Nov09 DJN-DJ Fed's Bullard: Possible Fed Won't Hike Rates Until
2012

  By Michael S. Derby
  Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

   NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--If the Federal Reserve sticks to the pattern set
after
the last two recessions, interest rates will remain unchanged until 2012, a
Federal Reserve official said Wednesday.
   Assuming the recession ended this summer, Federal Reserve Bank of St.
Louis
President James Bullard said interest rate hikes could lie well into the
future,
assuming the central bank sticks to raising rates between two-and-a-half to
three
years after the end of a downturn, as it did for the past two recessions.
   But Bullard cautioned that pattern isn't set in stone, because central
bank
officials are mindful of the possible mistakes of keeping interest rates
too low
for too long, as many believe was the case in the middle years of this
decade.
   Bullard also said the market was missing the policy story, in a sense,
by
thinking so much about what the Fed does with the Fed funds rates. "The
market's
focus on interest rates is disappointing, given quantitative easing," he
said.
   It is instead the provision of liquidity the Fed has offered via its
emergency lending programs that is key. "The liquidity programs naturally
taper
off as the crisis recedes," and are thus "not an inflationary concern,"
Bullard
said.
   Still, "the main challenge for monetary policy going forward will be
how to
adjust the asset purchase program without generating inflation and still
providing support to the economy while interest rates are near zero,"
Bullard
said.
   The official's comments came from a press release and presentation
released
to the press in advance of a speech Commerce Bank Economic Breakfast, in
Clayton,
Missouri. The remarks will be expanded when he gives the formal speech.
   Bullard is not currently a voting member of the interest rate setting
Federal
Open Market Committee, but he will be in 2010. His speech comes at a time
where
financial markets have been intensely focused on how the Fed will start
unwinding
its current policy stance given that the recession appears to be over.
   Already, many of the Fed's emergency lending efforts are ending due to
a lack
of market demand, while its major asset purchase programs will be wound
down by
the first quarter of next year. But it's unclear what the Fed will do with
what
effectively is its zero percent interest rate stance.
   Financial markets have wondered if the Fed would move sometime next
year, but
recent addresses from central bankers seem to suggest the Fed may not raise
rates
for many months.
   Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke this week and said an environment of
modest
growth, weak labor markets and no threat of inflation mean the central bank
can
keep rates at rock bottom levels for some time. Most private sector
economists
don't believe the Fed will raise rates until after the middle of next year,
and
many see the Fed holding off on tightening until 2011.
   In his remarks, Bullard noted the recovery is being driven by a
stabilization
in personal income and housing, along with abating stress in financial
markets
and improving global growth. Labor markets are still problematic, although
it's
good job losses have moderated.
   Bullard described inflation as low, although the Fed's large balance
sheet
has created a medium term risk to prices. He flagged volatile commodity
prices as
an issue and added "inflation uncertainty remains elevated compared with
last
fall."
   The official also said the financial system's too-big-to-fail problem
must be
dealt with.
   -By Michael S. Derby; Dow Jones Newswires, 212-416-2214
  michael.derby@dowjones.com
-0-
By Michael S. Derby
  Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

and..........................

14:34 18Nov09 DJN-DJ Jim Rogers Says Commodities To Perform Regardless Of
Economy<N.N>


   LONDON (Dow Jones)--Commodities is the best major asset class to invest
in because it is most likely to make money irrespective of whether the
world economy improves or worsens, commodities-investing expert Jim Rogers
said Wednesday.
   "For the most part, the only major asset class where the fundamentals
continue to improve and where one can probably make a lot of money whether
the economy gets better or gets worse would be commodities," Rogers said in
a conference call hosted by ETF Securities.
   "That's the best place to be and with my money, that and a few
currencies, are the places that I have been investing going forward because
I don't see any other asset class [worth investing in]."
   He said investors should sell out of bonds because governments are
likely to issue more debt in the future and inflation will rise. The stock
market may also be an unattractive asset class because its has been known
to remain rangebound for long periods of time, he said.
   Commodities, on the other hand, will perform well regardless of what
happens to the economy.
   "If the world economy gets better, commodities will be a very good
place to be if not the best place because the [supply] shortages continue
to get worse. If the world economy does not get better, commodities are
still going to be a good place to be because governments have printed so
much money and are continuing to print so much money," he said.

    -By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9328;
alex.macdonald@dowjones.com

   (END) Dow Jones Newswires