Money Morning’s William Patalon III says comments by Ben Bernanke at the end of the week show he continues to prioritise economic growth over inflation. This means no rate hikes in the near future. But despite falling commodity prices, William says the threat of stagflation is growing…

Is the commodities boom over?

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) has told clients to get out of commodities. The bank says China is slowing, oil will return to its “marginal cost of production” - somewhere between US$60 and $80 - and gold will settle around $650.

Dan Denning in The Daily Reckoning Australia says you have to take what analysts tell you with a fistful of salt. Most of the time they’re just morons who are making it up as they go along. The case for resource has yet to be disproven…

India is entering a new phase where consumer spending is fueling growth, says Sandy Franks in Taipan Daily. In the past seven years, sales of color TVs in India have jumped 1,700%. Sales of cellphones have soared by 10,400%. The outlook for India’s looking rosy, says Sandy. Unlike other Asian countries which depend on exports for prosperity, India is supported by its domestic market…

The world’s largest credit-rating companies say mortgage lenders Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) have bullet-proof Aaa credit ratings. But Bloomberg says derivatives traders are treating the discount mortgage brokers as if they are rated five levels lower.

And, ominously, the price of contracts used to speculate on the creditworthiness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and to protect against a default doubled in the past two months.

What about the government’s implied guarantee of the debt held by the companies? It seems investor confidence in short supply.

After the global financial industry shed $403 billion in write-downs, European banks are finally turning a corner and boosting their share prices.

German giant Deustche Bank AG (DB) and Switzerland’s UBS AG (UBS) both declared they would not need to raise further capital yesterday (Wednesday) as the bulk of losses tied to mortgage-backed securities is now behind them.

“At first glance this is some much-needed positive news for Deutsche in particular but also for the whole sector,” Helge Rechberger, head of equity market research at Raiffeisen Zentralbank in Vienna, told Bloomberg News. He said he remains “cautious” about the financial industry.