Citing downgrades in global economic activity, Goldman Sachs reduced its 2008 base metals price outlook, advising a stronger U.S. dollar will pressure gold prices lower to an average of $750/oz.RENO, NV

Demand concerns and rising supply have convinced Goldman Sachs commodity analysts to forecast a "retrenchment in commodity prices from recent highs, which has already largely occurred."

Nevertheless, Goldman Sachs recommended opening a long timespread position in copper.

Right to save Afflecks?

AFFLECKS Palace was good to David Mallon. It gave the streetwear supremo, from Stretford, an affordable base to start his career in fashion, selling rock band T-shirts. Like many who set out their stalls in Afflecks in the late 1980s early 1990s, Mallon, the man behind trendy fashion labels Ringspun and Elvis Jesus, reflects fondly on the time when it was synonymous with all that was cool about Manchester. "Those were the halcyon days. That was the time when Manchester was at its most influential thanks to the Hacienda and the music scene. You had a huge influx of people visiting from all over the country because they'd heard Manchester was the place to be and Afflecks was a symbol of that moment." But now as he looks across at the eclectic shopping emporium from his offices in Oldham Street he sees something faded, ramshackle, increasingly irrelevant.

Govt To Investigate PPP For Waterview Connection

It makes sense for the public sector and private sector to work together from an early stage and use their collective knowledge. The mix of representatives on the Steering Group and the expertise they can contribute will help ensure that any PPP process meets the needs of both the public and private sectors."

The Steering Group is expected to deliver a business case that assesses whether procuring the Waterview Connection as a PPP is viable and could deliver value for money. It will also develop a benchmark Public Sector Comparator, against which the PPP business case will be assessed.

The Steering Group's findings will be reported to the Ministers of Finance and Transport in June 2008. The report will be considered along with other factors and input before Cabinet decides on the preferred means of progressing the Waterview Connection.

FUTURES FILE: Volatility in equity markets leads to commodity savings

As overseas equity markets were plunging on Monday due to fears about slowing worldwide economic growth, traders in the U.S. were forced to sit and watch as the nation observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day.By Tuesday morning, the anxiety about worldwide economic stability and growth had reached a boiling point. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Federal Reserve announced it was slashing the Fed Funds rate by 75 basis points to help ease concerns and to prevent a more substantial slowdown in economic growth.Initially, the decision had the opposite effect. Traders interpreted the sudden and extreme cut as a sign that things might be as bad or worse than they seemed. Only a few minutes after the open of U.S. equity trading on Tuesday, equity issues had fallen almost 4 percent.As the day continued, most of the losses were erased and markets closed down just 1 percent.

MARKET SNAPSHOT: Market Still Facing Headwinds From Credit, Economy

In electronic trading on Monday, stock futures rose, with futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 36 points and S&P 500 futures up 5.4 points. The FTSE 100 rose 1.7% in London to lead European stock markets higher in afternoon trading. Asian markets were mixed, with the Hang Seng down 1.3% while the Nikkei 225 edged up 0.1%. Housing sector reports Fresh off the central bank's downgrade of the U.S. economy, investors will return from the holiday to reports from the beleaguered housing sector and results from J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) and tech heavyweight Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) A three-day snapback rally, interrupted by a sell-off on Thursday, was enough to pull the major stock indexes higher last week, but it wasn't enough to convince Joe Liro, equity strategist at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates, that the market is ready to extend gains.