Harold Maass of The Week The Best of Today's Business

NEWS AT A GLANCE

The commodity's future

The 19 commodities in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB index -- including oil, gold, and copper -- rose 29 percent this year, putting them on track for their best first half since 1973, and better than any second half in at least five decades. The high-flying commodities could fare worse in the second half, analysts say, as the high prices depress consumption and lead to increasing production. The dollar is also expected to strengthen 4.7 percent in the second half, according to an average of forecasts, which would reduce the incentive to abandon dollar-linked assets for commodities. (Bloomberg) Over the long term, says Avani Ramnani of Athena Wealth Advisors, "the expected return of a commodity is really zero percent." (BusinessWeek.com)

France Telecom scraps $42 billion takeover

France Telecom said it had dropped its offer for Nordic telecom giant TeliaSonera AB, after the two sides could not reach agreement on a price. France Telecom's cash-and-share offer, made June 5, was worth about $42 billion. France Telecom's shares rose 7.5 percent in Paris early today; TeliaSonera's stock dropped 13 percent in Stockholm. (MarketWatch) The deal would have created Europe's largest phone company; France Telecom is currently No. 3. Analysts were skeptical that a merger would benefit either company. (Bloomberg) "In the short term, it's positive for France Telecom," said Frederic Hamm at Agilis Gestion. "It should allow them to refocus on their strategy of making acquisitions in emerging markets." (Reuters)

Korean firm buys StarKist tuna brand

South Korea's Dongwon Group agreed to buy Del Monte's seafood business, including its StarKist canned-tuna brand, for $363 million, creating the world's largest canned-tuna company. Dongwon already owns the world's top tuna fishing company, Dongwon Industries. StarKist represents 37 percent of the annual $1.8 billion U.S. processed tuna business, and the acquisition "will help Dongwon establish a strong foothold and penetration in the U.S. market," said Dongwon vice chairman Park In-gu. (Reuters) Dongwon already controls three-quarters of South Korea's $382 million canned tuna market. The StarKist deal is the largest overseas takeover by a Korean food firm. (Bloomberg)

A better milk jug, a potential mess

Costco and Wal-Mart have introduced a new milk container that has a number of advantages -- it's cheaper to ship, cheaper to sell, better for the environment, and the milk is fresher. The only problem is that people hate it. Sam's Club asked for feedback, said executive Heather Mayo, "and they’re saying, 'Why's it in a square jug? Why's it different? I want the same milk. What happened to my old milk?'" They'll have to get used to it. The milk jugs are so much more efficient, Sam's Club is sticking with them. Analysts say this is the future: As global demand swells and energy and raw material costs rise, retailers and wholesalers will be re-examining every aspect of the retail chain for new efficiencies. (The New York Times, free registration)

BEST COLUMNS OF THE DAY

Resisting the sell button

"These are the times that try long-term investors' souls," says Money Magazine's Stephen Gandel in CNNMoney.com. Equities are down about 20 percent from their recent highs, after the "worst month for stocks since the Great Depression." And your gut is probably telling you to cut your losses and sell. That reaction would be "the exact wrong one." First, markets recover quickly, and it's notoriously tough to buy back in at the right time. "Second, stocks are actually a better deal -- maybe even 'safer' -- than they were a year ago." To "keep your finger off the sell button," remember: you're investing for the long haul, things are comparatively not that bad, and this drop won't actually hurt much in the long run.

Requiem for a boom

The Dow is down 19.9 percent from its October high, says Roger Cohen in The New York Times, but it's worth noting that since 1960, the average bear market has knocked stocks down 31 percent. Still, "we had good times, didn’t we?" And not everyone is suffering. "China, India, and Russia joined global markets," and many of their workers are now eating two meals a day instead of one, and trading their bikes and scooters for cars. Compare that to "debt-ridden America's economic vulnerability," and it becomes clear that our military dominance "is no longer matched by economic dominance." For the West, "rough days lie ahead," but maybe we'll find "some more reasonable balance."

GOOD DAY FOR: Joining 'em, after Rhapsody, co-owned by Real Networks and Viacom's MTV, has embraced MP3 downloads, deciding its subscription service won't beat Apple's dominant iTunes Store. Rhapsody's new service will sell unprotected MP3s, which can be played on almost any portable player. "We're no longer competing with the iPod," said Rhapsody Vice President Neil Smith. "We're embracing it." (Reuters)

BAD DAY FOR: XP fans, as Microsoft is ending the sale of its six-year-old version of Windows to retailers and major PC makers today, despite protest from people and businesses who don't like XP's successor, Vista. XP partisans will still be able to "downgrade" to XP after buying Vista Business or Vista Professional. Smaller shops that make PCs will be able to sell XP through January. (AP in Yahoo! Finance)

NOTED: Dubai World and Russian energy trader OAO Roskommunenergo offered to buy newly deregulated Russian utility OAO for OGK-1 for $5.34 billion. It would be the first investment in Russia's energy industry from the Persian Gulf. Russia's state-owned Unified Energy, which has raised $34 billion by selling assets since 2006, will cease to exist tomorrow. (Bloomberg)

This column was written by Peter Weber and edited by Harold Maass of TheWeekDaily.com.