Commodities Rally Complicates Fed's Battle

Updated from 6:59 a.m. EDT

With recession bearing down on the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve's attempt to avert disaster may be creating another asset bubble in gold, oil and other commodities -- at least in the short run.

In the long run, early skeptics of the U.S. housing boom say the global boom in commodities markets is for real. But in the near term, the Fed's aggressiveness in easing monetary constraints and pumping emergency cash into a the shell-shocked financial system seem to be juicing those markets. ...