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Commodities are mostly lower this morning, easing slightly from their week-long advance. Gold is down $0.50 to $1,405.10 an ounce today after rising yesterday as traders looked for haven plays on speculation that Europe's debt crisis has yet to fully run its course. Silver closed at the highest settlement price in 30 years. Copper also is down -- sliding $0.0110 to $4.3170 a pound -- following two straight days of record prices, fueled by tight supplies and expectations of future demand, particularly in China and India. Oil is off $0.66 to $90.83 a barrel after settling near a 26-month high yesterday, supported by reports U.S. retailers had their best holiday sales in five years. Today's trading likely will be influenced by the weekly inventory report from the Energy Department, with analysts polled by Bloomberg expecting stockpiles to shrink for a fourth week in a row. Silver futures are a notable exception today, with the March contract up another $0.2020 to $30.555 an ounce and extending a rally that on Tuesday lifted silver $30.323 an ounce on the Comex. Yesterday's settlement was the highest closing price for silver since March 13, 1980. Futures touched a record $50.35 in January 1980. Overall, silver is up more than 80% in 2010. In company news, Anglo American Metallurgical Coal said on Wednesday heavy rains over the last several days in Australia's Queensland state have impacted its coal production. QR National Ltd., Australia's largest coal transporter by rail, made a similar warning. Also, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., the power unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-B,BRK-A), said it will expand its wind-generation capacity by purchasing 258 turbines from Siemens AG (SI) and acquiring a project under development in Iowa.