Worldwide News

Stocks dropped for an eighth day, the longest losing streak since January 2010, and commodities fell, erasing the Standard & Poor’s GSCI index’s gains for the year, on concern the U.S. recovery is faltering. Bonds jumped, driving Treasury 10-year yields to the lowest in almost 10 months.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Britain’s biggest government-controlled bank, swung into loss in the first half after writing down the value of its Greek debt and setting aside funds to compensate insurance customers.

Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his Federal Reserve colleagues are preparing to meet next week as two-year Treasury yields at a record low signal a U.S. economy on the knife’s edge between growth and contraction.