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ARCHIVED DISCUSSION FROM 3/14/2006 All times are U.S. Mountain Time (Yesterday's Discussion.) Goldilox (3/14/06; 22:01:47MT - usagold.com msg#: 142443) Large Oil Spill in Alaska Went Undetected for Days http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/national/15spill.html snip:WASHINGTON, March 14 — The largest oil spill to occur on the tundra of Alaska's North Slope has deposited up to 267,000 gallons of thick crude oil over two acres in the sprawling Prudhoe Bay production facilities, forcing cleanup crews to work in temperatures far below zero to vacuum and dig up the thick mixture of snow and oil.Enlarge This ImageBP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.Workers are cleaning up a two-acre site in the Prudhoe Bay area of Alaska after 267,000 gallons of crude leaked from a pipe on an oilfield.BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.Corroded pipe leads to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.The spill went undetected for as long as five days before an oilfield worker detected the acrid scent of hydrocarbons while driving through the area on March 2, Maureen Johnson, the senior vice president and manager of the Prudhoe Bay unit for BP, said at a news conference in Anchorage on Tuesday.At the conference, officials from BP, the company pumping the oil, and from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said they believed that the oil had escaped through a pinprick-size hole in a corroded 34-inch pipe leading to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.The pressure of the leaking oil, they said, gradually expanded the hole to a quarter- or half-inch wide. Most of the oil seeped beneath the snow without attracting the attention of workers monitoring alarm systems.The leak occurred in a section of pipe built in the late 1970's, in the earliest days of oil production at Prudhoe Bay. The larger pipeline, which carries North Slope oil across the state, was completed in 1977.Environmental groups were quick to point out that the spill raises doubts about the continuing reliability and durability of the infrastructure of North Slope production.The current spill is among the worst in the pipeline's history, and the first of such a magnitude likely to be blamed on the decay of the aging system. In 1989, about 11 million gallons fouled Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground. About 700,000 gallons escaped from the pipeline after vandals blew up a section of it in 1978, and about 285,000 gallons spilled in 2001 when a hunter shot the pipeline.-GoldiloxBad weather hampered both the detection and now the cleanup of one of Alaska's largest land based oil spills. Another supply concern for crude.By the way, has anyone else noticed the nearly $0.30 rise in gasoline pump prices in the last two weeks while the oil execs are being subpeonaed by CONgress? Goldilox (3/14/06; 21:15:21MT - usagold.com msg#: 142442) Hyperbolic expansion @ Rich P,I think that people are beginning to realize that we really are experiencing a hyperbolic expansion. The interesting thing about hyperbolae is that they look deceptively linear during the initial rise (the very illusion that TPTB are trying to sell) - right up to the point where the slope crosses 1. At that point, the slope begins its fast track to infinity, as the curve asymptotically approaches the y-axis.Like any pyramid scheme, it fails when the next larger level cannot support the previous level. MK (3/14/06; 20:45:03MT - usagold.com msg#: 142441) Rich Had the same thought. One big difference between yen and gold. . .There's a theoretically infinite supply of the former and a dearth these days in the latter. There is not future in being short gold. R Powell (3/14/06; 20:39:05MT - usagold.com msg#: 142440) MK Once gold was the source of cheap money (gold carry) for investment purposes. Now gold is one of the objects of investment for money raised from other carry trades. This thought is probably just new to me. I like it! I find it ironic. Do we sell tulips to make money or make money to buy tulips? "Round and round and round in the circle game." R Powell (3/14/06; 20:16:16MT - usagold.com msg#: 142439) Sources of capital I'm presently reading "Empire of Debt" which I've found extremely interesting, especially the chapter examining the Vietnam war. Anyway, one opinion expressed in the book is that an empire needs a source of financing, whether this be from taxation, outright plunder or simply capitalisation through debt. The yen carry trade, that MK just mentioned, is one such source of cheap capital...cheap here being defined loosely as any source of money which costs less (less interest needs be paid to borrow the bucks) than can be made by investing that same money. Running up equity evaluations provided a source of money in the 1990s. Taping into increased house price evaluations recently provided another. The old gold carry + present yen carry trades are two more. Bonner contends in his book that there must always be a source of relatively cheap money to sustain an empire. Or, if all else fails, start another war + finance everything with deficit spending. After all, it's for the fatherland so no expense is too great! Is not our capitalistic economic system the same? There must always be an expanding monetary supply + thus always a source of money. One of Bonner's main points is that the evolving American empire is being financed through debt. You knew that from the title, right? He finds it ironic that those being subjected under our spreading empire influence are actually financing the whole effort themselves. Is it true that the US has 265 military bases in 160 countries around the world? Hear that recently from an unreliable source (internet forum!). If one agrees with the premise that there is always (must be) a source of money, even if it is simply created by printing $$ backed only by faith (fiat), for empires, missionaries, spreaders of democracies, defenders of the same, containers of communism so the dominos don't fall, evangelists, do-gooders + domineering arrogant capitalists out to save the world, then there must always be money for investment too, no? Maybe the newness of the situation is that more of this money is being invested in gold (and other tangibles) than has been in the past, especially before about year 2000. The reasons for gold ownership have been enumerated often. They appear more paramount as time passes. I would only add further that a new reason has been added. He's called investment Greed and he's really not new at all. Also, he's only in it for the profit but imho, he'll be around for a long time now. His cousin is Joe Public but he's not yet aware of the investment potential of gold. Joe's only a mania type guy, he likes dot coms and tulips. rich Clink! (3/14/06; 20:01:45MT - usagold.com msg#: 142438) Carlyle Group explores acquisition of port operations http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/03/06/daily30.html The plot thickens - it wasn't Halliburton after all. But close. I was somewhat surprised at the odd wording of the DPW release that said that they would be "transferring" (not selling, divesting, spinning off, etc) the ports to a U.S. entity. Original link was from Mineset.C! MK (3/14/06; 19:11:22MT - usagold.com msg#: 142437) Seeds The other day I mentioned the carry trade in a post. Allow me to elaborate.There were those who believed that the Japanese central bank announcement that the days of 0% interest were over might cause the end of the bull market in commodities. . .gold included. The gold market -- a beneficiary -- sold off. What this group failed to blend into its analysis is the 'trade or die' pschology permanently inculcated in the entirety of the hedge fund and financial institution culture. You either trade or you lose your job -- so a .25%, or .5% or even a 1% rise in the yen rate will not prove an obstacle. The carry trade will continue.That's why gold rallied today. . .the reality flew in the wind for a few days, lodged itself in fertile ground, pushed roots, and began to grow anew. . . .The more things change the more they remain the same -- relatively speaking. Toolie (3/14/06; 19:04:15MT - usagold.com msg#: 142436) Anyone you know Sir Gandalf? http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=137905&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=28357 Snip: Police raided his flat and seized jewellery, a gold bracelet and items of sorcery smuggled into Bahrain. The conman promised the businessman the treasures of "Shamhouresh" and "Red Ginn". He presented him with rings and bracelets bought from Manama gold market, claiming they were gifts from the King of Ginns. The man was expelled from a neighbouring GCC country for his involvement in a string of sorceries. (end snip) R Powell (3/14/06; 18:36:25MT - usagold.com msg#: 142435) Hoople // logical POG..? There is an old market saying that a market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. Irrational and illogical are similar, no? You said.... "I can't see where gold hardly ever has acted logically over the past 5 years. Behemoth trade and account deficits, outbreaks of war, 9/11, virtually anything bearish for paper money has produced a gold sell-off. That doesn't seem logical." Everything you mentioned except for the 9/11 event were and are ongoing, especially wars. As such, why should the POG react to ongoing events at any one particular time, whether up or down? As for 9/11 or any unforeseen + sudden event, I guess these unknown + unknowable occurances will always surprise the markets. The original Washington Agreement was probably one of these. A gasoline refinery shutdown on Saint Croix helped to raise gas futures 10 cents today. These are sudden shocks. Some say there is already a $15.00/barrel "risk" premium priced in crude now. Maybe Black Blade could comment here? Perhaps even such risk premium doesn't always cover unforeseen events. Perhaps future events that threaten the supply of oil OR developments that change the supply/demand balance of gold will also change the price without altering that so-called "risk" premium..? Markets are always dynamic. I see the POG over a longer time frame as having been caught in an inverse relationship to the US buck + out of favor as an investment for many years. Both of these are no longer such + maybe now, for the first time in most peoples' lives, the POG is reacting to the invisible hand of supply + demand as well as receiving renewed interest as a secure wealth storage vehicle. Also, there investor interest, investor as those seeking paper profits only. It is with these views that I conclude that the POG has acted logical + fairly well behaved, much less volatile than say...silver! There may also be large market positions that take advantage of price moving events or trends however precipitated, to offset positions. A situation that may lead one to believe the POG is going up or down in the near term may be just the opportunity very large longs or shorts have been waiting for to offset existing positions for profit. This is not panic selling just the routine business of paper traders. They may not even care much or understand much about whatever precipitates the current trend. They're just selling into buying or buying into selling. CNBC might call this "profit taking". I believe to some extent it does happen, quite frequently in the futures markets wherein gold trades. One opinion that I've recently come across is that the trade deficit pertains to mostly manufactured good, tangible goods, imports versus exports. Perhaps the US economy is thriving in such enterprises as banking, sales of technology, foreign based businesses, etc. Are these profits counted in on the plus side in the trade deficit numbers? I'll readily agree that the production of manufactured goods that requires much labor is a dying industry in the so-called developed nations of the world. But remember, when the buggy whip maker lost his job, the auto mechanic job was born. Maybe the economy + the US dollar are not as bad off as some believe. There is much big business being done daily that never gets recorded as either a plus or minus in the balance of trade. As for the UAE and others not wanting US dollars or US assets, fine with me. Let them buy whatever they want with their dollars or just hoard them if they care to. There are more dollars outside the country than there are within. I would guess a currency devaluation would effect all. The economies of China + India + others are doing exceptionally well now without the benefits of their currencies being regarded as reserve currencies, or even particularly sought after currencies. Does the perception of a strong currency strengthen one's economy or does a strong economy support one's currency? I gues I could make an argument either way but I don't know enough to even have a strong opinion..? I've often wondered how this whole debt (private, corporate but mostly government debt) situation will be resolved? Will it ever be? I don't know but human nature likes to believe there is resolution to imbalances (social or economic). Or, as someone said, if a thing can not go on forever, it won't. So, assuming there is a "day of reckoning" (good book), how can the score be settled? The only way I can fathom is to monetize the debt or reduce the amount by devaluing the purchasing power of the dollar. If the minimum wage were raise tomorrow to say $625.00/hour + everything else were equally re-priced in terms of say "hours worked to earn item", then, our currently overpriced homes might become dirt cheap again + current burdensome debt levels would become small change. Voila, problem solved! I present this scenario with tongue in cheek, of course but how else can the debt issue be resolved?? I can think of no other way..other than perhaps wash them away in some sort of grand national bankruptcy...the common man's Resolution Trust. This might be a system shock as opposed to simply inflating big debt into small, manageable debt. I choose $625.00/hour for my new minimum wage so that the math would be easy to do with other prices. How does a new POG of 100X today's close sound? That would also put the price of silver at about platinum's level. There's nothing really new in these thoughts that hasn't been mentioned in various forms before but these came to my mind when trying to decide exactly why I do believe the POG has acted exactly as it should have these past many years. Fwiw, if anything 8>) rich Gandalf the White (3/14/06; 17:37:28MT - usagold.com msg#: 142434) Thanks Sir Goldendome !! "THAT" is what happens when one is working in the Mordor !Sorry about that !<;-) Golden Lionheart (3/14/06; 16:53:26MT - usagold.com msg#: 142433) J P Morgan In its various incarnations J P Morgan is still actively taking 7 to 10% stakes in Australian Gold Mines. These are on market transactions. Read into this what you will. Goldilox (3/14/06; 16:29:02MT - usagold.com msg#: 142432) Germany Keeps its Midas Touch -- for Now http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1932931,00.html snip:A widening budget deficit continues to haunt Berlin. Spending cuts and tax increases are supposed to shrink the horrific shortfalls. Some would like to sell the country's treasured gold reserves to help make ends meet.The world is again being seized by gold fever. Over the course of the past five years, the price of bullion has doubled. The current value of some $550 (462 euros) for one troy ounce is not even close to the all-time highs of the early 1980s. But the increase, particularly the sharp rise in the past 12 months, has made investors think twice about taking their chips off the table and cashing in. And that includes the German government. With over 3,400 tons of gold, Germany possesses the second-largest amount of the precious metal in the world -- behind the US, which has more than 8,000 tons. While the country boomed in the decades after World War II, Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, bought up the huge amounts to win confidence from outsiders and to secure a stable international currency, despite the fact that the German mark was not on the gold standard. The move paid off. The deutsche mark became the favored currency on the continent -- until 2002. Diminished responsibilities The death knell for the German mark -- the euroWhen the euro was brought into circulation in its metal and paper form on Jan. 1, 2002, the Bundesbank suddenly lost it primary responsibilities -- the minting of coinage and bills, circulation and fiscal duties. Overnight, the Frankfurt-based institution became a veritable equal among all the other central banks of the euro zone. The center of monetary power shifted within Germany's financial capital to the European Central Bank, whose modern headquarters far outshined those of the old German mark managers. But the Bundesbank is still responsible for the gold reserves that are currently worth some 50 billion euros ($60 billion). Bank president Axel Weber has repeatedly rejected calls from politicians in Berlin to be more generous with the gold reserves and has not responded positively to possible legislation that might force his hand. Bundesbank President Weber (l) also had gold talks with former Finance Minister Hans Eichel"We are not pursuing a change of the current law," he said in an interview with Dow Jones News published on the Bundesbank Web site. If the law is amended then it is "mandatory, that our autonomy with regard to politically-related currency decisions and the management of the (gold) reserves not be touched." Special status gone with grand coalition Members of Germany's ruling parties have accused the Bundesbank of acting improperly. In the Financial Times Deutschland, Social Democratic parliamentarian Joachim Poss last month called the bank board members "vain" and "stubborn." Christian Democratic parliamentarian and budget committee member Steffen Kampeter was more diplomatic in his assessment of the bank. Guardians of the euro -- the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt"We have to ask ourselves, and the bank must ask itself, just how many gold reserves are necessary for a central bank that no longer manages a single currency," Kampeter said. "It would be smart to think of other reserve alternatives, such as other currencies." Gold analyst Philip Klapwijk from GFMS in London agreed with those sentiments. "Given that over 50 percent of the Bundesbank's foreign reserves are in gold (valued at market prices), there is a case for reserve diversification," he said. "Studies show that some gold in the portfolio does improve risk adjusted returns but the current holdings of the Bundesbank are excessive for this purpose." Just how many assets should the government sell? Officially, Bundesbank chief Weber has argued that the bank's independence cannot and should not be violated. Its legal status of being free from political influence is clear, he has said. But reading between the lines suggests another message. "The country cannot go around selling all its assets," said Michael Schubert, the chief economist of Commerzbank. To get out of debt, local governments are selling propertiesYet the German federal government has been doing just that in the last decade, privatizing the country's fortunes in a fashion resembling a fire-sale. Since 1995, 60 billion euros ($72 billion) worth has been sold. "The sale of assets is the wrong perspective for politicians to have," said Deka Bank chief economist Ulrich Kater. "Gold should not be a reserve for the state. Reserves shore up confidence and the sales distract from the real problem." That problem, according to almost all economists, bank president Weber included, is Berlin's failure to balance the country's budget. The profits from the sale of gold would only be a drop in the bucket towards plugging the budget shortfalls -- and it can only happen once. Plus, it is not the responsibility of the Bundesbank to pick and choose when might be a profitable time to sell the gold. To do that, the bank would have to be privatized itself, an event that is as improbable as an overnight cure to the country's financial difficulties.-GoldiloxWhat, no overnight cure? oh oh! Goldendome (3/14/06; 16:19:47MT - usagold.com msg#: 142431) Today's "Hill toppers report" Sir Gandalf: It makes no difference today--and probably won't tomorrow, either. But one number, $552.60 that was in the official listing Monday was left out today. I haven't checked to see if there were others. Goldilox (3/14/06; 16:12:20MT - usagold.com msg#: 142430) Dubai and Barrick @ TC and Boilermaker,I was going to reply similarly, but I decided that you were probably being facetious, anyway.Who wants to buy the biggest hedger of all during a bull market?Only the banks who can manipulate the price [sometimes]. TownCrier (3/14/06; 15:21:27MT - usagold.com msg#: 142429) Fed's latest favorite in its "bag of tricks" -- outright buying of Treasuries The Federal Reserve again today chose 'permanent' consequences in its open market operations in addition to its more common 'temporary' repo activity.In addition to $6.25 billion in temporary fresh money added through overnight repurchase agreements today, the Fed continued to acquire (and thus 'permanently' monetize) government debt through outright purchase of Treasuries, this time targeting maturities in the range January 2009 to April 2032 to the tune of $450 million in general support.R. Gandalf the White (3/14/06; 15:09:32MT - usagold.com msg#: 142428) Hill "topers" today !! <;-) As posted: (THANKS USAGOLD Admin !)COMEX April gold futures climbed $5.50 to finish at $553, near the top of a $543.50-to-$553.60 session range.THEREFORE the persons that were atop the HILL today were:---$$$$ $553.4 $$$$ The Hoople (3/12/06; 12:43:27MT - usagold.com msg#: 142354)$$$$ $553.1 $$$$ goldenpeace (3/12/06; 10:03:14MT - usagold.com msg#: 142345)$$$$ $552.0 $$$$ Noble1 (3/11/06; 16:50:04MT - usagold.com msg#: 142328)$$$$ $551.1 $$$$ osa104c (3/9/06; 18:57:24MT - usagold.com msg#: 142270)$$$$ $550.0 $$$$ Felix the Cat (3/11/06; 07:13:08MT - usagold.com msg#: 142316)$$$$ $549.5 $$$$ Golden Lionheart (3/4/06; 22:13:41MT - usagold.com msg#: 142117)$$$$ $549.0 $$$$ Lance (3/10/06; 12:21:40MT - usagold.com msg#: 142292)$$$$ $548.5 $$$$ beowulf + (3/10/06; 07:54:45MT - usagold.com msg#: 142283)$$$$ $548.0 $$$$ YGM (3/10/06; 09:27:26MT - usagold.com msg#: 142285)$$$$ $546.5 $$$$ Topaz (3/4/06; 20:26:10MT - usagold.com msg#: 142112)$$$$ $545.6 $$$$ R Powell (3/12/06; 08:10:14MT - usagold.com msg#: 142343)$$$$ $545.2 $$$$ Tate (3/12/06; 15:29:09MT - usagold.com msg#: 142358)$$$$ $544.8 $$$$ pilgrims_gold (3/11/06; 20:08:11MT - usagold.com msg#: 142331)$$$$ $544.4 $$$$ Black Blade (3/12/06; 18:36:09MT - usagold.com msg#: 142362)$$$$ $543.7 $$$$ 24Wortel (3/12/06; 11:21:03MT - usagold.com msg#: 142350)===<;-) Gandalf the White (3/14/06; 15:03:11MT - usagold.com msg#: 142427) "KING OF THEHILL" report !!!! <;-) I am sorry to say that I am still in deep Morador and was only able to hear that the April COMEX contract SETTLEMENT today was at $553.0 ! (I hope that this is correct.)THEREFORE, with an entry of:$$$$ $553.1 $$$$ goldenpeace (3/12/06; 10:03:14MT - usagold.com msg#: 142345)---Sir Goldenpeace is the "KING OF THE HILL" today, with one day to go until the PRIZES are awarded !CONGRATULATIONS and GOOD LUCK to all !!<;-) USAGOLD Daily Market Report (3/14/06; 14:58:08MT - usagold.com msg#: 142426) Page Update! http://www.usagold.com/DailyQuotes.htmlThe Daily Gold Market Report has been updated.If you are considering investments in gold we invite you to request our free introductory information packet detailing the products and services offered by USAGOLD ~ Centennial Precious Metals. We welcome your inquiry and look forward to working with you.TUESDAY Market ExcerptsGold at 1-week high on all-around buyingMarch 14 (from Reuters) -- Gold in New York jumped to a one-week high at the close on Tuesday, powered by speculative and consumer buying and also by the dollar's steep fall, traders and analysts said.COMEX April gold futures climbed $5.50 to finish at $553, near the top of a $543.50-to-$553.60 session range.A fall in the dollar attracted traders to gold as a safe haven investment, dealers said, while gold also drew support from a flurry of short covering after prices bounced from the lows and from renewed physical demand over the last week.Gold has a tight inverse correlation to the dollar's moves as some currency traders use the metal as a dollar hedge.The dollar tumbled on soft U.S. economic data and on a report by an influential consulting group suggesting the Federal Reserve may be near the end of its tightening cycle.Medley Global Advisors said the Fed was likely to raise rates to 4.75 percent but any tightening beyond that was far less assured. This prompted financial markets to pare back their bets that the Federal Open Market Committee would take U.S. interest rates to as high as 5.25 percent.U.S. data showed that retail sales in February fell 1.3 percent, exceeding expectations for a 0.8 percent decline.The U.S. fourth-quarter current account deficit widened to a record $224.9 billion, well above the forecast $217.7 billion.---(see url for full new, 24-hr newswire)--- TownCrier (3/14/06; 14:13:04MT - usagold.com msg#: 142425) Boilermaker (msg#: 142415), I beg to differ There would be precious little material benefit in any purchase of Barrick by Dubai (or any other holder of vast quantities of FRN's, as you say) because the gold in the in the ground already belongs to /or/ has been pre-committed to another.Bottom line: ANYone can own a mining company, but that doesn't entitle them or ensure them that they'll be able to own the gold that they're mining.For most of us mere mortals it will soon enough likely prove very obvious that it was highly prudent to have skipped the mining ops middleground and to have bid directly on the physical gold end-product with our investment dollars.R. The Hoople (3/14/06; 13:56:43MT - usagold.com msg#: 142424) Rich, I can't see where gold hardly ever has acted logically over the past 5 years. Behemoth trade and account deficits, outbreaks of war, 9/11, virtually anything bearish for paper money has produced a gold sell-off. That doesn't seem logical. Another tip-off to me of price management (imo) is gold, unlike other commodities, never anticipating anything. Siver is even worse in that regard. Google shares anticipate them owning the planet yet gold and silver seemingly can't anticipate the next trading hour. Why isn't gold anticipating the UAE and their neighbours pulling out of U.S. assets in retaliation for the port fiasco? Or is that event already priced in? Also I don't think the shear volume of $6 limit days- not $7, not $8- can be attributed to randomness any more than the 93% probability of a lower Comex open. I do allow that years of management has produced a Pavlov-type response in the pit and electronic traders. They don't know why prices go to these points, they just know it's profitable to sell there. I do think gold is preparing to "misbehave badly and become disorderly"; in spite of what the BIS, AG, Gordon Brown, or any other banker thinks it should do. More thoughts? R Powell (3/14/06; 13:10:17MT - usagold.com msg#: 142423) Hoople May I suggest that randomness be considered when trying to analyse short term market moves? Key words there were "short term". I sometimes think the POG seems well behaved technically, in comparison with other markets. Very short term market price moves are sometimes just market noise. At least, that's my opinion as I've never been able to quite figure them out, nor has anyone else to the best of my knowledge. Are the market forces that determine the POG stable + operating as they should be? I believe so. Is it perhaps, a deficiency in valid facts + information that distort some perceptions of gold's dollar value? Just some thoughts here, for no apparent reason. The POG, over a long term time frame (say last five years) has, imho, reacted quite logically. I wish I could say the same with other markets. Thoughts? rich Armageddon (3/14/06; 12:51:57MT - usagold.com msg#: 142422) U.S. Debt Default Question I was wondering how likely people on this board believe a Debt Default by the United States government in the next couple weeks will be? The Congress is supposed to be in recess by the end of the week and the government is projected to run out of money by the week of the 20th. Thanks. The Hoople (3/14/06; 12:27:22MT - usagold.com msg#: 142421) $2,000 gold , $6 at a time? When I made my gold price guess Sunday for tomorrow's Comex close it was based on 2 - $6 collar days, followed by 1 day at unchanged. Today's high tick- $553.40- is exactly $12 higher than Friday. These price managers are very unimaginitive! The $100 question: why did they choose $6 for a daily allowed gain? Was it based on 2% when gold was $300? How do technicians explain $6 moves rarely hitting any support/resistance numbers but arbitrarily stopping at meaningless price points? Where is the resistance at $553 or $447? Moving averages?Anything? tejbear (3/14/06; 12:02:41MT - usagold.com msg#: 142420) Goldilox: Question... Goldilox,Last night, I watched the first session of the "Money Masters". Nightmare of nightmares... Have you had a chance to reseach the accuracy of the information in the "Money Masters" presentation?Thanks,The Bear Survivor (3/14/06; 11:57:10MT - usagold.com msg#: 142419) G'lox - "Fair and Balanced" CNBC content is only "Fair and Balanced" when considered in the context of its existence as the official information instrument of the NYSE. The station officially identifies itself as a "service of NBC and the NYSE" or words to that effect.Not hard to understand why their bias is far away from any sort of good news for PMs or bad news for equities. Goldilox (3/14/06; 09:27:03MT - usagold.com msg#: 142418) Fair and Balanced CNBC's Bob Pisani just said fom the NYSE floor that "if we don't get some kind of rally going," he's going to get "cranky".Not to suggest that these "newscasters" have conflicting interests. No wonder none of them will adequately cover the "bear" case. Goldilox (3/14/06; 08:34:39MT - usagold.com msg#: 142417) Investors flee Iceland banks as economy heads towards forecast 'hard landing' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/03/14/cnice14.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2006/03/14/ixcity.html snip:Iceland's banks were pummelled yesterday as the Nordic economy lurched into its third week of crisis, flashing an ominous early-warning signal for markets worldwide.The krona tumbled another 3pc against the US dollar and is now down almost 18pc this year, a victim of "hot money" flight by investors scrambling for the exit doors at the same time. Reykjavik's blue-chip stock index was down 3.3pc.The cost of insuring against a bond default by Iceland's three big banks - Kaupthing, Landesbanki, and Islandibanki - shot up another 20 basis points yesterday as investors became increasingly alarmed over their use of foreign debt to fund an equity spree. "This is a warning sign the euphoria we've se en in global markets is dissipating rapidly," said Julian Callow, an economist at Barclays Capital.Funds had piled into Iceland to milk 10.75pc rates but panicked after warnings of a "hard landing" by the credit agency Fitch. The krona's crash set off global dominos, hitting New Zealand, South Africa, Hungary, Poland and Turkey. The rumbling thunder of monetary tightening by all the world's big central banks provided the background music.The banking crisis followed when Fitch and Merrill Lynch warned that the banks could have trouble rolling over their foreign debts. Merrill Lynch said the big three faced refinancing on $17.8bn of foreign debt by the end of 2007, equal to 130pc of Iceland's GDP."With a debt distribution that is front-loaded, Icelandic banks are particularly vulnerable to shifts in market confidence," it said.Analysts said the banks had leveraged the nation to the hilt, borrowing vast sums on the global capital markets for a Viking conquest of corporate Europe. "The whole county has become a hedge fund," said one economist.-GoldiloxThe perils of "debt-based" economics. Goldilox (3/14/06; 08:25:56MT - usagold.com msg#: 142416) Gold Nanorods http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/518743/ snip:Newswise — Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California, San Francisco, have found an even more effective and safer way to detect and kill cancer cells. By changing the shapes of gold nanospheres into cylindrical gold nanorods, they can detect malignant tumors hidden deeper under the skin, like breast cancer, and selectively destroy them with lasers only half as powerful as before – without harming the healthy cells. The method, which allows for a safer, deeper penetrating noninvasive cancer treatment, has just appeared in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, volume 128.Last year, the father and son research team of Mostafa El-Sayed and Ivan El-Sayed, showed that gold nanoparticles coated with a cancer antibody were very effective at binding to tumor cells. When bound to the gold, the cancer cells scattered light, making it very easy to identify the noncancerous cells from the malignant ones. The nanoparticles also absorbed the laser light more easily, so that the coated malignant cells only required half the laser energy to be killed compared to the benign cells. This makes it relatively easy to ensure that only the malignant cells are being destroyed.Now, they've discovered that by changing the spheres into rods, they can lower the frequency to which the nanoparticles respond from the visible light spectrum used by the nanospheres to the near-infrared spectrum. Since these lasers can penetrate deeper under the skin than lasers in the visible spectrum, they can reach tumors that are inaccessible to visible lasers . . ."This makes it more practical than the sphere in terms of treating cancer," said Mostafa El-Sayed. "For laser phototherapy treatment of skin cancer or, for diagnostic biopsies, the spheres are fine, but for phototherapy of cancer deep under the skin, like breast cancer, then one really needs to use the nanorods treatment."-GoldiloxSome good news for a change. Boilermaker (3/14/06; 08:03:18MT - usagold.com msg#: 142415) Protectionism Poker If Dubai (or any holder of vast quantities of FRN's) really wants to play high stakes poker with Washington they should make a tender offer for Barrick. Boilermaker (3/14/06; 07:48:02MT - usagold.com msg#: 142414) Surprise! Goldman hits record http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&refer=top_world_news&sid=aD8DJNU4uzcs snip;March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported Wall Street's highest-ever quarterly profit and revenue, powered by record trading and money-management fees. Net income in the fiscal first quarter soared 64 percent to $2.48 billion, or $5.08 a share, Goldman said in a statement today. That's more than the New York-based firm earned in all of fiscal 2002 and exceeds by more than 60 percent the highest analyst estimate. Goldman said strong customer demand for stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies and derivatives and ``favorable conditions'' for bets with its own capital fueled a 53 percent jump in trading revenue. Money management fees doubled as assets swelled to $571 billion, the most on Wall Street. ``It all went right, that's all you can say with a number like this,'' said Anton Schutz, who helps manage $275 million at Mendon Capital Advisors Corp., including call options on Goldman shares. ``I don't think they can sustain this.'' comment;It's good to be a branch of the Federal Reserve and US Treasury, takes the guesswork out of "investing". Goldilox (3/14/06; 06:03:53MT - usagold.com msg#: 142413) More on "protectionism" First the Unocal deal, and now the Dubai Port deal. How long until the rest of the world realizes that they can't spend the dollars they have amassed. They seem to be limited to re-investing them in US Treasuries to hold up the Wall St house of cards and purchases of what few global products the US still provides (Boeing, GE, John Deere), forcing them to use their $ horde anti-competitively.As more and more foreign investors are thwarted in their attempt to repatriate US $, they will begin to sour on accumulation from the bitter taste left in their mouths.This is getting ugly - and rather quickly! Goldilox (3/14/06; 05:53:50MT - usagold.com msg#: 142412) Rising Protectionism Great post, TC.It highlights the general attitude of introversion that is surfacing globally. I'm not as sure as you are about the CBs not wanting to repeat mistakes. It's certainly logical, but they seem to be "painted in a corner once again" as outlined in the Chapman article. TownCrier (3/14/06; 01:20:52MT - usagold.com msg#: 142411) 'Protectionist' pebbles lead to expanding economic ripples -- more on yesterday's report http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/03/14/cnuae14.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2006/03/14/ixcity.html HEADLINE: UAE turns back on dollar in foreign reserves shake-up(14/03/2006) -- ..."This policy initiative has nothing to do with the controversy over DP World's bid for P&O operations in the US," said Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, the governor of UAE's central bank. In the same breath, however, he denounced the move by the US Congress to block the Dubai group from taking control of six American ports on security grounds, warning it would drive capital away.The UAE has been a close ally of Washington in the fight against terrorism, so the shrill tone on Capitol Hill - bordering on anti-Arab hysteria - has been deeply wounding. There are fears it could lead to a withdrawal of petrodollar funds from the US, much like the Saudi-driven capital flight after the terrorist attacks of 9/11."Dubai's difficulties are going to cause Arab countries to invest less in the United States," said Mohab Kamel, a trader at Kara Energy in Geneva. "The kick in the teeth by Washington is not reassuring for Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which have a more fundamentalist attitude," he said.The next move could be a decision by Emirates Airlines - the region's top carrier - to opt for Europe's Airbus A350 in a $7.5bn order for passenger jets expected next month instead of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.The IMF forecasts that the Gulf region will rack up a current account surplus of $275bn in 2006, giving it huge clout in the global capital markets.By some estimates, the recycling of petrodollars has eclipsed the Asian central banks as the chief source of foreign financing for the US deficit, now over 7pc of GDP.David Lubin, an economist at HSBC and author of a report on Gulf petrodollars, said Washington could prove to be the victim of its recourse to "asset protectionism"."It has been a particularly unpleasant incident and it may well have longer-term consequences since the US relies on foreign inflows to fund its current account deficit. This sort of move will make it even more dependent on easily-reversible portfolio flows," he said....Gulf investors are not [currently] dumping dollars, [but] ...the moment they do, however, the long-awaited slide in the US dollar could start with a vengeance.^---(from url)---^As a primary RESERVE alternative the world must (does/will) seriously embrace gold because the euroarea does not want to directly inherit the familiar non-competitive international trade woes of the "strong dollar" being transferred into a "strong euro" with all the attendant headaches. Nor would the central banks of the world want to repeat mistakes of the past, idolizing another's liabilities on such a vast scale that the economic playing field remains grossly asymmetric with exhorbitant financing privileges bestowed on one quarter over all others.R. TownCrier (3/14/06; 00:44:41MT - usagold.com msg#: 142410) Goldendome, Good eye. Looks to me like a simple typo must've crept in during someone's final push to flip off the lights and head out the door at the end of a busy day. Thanks for the alert. I've made the appropriate amendment to the page; the end-of-day reference pricing should now appear to be more closely in whack with what you'd have expected to see there.R. ViewYesterday's Discussion.
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