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ARCHIVED DISCUSSION FROM 3/20/2006
All times are U.S. Mountain Time

(Yesterday's Discussion.)

TownCrier (3/20/06; 21:47:08MT - usagold.com msg#: 142616)
Smeagol,
http://www.usagold.com/gold/coins/kim-thanh.html
On the page below you can (finally) see one of the various gold images -- specifically, the Kim Thanh leaves -- that MK had previously mentioned to you in a post awhile ago in regard to some of the new photography I've been busy with.

Sorry for the time lag... I hope the finished product was sufficiently worth the wait.

R.

USAGOLD / Centennial Precious Metals, Inc. (3/20/06; 21:12:27MT - usagold.com msg#: 142615)
A is for Asset Preservation: Why Americans Need Gold
http://www.abcs-of-gold-investing.com/

The incident is one of the most memorable of my career. Never before or since has the value of gold in preserving assets been made so abundantly clear to me. It was the mid-1970s. The United States was finally extricating itself from the conflict in South Vietnam. Thousands of South Vietnamese had fled their embattled homeland rather than face the vengeance of the rapidly advancing Communist forces.

In my Denver office, a couple from South Vietnam who had been part of that exodus sat across from me. They had come to sell their gold. In broken English, the man told me the story of how he and his wife had escaped the fall of Saigon and certain reprisal by North Vietnamese troops. They got out with nothing more than a few personal belongings and the small cache of gold he now spread before me on my desk. His eyes widened as he explained why they were lucky to have survived those last fearful days of the South Vietnamese Republic. They had scrambled onto a fishing boat and had sailed into the South China Sea, where they were rescued by the U.S. Navy. These were Vietnamese "boat people," survivors of that chapter in the tragedy of Indochina. Now they were about to redeem their life savings in gold so that they could start a new business in the United States.

Their gold wrapped in rice paper was a type called Kim Thanh. These are the commonly traded units in Hong Kong and throughout the Far East. Kim Thanh weigh about 1.2 troy ounces, or a tael, as it is called in the Orient. They look like thick gold leaf rectangles 3 to 4 inches long, 1-1/2 to 2 inches wide, and a few millimeters deep. Kim Thanh are embossed with Oriental characters describing weight and purity. As a gesture to the Occident, they are stamped in the center with the words OR PUR, "pure gold."

It wasn't much gold-about 30 ounces-but it might as well have been a ton. The couple considered themselves very fortunate to have escaped with this small hoard of gold. They thanked me profusely for buying it. As we talked about Vietnam and their future in the United States, I couldn't help but become caught up in their enthusiasm for the future. These resilient, hard-working, thrifty people now had a new lease on life. When they left my office that day, there was little doubt in my mind that they would be successful in their new life. It was rewarding to know that gold could do this for them. It was satisfying to know that I had helped them in this small way.

I kept those golden Kim Thanh for many years. They became something of a symbol for me-a reminder of the power and importance of gold. Today, when economic and financial problems have begun to signal deeper, more fundamental concerns for the United States, I still remember that Vietnamese couple and how important gold can be to a family's future. Had the couple escaped with South Vietnamese paper money instead of gold, I could have done nothing for them. There was no exchange rate for the South Vietnamese currency because there was no longer a South Vietnam! Wisely, they had converted their savings to gold long before the helicopters lifted U.S. diplomats off the roof of the American Embassy in 1975.

Over the years, I have come to understand and appreciate the many important uses of gold-artistic, cultural, economic, and industrial. Gold is unsurpassed for jewelry and as a high-tech conductor of electricity. Gold has medical applications in dentistry and in treating diseases from arthritis to cancer. Gold plating is used in computers and in many other information-age technologies. All of these pale, though, in light of gold's ancient function as money. As an asset of last resort, gold makes its most important contribution to the general welfare. Through the many economic debacles in human history runs one common thread: those who survive financially do so because they own gold. In recent years, gold has regained its glitter among American investors. This renewed interest in gold is not so much a hedge against the devastation of war but against something much more subtle-the potential destruction of wealth from an international collapse of the dollar and a subsequent economic breakdown. -- From The ABCs of Gold Investing

Beer Man (3/20/06; 21:07:39MT - usagold.com msg#: 142614)
@ Black Blade .. looking for a phone interview on talk radio 9 to 11 am Cent. time
I have some friends that do talk radio & they give me a lot of time .. the probem I have is many are of the all is well mind set on oil & the economy ..... I have tried to wake them up but I could sure use some help .... I can get you a toll free # to call or they can call you ..... RE: 60 min. show about the NASA guy & the white house & the you were warned CNN show ...... they have set a spark but many just dont get it ..... if you would like to help let me know what would work best for you ...... Thanks Dan the Beerman .......... P. S. Tried to get Ron Paul .. so far no luck ..... our U.S. Rep was just on & when asked 3 good economic questions said ( I dont understand it enough ) ...... & he is one of the better ones !!!!!! We are in deep trouble !!! At least he was honest & didnt try to BS his way out of it

goldquest (3/20/06; 20:56:47MT - usagold.com msg#: 142613)
And all of this
from an non-governmental institution that was promoting "Transparency," just a few short years ago!

MK (3/20/06; 19:57:54MT - usagold.com msg#: 142612)
Survivor
I picked up on the same passage. I am probably not alone in saying that the first thing that popped into my mind when I read the following passage is the discontinuation of M3:

"Ultimately, a robust approach to policymaking requires the use of multiple sources of information and multiple methods of analysis. . ."

"But let's strip the academic and analytical community of the use of M3" seems to be the appropriate continuation of that thought.

I know that I've used M3 in my analysis and writing for a good number of years. Bernanke, the academic, understands what it means to take that tool away from the analysts. Bottom line, you simply cannot continue your analysis. You have to start over or attempt to make some sort of bridge -- a very effective stratagem to confuse, diffuse and suffuse. . . More than anything, in my mind, the Bernanke ploy lays down a line of fire to cover the Fed's true intent -- to inflate the money supply, monetize the debt and devalue the dollar once and for all against all opposition. The new powers granted the Fed to operate in the forex markets, in my view, are aimed at the same end. Let's not forget that this man spent a great deal of time at the White House before going over to the Fed. Bernanke could very well turn out to be the most political Fed chairman in our lifetimes.


Smeagol (3/20/06; 19:54:42MT - usagold.com msg#: 142611)
Of navigating the conundrum...
"...in the current situation--the bottom line for policy appears ambiguous. ...... Given this reality, policymakers are well advised to follow two principles familiar to navigators throughout the ages: First, determine your position frequently. Second, use as many guides or landmarks as are available."

Sss... ahem... Cap'n Bernanke, precious... it's overcasst, it's night, there is no Moon, the barometer is dropping like a sstone, the seas are rising along with the roar of the wind, we've ssprung many leaks and are taking on water, and the compass is behaving as if there is a magnetic storm... eh, what's that? We thinks we hears the sound of crashing waves on rocks ahead! Landmark ahoy!

S. ~>8-)

MK (3/20/06; 19:53:39MT - usagold.com msg#: 142610)
Survivor
I picked up on the same passage. I am probably not alone in saying that the first thing that popped into my mind when I read the following passage is the discontinuation of M3:

"Ultimately, a robust approach to policymaking requires the use of multiple sources of information and multiple methods of analysis. . ."

"But let's strip the academic and analytical community of the use of M3" seems to be the appropriate continuation of that thought.

I know that I've used M3 in my analysis and writing or a good number of years. Bernanke, the academic, understands what it means to take that tool away from the analysts. Bottom line, you simply cannot continue your analysis. You have to start over or attempt to make some sort of bridge -- a very effective stratagem to confuse, diffuse and suffuse. . . More than anything, in my mind, the Bernanke ploy lays down a line of fire to cover the Fed's true intent -- to inflate the money supply, monetize the debt and devalue the dollar once and for all against all opposition. The new powers granted the Fed to operate in the forex markets, in my view, are aimed at the same end. Let's now forget that this man spent a great deal of time at the White House before going over to the Fed. Bernanke could very well turn out to be the most political Fed chairman in our lifetimes.



Survivor (3/20/06; 19:24:04MT - usagold.com msg#: 142609)
Ben's Bull
Thanks TC

I can't resist posting my interpretation of the conclusion to Helicopter Ben's comments . . .

" ...in the current situation--the bottom line for policy appears ambiguous. ...... Given this reality, policymakers are well advised to follow two principles familiar to navigators throughout the ages: First, determine your position frequently. Second, use as many guides or landmarks as are available.

Survivor: In other words, we are now looking over our shoulders constantly and searching for a clue.

"...Ultimately, a robust approach to policymaking requires the use of multiple sources of information and multiple methods of analysis, combined with frequent reality checks. By not tying policy to a small set of forecast indicators, we may sacrifice some degree of simplicity, but we are less likely to be misled when a favored variable behaves in an unusual manner."

Survivor: In other words, if we keep the signals adequately confused, the resulting smokescreen will obscure an accurate view of the printing press.




PRITCHO (3/20/06; 19:12:23MT - usagold.com msg#: 142608)
Actor Charlie Sheen - - Questions Official 9/11 Story
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/march2006/200306charliesheen.htm
This guys got guts - -he's gone up a few notches in my ratings - --

SNIP:
Sheen agreed that the biggest conspiracy theory was put out by the government itself and prefaced his argument by quoting Theodore Roosevelt in stating, "That we are to stand by the President right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."



TownCrier (3/20/06; 18:17:05MT - usagold.com msg#: 142607)
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke before the Economic Club of New York
http://www.federalreserve.gov/BoardDocs/speeches/2006/20060320/default.htm
March 20, 2006 -- Reflections on the Yield Curve and Monetary Policy

(excerpts on "the conundrum")

The tightening cycle that began at the end of June 2004 is notable in at least four respects. ...my principal focus this evening, is the behavior of long-term interest rates. Since June 30, 2004, the overnight interest rate has moved up 3-1/2 percentage points, but the ten-year nominal Treasury yield has only edged higher.

At less than 4-3/4 percent, that yield is not much above the target federal funds rate of 4-1/2 percent and, indeed, is about even with yields for maturities of one to three years.

In the remainder of my remarks I will speculate on the reasons for and consequences of this historically unusual behavior of long-term rates.

...The ten-year Treasury yield, for example, can be viewed as a weighted average of the current one-year rate and nine one-year forward rates, with the weights depending on the coupon yield of the security. As I will discuss, each of these forward rates can be split further into (1) a portion equal to the one-year spot rate that market participants currently expect to prevail at the corresponding date in the future, and (2) a portion that reflects additional compensation to the bondholder for the risk of holding longer-dated instruments.

...Why have the far-forward rates implied by the term structure of interest rates declined in recent years? Observers have offered two broad (and not mutually exclusive) classes of explanations. One set of explanations holds that bond yields are reacting to current or prospective macroeconomic conditions. Another set focuses on special factors that may have influenced market demands for long-term securities per se, independent of the economic outlook.

...A second possible explanation of the evident decline in the term premium is linked to the increased intervention in currency markets by a number of governments, particularly in Asia. According to this explanation, foreign official institutions, primarily central banks, have invested the bulk of their greatly expanded dollar holdings in U.S. Treasuries and closely substitutable securities, and these demands by the official sector have put downward pressure on yields. This interpretation has some support, including research that I did with two coauthors that found that longer-term yields came under significant downward pressure during episodes of heavy official purchases of dollars in 2004. And financial-market participants appear to be especially sensitive to any suggestion that foreign official entities may alter their portfolio preferences.

However, these observations speak more to the existence of a short-term impact of large purchases and sales--the result of limits to liquidity in the very short run--than to the perhaps more important question of whether those transactions have a lasting effect on yields. On this latter issue, clear evidence is harder to come by. ... Notably, the global market for dollar-denominated bonds is enormous--perhaps around $25 trillion, including dollar-denominated debt issued by other countries as well as debt issued abroad by U.S. residents...

...Given the global nature of the decline in yields, an explanation less centered on the United States might be required. About a year ago, I offered the thesis that a "global saving glut"--an excess, at historically normal real interest rates, of desired global saving over desired global investment--was contributing to the decline in interest rates. In brief, I argued that this shift reflects the confluence of several forces. On the saving side, the factors include rapid growth in high-saving countries on the Pacific Rim, export-focused economic development strategies that directly or indirectly hold back the growth of domestic demand, and the surge in revenues enjoyed by oil producers. On the investment side, notable factors restraining the global demand for capital include the legacy of the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, which led to continuing sluggishness in investment in some of those economies, and the slower growth of the workforce in many industrial countries. So long as these factors persist, global equilibrium interest rates (and, consequently, the neutral policy rate) will be lower than they otherwise would be.

Conclusion

...in the current situation--the bottom line for policy appears ambiguous. ...... Given this reality, policymakers are well advised to follow two principles familiar to navigators throughout the ages: First, determine your position frequently. Second, use as many guides or landmarks as are available.

...Ultimately, a robust approach to policymaking requires the use of multiple sources of information and multiple methods of analysis, combined with frequent reality checks. By not tying policy to a small set of forecast indicators, we may sacrifice some degree of simplicity, but we are less likely to be misled when a favored variable behaves in an unusual manner.

^---(see full speech at url)---^

OK, so will the Fed be able to keep its head when the price of gold (being, among variables, a globally favored "reality check") begins a more powerful ascendancy?

R.

TownCrier (3/20/06; 16:47:40MT - usagold.com msg#: 142606)
This just in from a friend... "Credit derivatives rocked by loss at GM finance arm"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/03/18/cngm18.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2006/03/18/ixcitytop.html
Telegraph, 20 March 2006 -- The discovery of huge hidden losses at General Motors's finance arm have raised fresh fears of bankruptcy at the world's biggest carmaker, sending tremors through the credit derivatives markets.

The struggling group asked for a filing delay after admitting to an extra $2bn (£1.1bn) in accounting errors at its finance arm GMAC, raising total losses last year to $10.6bn. The news triggered a sharp spike in the cost of default insurance on GMAC's bonds, rising 75 basis points overnight.

Car-parts supplier Dana Corporation defaulted last week on $2.5bn of debt, following Delphi and Tower Automotive last year.

Concern that General Motors may now be sliding towards the brink - linked to an estimated $200bn in credit derivatives - has renewed fears that the over-heated credit swap market could seize up in a crisis...

Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, warned in a recent speech that the $300,000bn derivatives market had raced ahead of the infrastructure needed to support it.

"They have not ended the tendency of markets to occasional periods of mania and panic. They have not eliminated the possibility of failure of a major financial intermediary. And they cannot fully insulate the broader financial community from the effects of such a failure," said Geithner.

...investor Warren Buffett has been warning since 2003 that derivatives are a ticking "time bomb"... explaining it has cost Berkshire Hathaway $404m to extract itself from derivatives inherited through General Re, the reinsurance group.

"Our experience should be particularly sobering because we were a better-than-average candidate to exit gracefully.

''General Re has had the good fortune to unwind its supposedly liquid positions in a benign market. It could be a different story for others in the future," Mr Buffett said.

^---(see url for full article)---^

How can ANYone with even a basic ability to comprehend any of this still be sitting blithely on the sidelines of physical gold ownership?

The more you know, the more you realize how much you need gold in your portfolio...

R.

mikal (3/20/06; 16:42:06MT - usagold.com msg#: 142605)
Corrected link
http://www.etherzone.com/2006/henr032006.shtml
http://www.etherzone.com/2006/henr032006.shtml

mikal (3/20/06; 15:55:08MT - usagold.com msg#: 142604)
Trustbusters
http://www.etherzone.com/2006/henr03202006.shtml
To The Moon Alice - And Beyond Honesty by Ed Henry
March 20, 2006
"...What's going to happen if our foreign lenders find out about this scam before the American taxpaying public wakes up? Do you really think they'll continue to loan us money if they recognize this swindle and that the individual Americans who must stand behind and redeem their loans have, for the first time since the Great Depression, a negative savings rate, are deeply in debt on their own credit cards, and cannot pay them back if they demand immediate repayment? Legitimate securities contracted under the open market side of the national debt can be cashed-in at any time and things like this cause runs on banks.
Would we go to war with our lenders over this issue? You bet we would. George W. Bush, the man with his finger on the nuclear button, is preparing for just such an event with mini-nukes and weapons in space alongside our already overwhelming arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. He's already trying to build a case for attacking Iran primarily because they've threatened to sell their oil for Euros instead of Dollars, the same thing Saddam did.
With our dollar falling in value all over the world, a trade deficit of $804.9 billion for the last calendar year, a skyrocketing national debt, and most of the civilized world turning against us, all Osama Been Forgotten and his crew have to do is to run up their "mission accomplished" banners and sit back to watch us implode."



USAGOLD Daily Market Report (3/20/06; 13:35:05MT - usagold.com msg#: 142603)
Page Update!
http://www.usagold.com/DailyQuotes.html
The 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.

MONDAY Market Excerpts

March 20 (from MarketWatch) -- COMEX April gold rose $1, or 0.2%, to end the session at $556.10.

"We expect gold and copper prices to make new record highs this week as the potential for significant disruption to supply escalates in Indonesia," said John Meyer, analyst at Numis Securities.

Newmont Mining has suspended exploration at a site on the island of Sumbawa after a group of about 50 unknown assailants destroyed a workers' camp, according to media reports.

The attack comes just days after four security officers were killed in the province of Papua in an attack on a mine operated by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, also a long-time participant in Indonesia's mining industry.

"Protesters are looking for disclosure on the destinationand use of funds paid by foreign miners," said Meyer in a note to clients. "We assume that this implies that a proportion of the funding is not feeding through to local projects." In the latest dealings, shares of Newmont fell 21 cents to $49.65. Freeport-McMoRan shed 42 cents to trade at $52.80.

---(see url for full news, 24-hr newswire)---

mikal (3/20/06; 13:12:33MT - usagold.com msg#: 142602)
Gold moves on "financial and general macro-economc variables"
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/03/20/stories/2006032000010700.htm
Why Gold Prices Move Ahead of Metals - G. Chandrashekur - March 19, 2006

mikal (3/20/06; 13:00:28MT - usagold.com msg#: 142601)
New money seen replacing "trickle"
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1652151,00020001.htm
Investment Demand Expected To Push Up Gold Prices - Indo-Asian News Service - March 20, 2006

TownCrier (3/20/06; 11:10:32MT - usagold.com msg#: 142600)
The new RBI policy...
http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=7&cat2=55&newsid=214861&RF=DefaultMain
Mumbai, March 20 -- Reserve Bank of India is unlikely to allow primary dealers to enter into commodity and foreign exchange trading business immediately, as requested by some, a central bank official said Monday. New norms for primary dealers, likely to be released in two weeks, may allow them to foray only into equity trading, he said.

...Primary dealers’ role is set to gain prominence from April 1, when RBI stops participating in primary gilt market.

As per the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, from April 1, RBI can't support the government borrowing programme by taking private placements or buying gilts that are not subscribed at auctions.It can only buy or sell gilts in secondary market.

As a result, primary dealers will have to support the government borrowing programme by underwriting 100 per cent of the gilt auction, as against the current allowance of part-underwriting.

Primary dealers have been asking RBI to allow them to trade and invest in other instruments like foreign exchange, equities, and commodities because rising interest rates have dented their profitability from bonds. The RBI official, however, said the diversification of primary dealership activity could be limited to only equities at this juncture.

^---(from url)---^

Bottom line is a step toward a improved market-based system of price discovery as the RBI will no longer be involved in artificially backstopping any and all errant pitches of government debt.

As the wide world of official debt (e.g., as seen in RBI's new policy here as with that of the eurosystem) comes more and more into focus, freshly seen without eyes previously made bleary by the old policies of CB support, the markets will also come to better see and understand the right (much higher) value of gold.

These evolving developments within the official sector as they relate to both forex policy and the bright future of gold have been (and continue to be) neither accidental nor left to chance. Those who can clearly evaluate the path we are on have every reason therefore to rejoice for the Trailblazing still being done for the journey ahead.

R.

Goldilox (3/20/06; 09:52:23MT - usagold.com msg#: 142599)
Occidental offers Ecuador $1bn
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4824876.stm
snip:

Occidental Petroleum is offering the Ecuador government up to $1bn (£569m) in disputed taxes, investments and extra revenues to end a legal dispute.
The row centres on whether the US firm transferred part of an Ecuadorean field to Canada's EnCana in 2000 without approval from the Ecuador authorities.

Occidental proposes giving Ecuador at least $600m in extra revenues from the disputed area, but denies wrongdoing.

The company faces the possibility of having its Ecuador licence revoked.

It currently extracts 100,000 barrels per day from the country, South America's fifth largest oil producer.

Social payment

Occidental's offer also includes $100m for health and social development projects.

It has further pledged to invest $110m in new projects with Ecuador's state oil firm Petroecuador.

In addition it will pay a $50m bonus for contract changes and $13m towards the Energy Ministry's plans to modernise its tax system.

Ecuador's Energy Ministry is continuing to look at the Occidental case.

Occidental has been caught up in recent anti-American protests in Ecuador.

Indigenous groups blocked highways last week to demand the government in capital Quito ends free trade pact talks with the US and kicks Occidental out of the country.


-Goldilox

More resource compensation is being demanded from the companies who extract in South America, as China continues to provide competitive export markets.

TownCrier (3/20/06; 09:40:42MT - usagold.com msg#: 142598)
Gold in Reserves -- What % should it be?
http://www.forexrate.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=1093
20 March--
(an excerpt)
...One only has to open one or two pages of a large volume on the past to realise that currencies have a poor history and it is infinitely wise to protect against the worst possible eventuality. Why should Germans or Italians or the French throw caution to the wind and depend on the gold reserves of the E.C.B.? Why should they increase the proportion of their savings in the U.S.$ when they have known since the war, the over-issuance of that currency? Why should they invest their savings in their own currencies when the purpose of gold is to protect against an adverse future for that currency?

Clearly the consensus opinion of the largest economies in the world, [by their actions] believe gold should form more than half their reserves! So we do well to try to translate these actions into the realities of reserve management. As if to corroborate this view we see both China and Russia belatedly aiming to increase their gold reserves.

^---(from url)---^

On balance, the article is haphazard, but the concluding remarks (above) were worth passing along.

R.

TownCrier (3/20/06; 09:20:27MT - usagold.com msg#: 142597)
Buffett reiterates sees dollar weakening
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1746015
NEW YORK - U.S. billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Monday reiterated his long-standing prediction that the U.S. dollar would weaken over time.

"I think over time the dollar is going to weaken. I have no idea whether it will be this year or five years from now," he told reporters after ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

The dollar traded fairly steadily after Buffett's remarks.

"It's the consumer's action in the end that is doing it, but we have no governmental policy that counters the fact we are sending a couple of billion dollars a day abroad. We are trading -- we are buying goods and we are selling capital," he said.

^----(from url)----^

To mitigate the long-term ill consequences of all this, as long as you're buying goods, just make sure some of them have the staying-power of gold and you'll surely come to understand quite personally the meaning of the phrase "money well spent".

R.

Clink! (3/20/06; 06:54:02MT - usagold.com msg#: 142596)
Ron Paul talks to Jay Taylor
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/taylor/taylor031706.html
They cover a lot of ground.
C!

Arcticfox (3/20/06; 05:06:46MT - usagold.com msg#: 142595)
Copter Ben speakes tonight..
So be ready for a WWF smack down in the metals today.....

The Invisible Hand (3/20/06; 04:44:45MT - usagold.com msg#: 142594)
Qu’est-ce que je vous? - IOB opens next Sunday March 26
http://www.oulala.net/Portail/article.php3?id_article=2270

La fronde des pays producteurs de pétrole s’organise.
dimanche 19 mars 2006, par Ashoka
SNIP
En dépit des efforts maladroits des Américains pour limiter les dégâts à venir et colmater les brèches, un grand nombre de pays producteurs de pétrole tentent de s’affranchir de la poigne de Washington. À terme, les conséquences seront catastrophiques pour les Etats-Unis et les citoyens américains.

The revolt of the oil producers is being organised
SNIP
Despite the clumsy efforts of the Amerikans at damage control, many oil producing countries are trying to free themselves of Washington's fist. The long-term consequences will be catastrophic for the US of A and the Amerikan citizens.


http://www.bethel-fr.com/afficher_info.php?id=16670.1

Eschatologie: Une crise d’une ampleur gigantesque nous menace
(Oulala.net)
date: 2006-03-16 | rapporteur d'info: Christian
SNIPS
L’économie mondiale va basculer pour un temps, et chacun d’entre-nous sera touché durement. Elle est inéluctable et certains la voient commencer le 26 Mars 2006. Elle mettra en scène certains acteurs incontournables du monde moderne : Le pétrole, les Etats-Unis, et le sacro-saint dollar.
+
L’Iran a annoncé qu’il créerait le 26 Mars 2006 une bourse pour les transactions de son pétrole (5 % du marché mondial), en Euros.

Eschatology : A crisis of a gigantic scale threatens us
SNIPS
The world economy will be toppled over the edge and each of us will be strongly affected. The crisis is unavoidable and some see it starting on March 26, 2006. It will put on scene some "unavoidable" actors of the modern world. Oil, the US of A and holy dollar.
+
Iran has announced that it would create on March 26, 2006 a bourse for transacting its oil (5 % of the world market) in euros.

TownCrier (3/20/06; 03:58:52MT - usagold.com msg#: 142593)
Protests against expanded gold extraction in Bulgaria
http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/protests-against-expanded-gold-extraction-in-bulgaria/id_14087/catid_23
20 Mar 2006 -- Protests followed a decision by Bulgaria's environmental authorities to allow the expanded extraction of gold near the western village of Chelopech.

...Environmental organisations of opposing opinions regarding the investment proposal to expand the extraction and processing of copper and gold ore at Chelopech and the production of metals from concentrates staged protests in front of the Ministry of Environment and Waters on March 10.

Representatives of the foundation Cyanide-free Bulgaria protested against the investment proposal. They raised posters saying: "We are walking on gold and yet we go hungry"...

^---(from url)---^

Similar scene plays out, yet half a world away.

See previous comments.

Operating within such a distinctly HUMAN driven social environment, where would you entrust YOUR savings -- in tangibles or in various layers of promises, permits, and contracts?

R.

TownCrier (3/20/06; 03:45:47MT - usagold.com msg#: 142592)
Protesters torch mining giant's camp
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18533876%255E1702,00.html
March 20, 2006 -- HUNDREDS of people have attacked and torched a mining camp run by a local subsidiary of US giant Newmont on Indonesia's Sumbawa island.

The attack came days after deadly clashes in Indonesia's West Papua province during protests last week to demand the closure of a gold and copper mine run by US firm Freeport-McMoRan.

...a week earlier, local residents had blockaded a road leading to the mine and demanded that they be involved in the company's exploration operations.

The residents also reportedly wanted the company to pay money into a community development fund.

In Papua, Freeport-McMoRan pays 1 per cent of its profits into a fund controlled by local tribespeople.

^---(from url)---^

One of several ongoing reminders that mines (and essentially the mining company shareholders) are sitting ducks for potential nationalization of in-ground natural resources -- be it via outright control of production of the reserves or via taxation.

Avoid the risk and make sure the golden portion of your portfolio has all of the benefits of physical gold; make sure your asset is both tangible and portable. Choose gold coins and bullion.

R.



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Thursday February 9
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