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ARCHIVED DISCUSSION FROM 3/2/2005 All times are U.S. Mountain Time (Yesterday's Discussion.) PRITCHO (03/02/05; 22:50:48MT - usagold.com msg#: 129806) @AT BLACKBLADE - - -RE SCOTT RITTER So after casting suspersions about Scott Ritters character you then follow it up with your very unbelievably tainted view:"On the previous posted material: Sometimes you do have to consider the source. The man is obviously mentally unbalanced and that does make him and his allegations rather suspect. Besides, it is off topic and I will leave it at that."Far from being mentally unbalanced I believe Scott Ritter has impeccable character & has proved to be a solid rock that could not be challanged by the evil ones! What he reported as fact- -turned out to be true. NO weapons of Mass Destruction! As a whistleblower he has become a target for the evil machines black ops (oops)You do yourself no good in deningrading him with NIL evidence.His warnings on IRAN should be taken seriously & I believe it to be a subject well WITHIN topic. Another case of American intervention will definately upset World Currencies ---GOLD will be affected one way or another. Chris Powell (03/02/05; 22:47:49MT - usagold.com msg#: 129805) Dubai study warns oil producers that Western banks rig the gold market http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gata/message/2901 Latest GATA dispatch....To subscribe to GATA's dispatches, send an e-mail to:gata-subscribe@yahoogroups.com PRITCHO (03/02/05; 22:35:32MT - usagold.com msg#: 129804) THANKS SMEAGOL - - - - - - I downloaded it yesterday to my "desktop" & had forgotten where it came from.It came from a GATA e/mail! I assumed (wrongly) that if I followed the source I would get the goods. --- Bug*er paying for it! Well done. Smeagol (03/02/05; 21:37:18MT - usagold.com msg#: 129803) ...but we are sssneaky... ...it may be had as a PDF at:http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/img2005/Midas/The%20Role%20of%20Gold%20Digital.pdfS. Smeagol (03/02/05; 21:24:47MT - usagold.com msg#: 129802) ...a sstring is attached ...to the article at the link below... you have to pay for it, it is not a free download.S. PRITCHO (03/02/05; 21:14:23MT - usagold.com msg#: 129801) FORGOT THE LINK !!! http://www.grc.ae/ Sorry about that - - - - PRITCHO (03/02/05; 21:13:00MT - usagold.com msg#: 129800) "THE ROLE OF GOLD IN THE UNIFIED GCC CURRENCY " - - This easy to read PDF is a "Must Read" for anyone wanting knowledge on how the Gulf States view Gold --AND their level of understanding about a seriously declining US$.Go to the link above @Gulf Research Centre & download the article referred to above which is 2 article from btm of the page. It will NOT dissappoint!RANDOM SNIP's - -Today, US treasuries have a negative real interest rate, even when one applies the official inflation figures that have been softened by the political correctness of dubious statistical methods.Therefore, longer maturities appearespecially uninteresting. The stock market on the other hand, is commanding valuations at historical highs and does not look attractive either.Thus,it is obvious that gold as a real asset is an important tool to maintain the capacity for future investment, as it is more than a mere financial asset, which always has a liability on the other side. Together with a concise development strategy, it could provide crucial independence and be more interesting than simply switching from petro-dollar to petro-euro recycling. If so, why has the recent attempt to establish an Islamic currency solution failed?Currently, the gold reserves of the GCC countries are not sufficient to represent such a virtual fall-back value. Furthermore, as will be seen in the next section, it may become increasingly difficult to acquire furthergold reserves because of the tricky nature of today's gold market.At current prices, it is inconceivable that this short position could be covered. A much higher gold price would be needed. This,in turn, would not only seriously hurt the profits of the banking system but would also endanger the already ailing paper dollar whose liquidity is fuelling the US and world economy alike. This is why Veneroso, Embry and others assume that an official sector of central and commercial banks has started to manage the gold price at least since the plight of the LTCM hedge fund in 1998, which purportedly held a huge short-position in gold. Occurring trading patterns suggest that apart from lending physical gold into the market, the gold price is suppressed by derivative short selling and spread trading. Similar accusations exist in the case of silver.The likely outcome is the current manipulation scheme of the gold price will fail like the Gold Pool in the sixties. Once it fails, it will be highly difficult and expensive to accumulate a gold reserve. This is especially true for central banks that have low gold reserves like those in the GCC countries.ConclusionThe paper dollar standard is a dead man walking. Its debt,accumulated over the recent decades, is too high to be effectively repaid. It will either default or be inflated to such an extent that itwill not hurt to "pay" it back. Therefore, the accrued imbalances in global finance and the inherent weakness of worldwide growth models that rely on a continuance of US deficit spending are likely to usher in a serious crisis of currency systems during the course of the coming years. As the dollar is not only the currency of the US but the most important reserve, trade and debt currency on which all the other nations rely, it will not be a regionally confined currency crisis as happened in Mexico, Asia or Russia in the nineties; but will affect all other currencies and economies as well.ETC ETC - - - Read the lot! Sundeck (03/02/05; 20:14:11MT - usagold.com msg#: 129799) Older and bolder Greenspan... @Sir Ned #129796Yes, Sir Ned, I agree...as a matter of fact I was getting around to posting something on that very subject, but you have beat me to the draw...It goes without saying that Chairman of the FED is a very "political" and a very "responsible" position...Being very political, one's tenure may become very uncertain if one is not very "responsible". We mostly know what "political" means, but what does "responsible" mean in this context?Well, let me cite, from memory what I understand the situation was in Australia, in 1972, when the new Labor Prime Minister (Gough Whitlam) came to power with a bag-full of new, expensive planned reforms; after Labor (roughly equivalent to US Democrats) had been in the wilderness for about 20 years.Australia had benefited from a minerals boom which had just busted and Australia, as well as much of the World, was in recession. The then Head of Treasury (I think) told the new PM that there needed to be a period of fiscal restraint, which apparently was not a "responsible" thing to say... The new PM apparently erupted along the lines: "If you think I have waited 20 F**&^%g years in order to do f%$#@*g nothing then you have another f&^#$@#h think coming!"I can't remember if the Head of Treasury was soon replaced, but Gough implemented many of his (generally good, and well-needed) reforms and the country moved (eventually) into a period of double-digit inflation.Perhaps Sir Al, whose tenure is nearly over anyway, can afford to be more responsible to his conscience, to the people and perhaps less "responsible" to the Pres and the Congress???Just my thinking aloud...but, after all, in order to be able to "control things", one must be in power. If one is overly "responsible" and gets the boot, then one cannot execute change. Hence one's political skill is often about preserving one's tenure by being as "responsible" as the circumstances will permit. Greenspan knows probably better than any man alive what the fiscal and monetary position of the US is, and he has known it for many years. Perhaps the SECOND term of a crusading Pres, which coincides with the end of his term, is the time to truly become responsible...;-) Black Blade (03/02/05; 19:24:20MT - usagold.com msg#: 129798) China Fuels Energy Cold War http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GC02Ad07.html Snippit:China has also joined the United States and Japan in developing strategic petroleum reserves, with the creation of 75 days of emergency reserves in four locations in Zhejiang, Shandong and Liaoning provinces. Nevertheless, in the face of sporadic power shortages, growing car ownership and air travel across China and the importance of energy to strategically important and growing industries such as agriculture, construction, and steel and cement manufacturing, pressure is going to mount on China to access energy resources on the world stage. As a result, energy security has become an area of vital importance to China's stability and security. China is stepping up efforts to secure sea lanes and transport routes that are vital for oil shipments, and diversifying beyond the volatile Middle East to find energy resources in other regions, such as Africa, the Caspian, Russia, the Americas and the East and South China Sea region. Black Blade: Another interesting article on the Global Quest for securing energy supply. Folks, the fun is only beginning. Goldilox (03/02/05; 18:07:31MT - usagold.com msg#: 129797) Gold Ton Oh, metric tonne. I was calculating an English ton, or 2000 lbs. Ned (03/02/05; 18:06:36MT - usagold.com msg#: 129796) What I find very, very interesting...... .....is that Mr. Greenspan is beginning to talk more and more boldly about the system becoming unglued. Is it me or has anyone else noticed that in the last 3-6 months Greenie has been issuing more and more warnings?I will watch this trend. Smeagol (03/02/05; 18:04:25MT - usagold.com msg#: 129795) oh, what's a little confusion, precious? (grin) 1 troy ounce = 31.103481 grams = 1.09714 avoirdupois ounces.12 troy ounces = 1 troy pound = 0.822857 avdp. pounds.One 400 troy ounce bar = 12,441.3924 grams = 33.333 avdp. pounds.Eighty 400 troy ounce bars = 32,000 troy ounces = 2,666.667 troy pounds = 2194.28 avdp. pounds = 995.311392 kilograms.1 metric ton = 1000 kilograms = 2,205 avdp. pounds = 2679.6924 troy pounds = 32,150.74 troy ounces.1 short ton = 2,000 avdp. pounds = 29,166.66 troy ounces.1 long ton = 2,240 avdp. pounds = 32,666.592 troy ounces.Aargh! Sir Town Crier beat us to the punch while we were hacking the brush on this trail... best to follow his simpler path! (cackle)S. Ned (03/02/05; 18:00:48MT - usagold.com msg#: 129794) Greenspan-ism-ness From TC w/ thanks!Greenspan-speak:"I fear that we may have already committed more physical resources to the baby-boom generation in its retirement years than our economy has the capacity to deliver. If existing promises need to be changed, those changes should be made sooner rather than later. We owe future retirees as much time as possible to adjust their plans for work, saving, and retirement spending. They need to ensure that their personal resources, along with what they expect to receive from the government, will be sufficient to meet their retirement goals.""Addressing the government's own imbalances will require scrutiny of both spending and taxes. ... In the end, I suspect that, unless we attain unprecedented increases in productivity, we will have to make significant structural adjustments in the nation's major retirement and health programs.""Our current, largely pay-as-you go social insurance system worked well given the demographics of the second half of the twentieth century. But as I have argued previously, the system is ill-suited to address the unprecedented shift of population from the workforce to retirement that will start in 2008.""Much attention has been focused on the forecasted exhaustion of the Social Security trust fund in 2042. But solving that problem will do little in itself to meet the imperative to boost our national saving. Raising national saving is an essential step...""Unfortunately, the current Social Security system has not proven a reliable vehicle for such saving. Indeed, although the trust funds have been running annual surpluses since the mid-1980s, one can credibly argue that they have served primarily to facilitate larger deficits in the rest of the budget and therefore have added little or nothing to national saving. In my view, a retirement system with a significant personal accounts component would provide a more credible means...""In the end, the consequences for the U.S. economy of doing nothing could be severe. But the benefits of taking sound, timely action could extend many decades into the future."Ned -speak:"We are euchred.." Black Blade (03/02/05; 18:00:32MT - usagold.com msg#: 129793) The next big race: after nuclear arms, is energy next? http://www.energybulletin.net/4566.html Snippit:Governments have long been preoccupied with securing energy sources, most notably oil and natural gas. After all, energy is a foundation of modern society: Economies fail and governments fall if there's not enough energy to ensure that the lights work or that factories can continue to make widgets.The struggle between global energy haves and have-nots is nothing new—1970s oil shock, anyone? But in recent years, a range of factors has shoved access to energy up the geopolitical agenda of many countries, supplanting the nuclear arms race as the dominant driver of geopolitics.First—and most obviously—Big Oil in the White House, the second Iraq war, and the related unrest in the Middle East have all accelerated the process of energy access becoming a geopolitical survival of the fittest. The United States is by far the world's largest energy consumer, yet it is making no real effort to reduce energy consumption. Meanwhile, the prospect of continued unrest in the Middle East—due in no small part to the activities and attitude of the U.S. government—suggests that the overall level of energy prices will be significantly higher for years to come.On another front, unabated growth in energy demand is exerting ever-greater pressure on energy supplies. The rate of energy demand growth, at 2 percent per year, has slowed sharply since the 1970s. But demand is growing from an ever-larger base, since global energy consumption has roughly doubled since 1970.Energy is also at the crossroads of the simmering conflict with Iran, one of the largest vendors of oil to China—which is suspected of selling missile technology to Iran. And in January, India initialed an agreement to import gas and oil from Iran. Needless to say, neither India nor China is likely to stand by idly if the United States decides that Iran is the new Iraq.Black Blade: Much the same that I have discussed here for nearly five years now - even before I posted "The Rise And Fall Of Hydrocarbon Man". There have been some changes - many quite profound since then. The world is about energy and now the Third World has enterecd the fray demanding their "fair share" just as predicted. It will only get worse as a new Global Bidding War has begun as China and India seek out energy supply from traditionally secure US sources such as Canada, Venezuela, Iran, Russia, etc. Get on the defense now while you can - get a modest position of Gold and Silver "portfolio insurance". These are definitely "Interesting Times". Ned (03/02/05; 17:54:47MT - usagold.com msg#: 129792) CRB rises again..... ....tacks on another 1.39 to 306.65 !!Something is going to get ugly very soon, rising dollar, rising CRB, gold up and down LARGE.Crash helmets on ! TownCrier (03/02/05; 17:49:08MT - usagold.com msg#: 129791) Goldilox, gold weights So as not to be consistently confounded by the differences between troy(apothecary) ounces and customary(avoirdupois) ounces and their corresponding yet unequal pounds (12 troy vs 16 customary) and such, there are only two relationships that I worry about when talking about ounces(always troy) of gold and tonnes of gold:one troy ounce = 31.103 gramsone tonne = 1,000,000 gramsSuch that one tonne of gold is 32,151 troy ounces.Thus, we stand right at 80 "400 ounce" bars in total, each containing between 350 and 430 fine troy ounces by industry standard.R. Black Blade (03/02/05; 17:33:48MT - usagold.com msg#: 129790) Greenspan Humbled By Asia's Central Bankers http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_us&refer=columnist_pesek&sid=aKmRPPpmFAfg Snippit:March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Asia's economies are rolling the dice with an enterprise that may alter the complexion of the global financial system, affecting powerful central bankers like Alan Greenspan on the other side of the world. It's called ``The Asian Bellagio Group,'' a name that is borrowed from the European Bellagio Group, a gathering of academics started in the 1960s. Asia's group includes officials from Japan, China, South Korea and Southeast Asian nations who met in Bangkok last week to discuss the dollar's slide. The group is a formidable crowd, considering it holds well over $1.1 trillion of U.S. Treasuries. In fact, if Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan is wondering why his recent rate increases aren't working out as planned, he need only look to the East. Greenspan recently referred to a ``conundrum,'' whereby U.S. Treasury yields fell in the face of rising official rates. Yet trends here explain why: Asia's vast purchases of U.S. Treasuries, which reduce U.S. yields, are rendering the mighty Fed impotent in its efforts to cool the economy. Black Blade: Pretty much what has been discussed here in the past. Asians have the lion's share of foreign owned US debt - so the polite way of saying this is - they have Alan greenspan by the juevos. That ain't all - China and India (and Asia in general) are in a global bidding war for oil and natgas supply. They know they have the additional leverage of owning a large chunk of US debt. TownCrier (03/02/05; 17:32:12MT - usagold.com msg#: 129789) US Treasury, IRS Issue New 401(k) Contribution Rules http://www.nasdaq.com/asp/quotes_news.asp?cpath=20050302\ACQDJON200503021707DOWJONESDJONLINE001042.htm&selected=9999 WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- American workers will be able to make contributions to their 401(k) plans much like they do to Roth IRAs under proposed rules issued Wednesday by the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service.The item would allow workers to contribute to their 401(k) plans on an after- tax basis, with those contributions growing tax-free and be withdrawn tax-free. This is similar to "Roth IRAs," a savings account that allows these types of contributions.This is a major change in how 401(k) plans now operate, where workers contribute pre-tax dollars into the accounts, and the accounts grow on a tax- deferred basis. They pay taxes when they withdraw from the accounts.^----(from url)----^A tool for social engineering -- offering incentives for officially-preferred behavior.Rarely do officially-sponsored programs come with "no strings attached" (such as penalties for early withdrawal) and beware that rules may change to suit changing government agendas over time.As always, evaluate the pros and potential cons of any program, and always be sure to maintian a vital position in "no strings" gold.R. collies_99 (03/02/05; 17:25:29MT - usagold.com msg#: 129788) The specter of inflation bloomed today. Today's surprise move in the gold sector was definitely unexpected and the USD grind higher for technical reason. The relative price decline in the POG did not materialized but gold rose instead or held its own on the back-drop of higher crude. Could the specter of inflation expectation be picking up now that oil is closer to 55 that 40?Will the investment community now ride the gold and PM sector bandwagon to protect themselves from higher inflation expectation? It has always been by strong believe, that holding gold related investment is more of an inflation hedge versus an investment as maintaining ones asset from a currency crisis, since those are the two main reasons for holding gold and gold shares.Go figure. In light of this fact is should be expected that as long as crude can stay above the 50 level, the price of gold and gold shares have found an unwitting ally. Higher crude then translate to higher gold and gold share price.Cheers Smeagol (03/02/05; 17:11:00MT - usagold.com msg#: 129787) 'tis the season for cheaper Gold! ...we aren't worrying about It's lackluster 'performance' of late, my precious, and here's why... a chart of monthly Gold prices averaged over several decades shows that Gold is USUALLY cheaper this time of year, and USUALLY after July, too...S. Goldilox (03/02/05; 16:50:36MT - usagold.com msg#: 129786) One Ton TC,OK, I'm confused.Is a pound of gold 12 troy ounces or 16?If only 12 per, 60 bars would make a ton.Care to clarify my confusion? NTgeo (03/02/05; 16:31:34MT - usagold.com msg#: 129785) Banda Sea Earthquake I live in Darwin, Northern Australia and last night at about 8.15 pm local time we had a very nice earth tremor which lasted for about 2 minutes. The house shook and woke the kids up. They were worried about a tsunami. Luckily the epicentre was at 100 km below surface. We live in interesting times! TownCrier (03/02/05; 15:59:31MT - usagold.com msg#: 129784) From the February Buyers' Group -- the winning gold raffle numbers! http://www.usagold.com/gold/special/grp.html - - - - 12480N - - - -+- - - - 12389K - - - -Congratulations to our two winners of the Napoleon Bonaparte 20Fr gold coins!The winners this time happen to be clients from Utah and from California. If that might be you, you can check your numbers to see if luck was on your side. Otherwise, no worries, Jonathan tells me the winners will soon be notified by phone.He also tells me that the March Buyers' Group is in the works, and the coins are on their way in. Look for an announcement middle of next week. Stay tuned... he predicts it'll be a rapid sell out!R. USAGOLD / Centennial Precious Metals, Inc. (03/02/05; 15:24:40MT - usagold.com msg#: 129783) What does one tonne of gold bullion look like? ONE TONNE GOLD: Eighty 400-ounce bars(For scale, the pallet plus stack measure only about 12 inches high in total) USAGOLD Daily Market Report (03/02/05; 13:57:29MT - usagold.com msg#: 129781) 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.Wednesday Market EventsGold markets finished virtually unchanged from yesterday's close, gaining a fraction of a dollar to $433.01/oz. at 1:30 EST. Although there was little in the way of volatility, the precious metal tested technical support several times and emerged unscathed, soothing the nerves of dealers who worried that gold could dip to $410 if support at $430 broke down. Toward the end of the day, gold's price was boosted when rumors of producer selling dried up, and by the impact to the dollar of statements by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan....The dollar was the other catalyst of gold's movement today. There was a brief rally prior to Alan Greenspan's testimony before the House Budget Committee, which helped to depress the price of gold. However, gold recouped its losses after his testimony, as Greenspan's statements were not especially dollar-positive.Greenspan conceded that current budget deficits are not sustainable, due in large part to the enormous future liabilities of the government."So long as health-care costs continue to grow faster than the economy as a whole, the additional resources needed for such programs will exert pressure on the federal budget that seems increasingly likely to make current fiscal policy unsustainable," he said."I fear that we may have already committed more physical resources to the baby-boom generation in its retirement years than our economy has the capacity to deliver. If existing promises need to be changed, those changes should be made sooner rather than later," he added.This was enough to spook currency markets. "They were expecting Greenspan to be hawkish on the economy," said Jeremy Friesen, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. "But he is using this time to drive home the message that fiscal discipline is needed ... and to convince policy-makers to make hard choices."-----(see url for full news, 24-hr headlines, market prices)---- TownCrier (03/02/05; 13:24:36MT - usagold.com msg#: 129780) Poised for a fall...??? http://www.iran-daily.com/1383/2227/html/ieconomy.htm HEADLINE: China Spent $195b To Maintain Currency Peg BEIJING, March 2--China's central bank spent 1.61 trillion yuan ($195 billion) buying foreign currency last year to maintain the yuan's peg with the dollar, a rise of 40 percent over 2003...As a result, China's foreign reserves in 2004 soared to a record $609.9 billion from $403.3 billion in 2003......market players say the central bank has been virtually the only buyer of surplus hard currency such as the dollar.^----(from url)----^If the CB doesn't mop up this glut of coincidentally overvalued reserve currency, the forex consequence would be a decline in the dollar's purchasing power across the board.With the People's Bank of China consequently driven to use open market operations to drain 669 billion yuan from the domestic banking system last year in order to dampen inflation, the subsequent obligation of paying interest on that level of open market transactions is akin to pouring so much money down a hole on a desktop -- its a loss to the bank, but it ultimately ends up back in the street, all to little avail but to buy time.Use that time wisely. Buy gold.R. TownCrier (3/2/05; 13:04:34MT - usagold.com msg#: 129779) NYMEX crude hits $53 amid Texas refinery troubles http://www.borsaitalia.it/fwa-cgi-bin/news.pl?id=1109791381nN0228001&tit=NYMEX%20crude%20hits%20$53%20amid%20Texas%20refinery%20troubles&type=internazionali&ling=EN NEW YORK, March 2 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rocketed to $53 a barrel Wednesday afternoon to their loftiest level in four months as gasoline futures soared to an all-time record after a series of refinery snags in Texas. At $53 crude for April delivery was up $1.32 or 2.6 percent. April gasoline was up 5.2 percent...^-----(from url)----^On the basis of a "refinery snag" I can understand why local refined products such as gasoline would be up, but a refinery glitch alone isn't a sound excuse to pin on globally rising crude.Of course, the media can hardly sound the alarm that the dollar is weakening, losing global reserve status. You'll be told anything but that.R. Goldilox (3/2/05; 12:02:21MT - usagold.com msg#: 129778) EQ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usvdam.htm @ TopazHere is the latest USGS report on the Banda Sea 7.1 quake. 968 (3/2/05; 11:53:15MT - usagold.com msg#: 129777) Nout Wellink: On the euro and exports, speculation and global trade http://www.bis.org/review/r050228a.pdf Speech by Dr Nout Wellink, President of the Netherlands Bank and President of the Bank for International Settlements, on the occasion of a luncheon conference of the Limburgse Werkgevers Vereniging, Herten-Roermond, 26 January 2005.SNIPS :"I would like to dwell briefly on the factors underlying the strong euro. The prominent role of the dollar is tied up with the United States ’ global leadership, in both economic and political terms. Its prominence does not necessarily signify that the dollar is strong. At this moment, the dollar is weaker vis-à-vis the euro than in the period between 1980-2000, because the United States has lived beyond its means for so long. Both the average American citizen and central government are consuming too much and saving too little. Private savings in the United States make up a meagre 0.4% of disposable income. In the euro area, citizens lay by more than 10% of their income. While the low level of private savings in the United States is not easily accounted for, stock exchange and housing price movements are probably an important factor. From surveys it emerges that especially citizens in the higher income brackets are dissaving. They look upon their assets as a substitute for savings. Not only American citizens are not saving much, if at all, even central government is dissaving, witness the high budget deficit. The expense of the war in Iraq and internal security is one of the causes of the high budget deficit. On the balance of payments, the national savings deficit of the United States translates into a current account deficit to the tune of 6% of the gross domestic product, or about 1.25 times the total annual output of the Netherlands. This means that funds must be raised from other countries on a structural basis. This cannot go on forever. A tad more Calvinism would not hurt. In some areas a lot can be achieved with little effort. The American administration might decide, for example, to raise tax on energy consumption, after the European example. This measure would bring down the public sector deficit and put a brake on private spending. Besides, it would enhance national security by limiting dependence on oil imports. And this measure would benefit the environment into the bargain. However, it is not just the United States that should be doing something to lessen the global imbalances on the balance of payments.""The countries that for internal reasons have resolved to stabilise their currencies against the dollar, have had to buy up substantial amounts of dollars to prevent their currency from increasing in value in dollar terms. As a result, they have built up unprecedentedly high dollar reserves. I'm referring to Japan, China and several other Asian countries. This policy cannot and will not be continued forever. Neutralising the monetary consequences will be at increasing cost. On top of that, the potential foreign exchange risks rise with each dollar by which the reserves increase."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Wellink calls the things by by name.... Topaz (3/2/05; 11:36:26MT - usagold.com msg#: 129776) ...and on the seismic front. http://aslwww.cr.usgs.gov/Seismic_Data/telemetry_data/MBWA_24hr.html Was only saying yesterday to family the lack of seismic activity in the Pacific Rim might be a bellwether for another Bigun ...this one qualifies!!Mother Nature it would seem is far from finished with us. Rimh (3/2/05; 11:23:41MT - usagold.com msg#: 129775) Re: Greenspan, TC's comments Thanks TC for pulling out those snippets of AG's latest rant. While I do not have the time to read his entire piece, the tone of these snippets suggest he is trying to get tougher on the gov't to reign things in and is also trying to warn the general populace to brace for trouble. As usual, he is well behind the curve and it is too little, too late. He should have been giving this speech years ago and should have been much more aggressive or forceful in his convictions today. Fortunately for us here at the castle, we have been on this topic already for several years. Black Blade's (and my)favorite line 'get outta debt, stay outta debt and get gold and silver' ring more true today with AG's 'startling revelation' that all is not well in America. I wonder though..... is anyone really listening to him now? Goldilox (3/2/05; 11:21:46MT - usagold.com msg#: 129774) Gasoline Wholesale gas jumped from $1.40 to $1.45 this morning.Don't look for any fuel price relief in the near future. Topaz (3/2/05; 11:02:45MT - usagold.com msg#: 129773) Dollar Bull, Gold Bull. http://www.futuresource.com/charts/charts.jsp?s=DX1!&a=D&d=LOW&b=LINE Firstly thanks to Cavan Man for (inadvertently) correcting an errant link posted yesterday re: Bonds/Dollar etc.The Dollar it appears is in the early throes of a classic Bull move here. The rush to 85 then retracement should have seen it retest 80 quick-smart...but it didn't!Gold otoh has been lock-step with alt currencies "until today" when it showed resilience to the currency decline.We can but hope this fledgling contra Gold stand is the precursor to it's casting off Currency shackles once and for all! Goldilox (3/2/05; 10:53:59MT - usagold.com msg#: 129772) Silver I believe that silver's bounce off of $6.99 back to the $7.30 range is encouraging.The metals seem persistent in the face of current dollar strength. TownCrier (3/2/05; 10:41:40MT - usagold.com msg#: 129771) Gold Ready To Set New Peak http://www.aireview.com/index.php?act=view&catid=5&id=1469 March 2, 2005, Australasian Investment Review -- The spot gold price appears to be firmly entrenched in a new bull trend...Most factors supporting the trend are not new; continued US dollar weakness, high oil prices and fears of inflation. But what is new, the precious metals experts at NM Rothschild point out, is the stark reduction in the speculative long position on COMEX and the increasing likelihood that any proposed IMF sale will be vetoed by the US.Both have encouraged bullion buying recently.The non-commercial speculative long position on COMEX fell from 13.3 million ounces in December to 1.1 million ounces on 11 February, NM Rothschild notes, adding that it is hardly surprising that the gold price fell over this period.The experts now believe the reduced level of "speculative longs" has opened the way for renewed Fund buying, and this may see the gold price rise to fresh 16-year highs....in India, a substantial part of the annual demand for gold comes from the agricultural sector as farmers put their savings into gold due to the lack of other available [i.e., reliable] alternatives. Last year, demand in India, which is the world's largest gold consumer, rose at its fastest rate in six years, reaching an estimated 610 tonnes.^------(from url)-----^It might be fair enough to say that NM Rothschild quit the LBMA paper gold regime because it saw far enough ahead to be bearish on the whole business of swapping psuedo-gold, and bullish on the merits of real gold.With the previous comments of Greenspan and the debt-burden in mind, you would do well to take a page from the playbook of Indian farmers -- choose physical gold as your reliable means of real savings for a more secure future.R. TownCrier (3/2/05; 10:16:40MT - usagold.com msg#: 129770) Greenspan says deficits could lead to higher rates, falling bonds http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/testimony/2005/20050302/default.htm WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Wednesday said the current budget situation could be "fiscally destabilizing," harm the economy and lead to higher long-term interest rates."If you really project how the actuaries interpret current law into future spending and tax obligations, you have an extraordinary rise in the unified budget deficit," Greenspan told the House of Representatives Budget Committee. "If that is literally the path in which we find ourselves, we'll find sooner rather than later that long-term interest rates begin to rise.""When you begin to do the arithmetic of what the rising debt level implied by the deficits tells you, and add interest costs to that ever rising debt at ever higher interest rates, the system becomes fiscally destabilizing," Greenspan said.http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh92087_2005-03-02_16-27-19_wat002700_newsml^-------(from Reuters article)-------^Full text to Greenspan's testimony can be viewed at the hyperlink atop this post.A few excerpts from that testimony follow:"I fear that we may have already committed more physical resources to the baby-boom generation in its retirement years than our economy has the capacity to deliver. If existing promises need to be changed, those changes should be made sooner rather than later. We owe future retirees as much time as possible to adjust their plans for work, saving, and retirement spending. They need to ensure that their personal resources, along with what they expect to receive from the government, will be sufficient to meet their retirement goals.""Addressing the government's own imbalances will require scrutiny of both spending and taxes. ... In the end, I suspect that, unless we attain unprecedented increases in productivity, we will have to make significant structural adjustments in the nation's major retirement and health programs.""Our current, largely pay-as-you go social insurance system worked well given the demographics of the second half of the twentieth century. But as I have argued previously, the system is ill-suited to address the unprecedented shift of population from the workforce to retirement that will start in 2008.""Much attention has been focused on the forecasted exhaustion of the Social Security trust fund in 2042. But solving that problem will do little in itself to meet the imperative to boost our national saving. Raising national saving is an essential step...""Unfortunately, the current Social Security system has not proven a reliable vehicle for such saving. Indeed, although the trust funds have been running annual surpluses since the mid-1980s, one can credibly argue that they have served primarily to facilitate larger deficits in the rest of the budget and therefore have added little or nothing to national saving. In my view, a retirement system with a significant personal accounts component would provide a more credible means...""In the end, the consequences for the U.S. economy of doing nothing could be severe. But the benefits of taking sound, timely action could extend many decades into the future."^-----(from URL)-----^The consequences of doing nothing can indeed be severe, but you have it in your power to take personal action to provide the necessary savings and stability of yourself and your family.As outsized government debt is the nature of the problem, you should definitely not rely on debt-based financial instruments (such as bonds) as being any meaningful element of your portfolio intended to get you through that portion of the financial storm. Greenspan himself makes no bones about the likelihood that bonds fall as this unfolds.To ensure you have meaningful savings and meaningful purchasing power when the world is awash in incredible debt, choose gold as a key element among your personal resources.R. TownCrier (3/2/05; 09:43:03MT - usagold.com msg#: 129769) Gold perks up after rumoured producer sales http://www.borsaitalia.it/fwa-cgi-bin/news.pl?id=1109776962nL02558182&tit=UPDATE%201-Gold%20perks%20up%20after%20rumoured%20producer%20sales&type=internazionali&ling=EN LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - Gold steadied on Wednesday in Europe after a bout of rumoured producer selling dried up and investors stepped back up to the board, traders said. Bullion had tested the bottom end of a week-long trading range around $428 earlier in the day, pressured by a firmer dollar and what several traders suspected was producer sales. "There was some borrowing in the forwards this morning, coupled with the price being lower," one trader said. "But it could be anything...new mine or project related." Another trader said it was encouraging that once the selling dried up, the market bounced.^-----(from url)----^Expect higher gold, but ups and downs along the way. The market never goes anywhere in a straight line. The best you can do is try to catch the dips and not get rattled out of your participation by volatility.R. Bizarro-Greenspan (3/2/05; 09:31:06MT - usagold.com msg#: 129768) The Three Desperados http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=8853_0_24_0_C Anyone seen the monetary policeman?There seems to be a lot of phonies about wearing uniforms,but their badges are made out of paper or deep storage hoo-haw. Black Blade (3/2/05; 07:04:43MT - usagold.com msg#: 129767) Gold as the ultimate hedge http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/54970.html Snippit:Gold remains the ultimate hedge against volatile financial markets, several delegates to the Hedge Funds World Conference in Dubai told AME Info yesterday. Some investors are concerned that US imbalances are likely to precipitate a global financial crisis in the near future.Black Blade: Very thin I know, but much is said in this simple statement.On the previous posted material: Sometimes you do have to consider the source. The man is obviously mentally unbalanced and that does make him and his allegations rather suspect. Besides, it is off topic and I will leave it at that. Goldilox (3/2/05; 01:36:43MT - usagold.com msg#: 129766) Au and Ag Clobberfest Not sure if you're right about gold, but silver is getting whacked again overseas. It may have trouble holding $7.00 unless some buyers show up. Goldilox (3/2/05; 01:29:46MT - usagold.com msg#: 129765) Sex vs. War vs. Business - no contest Why do Ritter's personal troubles make his evidence suspect?For one, audiences completely ignore any other malfeasance if there is a juicy sex story to divert them."There are more reporters covering the Michael Jackson story (More than 1,000 press passes issued) than all media from all countries covering Iraq." . . . from urbansurvival.comIn 2004, we had Scott Peterson, Martha (convicted on testimony by a sexual weirdo, as well) and the ENRON/WC execs personal trials to divert CNBC and Bloomberg from any real business news. My guess is MJ will have to carry the load in 2005.Lord knows they would never air the Blanchard case, FNMA accounting scandal, $Trillion missing from HUD, or anything that might affect more than a few individuals.The allegations of $billions disappearing from the Iraq "reconstruction funds" gets "Ho Hum" coverage, only on CSPAN from an emasculated Congress uttering feeble white noise. But to assuage our desire for "public justice", Bernie Evers' $5K shower curtain gets more airtime than a CLIO nominated SuperBowl commercial.Oh well, kiddies! If you want entertainment, fire up the box. If you want information, do your homework! Lots of sources get quoted here daily, but they all have to be weighed on the merit of their evidence by anyone who cares about more than "spin".My biggest question right now is "what is going on behind closed doors with the US$, silver, and gold? They sure seem whacky of late, and all these irrelevant media diversions are downright annoying! Great Albino Bat (3/2/05; 01:17:00MT - usagold.com msg#: 129764) Here it comes! Sorry to tell you folks, that it looks to me like gold is about to be smashed pronto.The price has been dribbling down, so now is the time for the cabal - or whatever maleficent force operates on gold -to intervene vigorously on the down side.I hope you all have plenty of dry powder to take advantage of the drop to purchase at bargain prices.My expectation - I do hope I am totally mistaken - is $418 by Friday. I am no expert, please, this is just my personal feeling. Place no confidence in my prediction!"For information purposes only" etc etc.Such is the life of a goldbug (sigh!)the GAB ViewYesterday's Discussion.
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