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ARCHIVED DISCUSSION FROM 3/24/2003 All times are U.S. Mountain Time (Yesterday's Discussion.) Gonlyold (3/24/03; 23:55:09MT - usagold.com msg#: 100232) Carbs & Corn Replies Thanks for the replies fellas. I agree with the HP/weight ratio, but I was thinking that designing the miser-carb would involve issues like the shape of the venturi, more efficient atomization, heated intake manifolds, and the like. Somehow I still think this thing exists. Time will tell. Talk to you later. mikal (3/24/03; 23:39:45MT - usagold.com msg#: 100231) WWIII or elaborate fiction? Flames or comments, all invited, with apologies for the insecure indiscretion. http://www.etherzone.com/2003/mako032503.shtml ELITE SETS THE STAGE FOR WWIIIAMERICANS TO TAKE THE "FALL" THIS TIMEBy: Henry Makow -Excerpts:"Something very worrisome is happening. Some of Rockefeller's best toadies oppose the Iraq war. But Rockefeller and his ilk are responsible for this war. What gives? It appears the global elite is dividing its minions into two "house teams" again. The last time this happened we had the Fascist-Communist slugfest called World War Two. The same satanic cabal controlled both sides and picked Germany to take the fall. This time, the U.S., Britain and the "coalition of the willing" are on one side. On the other are France, Germany, Russia and China. The centre of global power is moving to China, Europe and Russia. I see a world war over Korea, or more likely Iran and control of Middle East oil. The U.S., overextended from Kuwait to Korea, will come up short. My guess is that the US will find itself increasingly isolated and vilified as a result of the Iraq war. I suspect the hidden agenda is to bring down the world's last superpower; to replace the UN with a new instrument of "world government"; to kill a lot of people, and to wean Americans off democracy and their high standard of living. GLOBALISTS AGAINST THE IRAQ WAR?Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, George Soros, Mikail Gorbachev and Walter Cronkite are all globalist elder statesmen-for-hire. Curiously, they all oppose the Iraq war. Jimmy Carter, a creation of Rockefeller's "Trilateral Commission" publicly supported more UN inspections. Mikhail Gorbachev said the war is a big mistake. Nelson Mandela called it a "tragedy" and warned Bush was plunging "the world into a holocaust." Financial maven George Soros said:" The Bush doctrine is grounded in power; legality and legitimacy are decorations." Finally, Walter Cronkite, who is linked to Rockefeller's CFR warned: "We are going to be in such a fix when this war is over, or before this war is over. Our grandchildren's grandchildren are going to be paying for this war. I look at our future as, I'm sorry, being very dark." The leaders of Russia, France, Germany and China also voiced opposition with uncharacteristic bluntness. They must have the OK of the global money masters. "Military action ... is a big mistake," Vladimir Putin said. " Iraq has presented no danger..." China urged the US and Britain to halt their military actions. France, Russia and Germany all refused a U.S. request to close their Iraqi embassies. North Korea apparently is preparing for war. Even in England, major newspapers like The Mirror have been scathing in their criticism of Tony Blair. British newspapers belong to the same clan. I suspect England will defect to Europe's side before this fiasco is over. PARALLELS TO WORLD WAR TWOBefore World War Two, a faction of the British elite built up Hitler. This was known as the "policy of appeasement." After Hitler fell into the trap of attacking Poland, they did a "sleight of hand" and replaced the accommodating Chamberlain with the defiant Churchill. Iraq is a similar trap. The United States has squandered the sympathy and good will it earned on Sept 11. The images of the World Trade Centre have been replaced in the world's mind by the spectacular explosions in Baghdad. The US comes across as a bully too cowardly to pick on anyone its own side. Notch this victory up beside its thrashings of Grenada, Panama and Serbia. The gloating by US TV commentators is particularly distasteful to the outside worldThe damage to America's moral authority is incalculable. After this war, who will have sympathy for Americans if Chinese atomic bombs rain down on Los Angeles and New York? The devil degrades his victims before he destroys them.....This technology transfer is continuing under the Bush Administration. Consider the recent sale to China of a GM plant in Valparaiso IN, laying off hundreds of workers and moving sophisticated equipment used for making smart bombs.....In conclusion, while Americans are distracted by jingoism and jiggle, they are being set up for a nasty fall. The leadership class has already "left the building" as it were." aussie (3/24/03; 23:32:46MT - usagold.com msg#: 100230) (No Subject) Yeah I know Americans like BIG HORSEPOWER and so do many Australians! I'm not one of them, but I happen to be married to one whose prized possession is an old Corvette. We were at a new car yard (Commodore/Holden) yesterday looking for a work car. Of interest I said to the salesman it looked as though he had a big job ahead of himself selling all the new cars in stock, the yard went for acres and was full of new cars. His reply was that half had been presold and that there was a waiting list of 3-5 months for some models, - I think it was the SS and some other model maybe a Monaro or something. This came as a surprise to me as I thought perhaps the economic climate would drastically effect car sales, but it appears not. Goldilox (3/24/03; 22:57:20MT - usagold.com msg#: 100229) Miracle carburators - fuel injectors @GO and BB: Great summaryFuel injection (especially computer controlled fuel administration) tends to make the carburator pretty archaic. As BB says, moving weight around is a general physics issue, so if the Weight/HP ratio can be attained by a high mileage carburator, the same engine might very well perform even better with fuel injection. Most of the improvement in the technology has been applied to more HP and more Weight in our vehicles. i.e. a stock new Dodge RAM pickup truck w/Hemi engine will probably blow away your 60's muscle car and might outweigh it, as well. Americans love HORSE POWER!! aussie (3/24/03; 22:57:01MT - usagold.com msg#: 100228) Thanks Black Blade Thanks Black Blade for your valuable information on the different oils, most interesting. I too have heard many stories regarding substitues and more cost effective use of products other than oil,- I was led to believe it was some conspiracy by the oil companies, perhaps similar reasoning as to why public transport in the US does not reach as far as it should and the majority of the population need to rely on their own vehicles for transportation. Black Blade (3/24/03; 22:49:04MT - usagold.com msg#: 100227) Market Wrap Up – Puplava http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm Snippit:Now that the war isn't going to be a quick in and out battle like Gulf War I, traders and speculators seem to be reversing positions. Buying stocks on the basis of a quick war, in my opinion, just shows how out of touch most of Wall Street is with reality. I hate to sound like a broken record but in comparison to Gulf War I, the US stock markets and the economy are much more out of balance. There is considerably more debt in the system and stock valuations are where typical bear markets begin, not finish. Dividend yields were close to 4 percent, and now they are less than half of that. Price earnings multiples were around 15 during he last Gulf War; now they are more than double that. Mutual fund cash positions have all but been expended, 4.35 percent versus 11.4 percent.In addition to valuations, the Fed has shot off most of its bullets. During the last recession and Gulf War we had interest rates that were close to 10 percent. Te Fed funds rate was high single digits, and there was considerably less debt in the financial system and in our economy. Consumers were paying down debt, increasing savings and acting with financial circumspection. Today we have the opposite conditions. The fact that Fed rates are at 1.25 percent doesn't leave the Fed much room to maneuver, so Washington is turning to fiscal policy in an effort to alter the business and trade cycle. In the process other distortions will be added to the financial markets and the economy. The latest stock market rally is just another sign that the markets are acting irrationally again. With economy weakening, job layoffs accelerating, and corporate profits at anemic levels the fact that stocks haven't gone even lower should be questioned. Today's fund managers and investors are still worried about the next bull market beginning and not wanting to be left out on the price action.Black Blade: A nice run down on the bizarre markets. Things are different this time – this time it's much worse. I see that Alan Greenspan was running the Washington Marathon over the last couple of days. He was running between the Fed and the white House. Dubya asked for an emergency infusion of $75 billion to finance Gulf War II. There is an air of desperation hanging over Washington and Wall Street lately. I have been quite amused listening to the parade of Wall Street pinheads making ridiculous comments on CNBC and CNNfn. To hear them tell it one would think we were in the midst of a raging Bull Market that will continue forever. I saw Bond Fund King Bill Gross interviewed today and he was not very impressed with the stock market or the bond market. He sees a lot more pain for investors. Oh yeah, all sectors were lower on Wall Street except "defense stocks". Even gold stocks ended lower though physical gold regained some ground. I also saw an interesting segment on CNBC's "Kudlow and Cramer" with energy investment banker Matt Simmons as guest. He is rather pessimistic about our NatGas and Oil situation and he thinks that Wall Street energy analysts are idiots for not recognizing the dangerous energy situation in the US. You all probably already know my position on the subject. It was quite a day today and we will see many more like it. Black Blade (3/24/03; 22:25:19MT - usagold.com msg#: 100226) Gonlyold - Energy The short and simplified answers without getting too technical:The "miracle carburetors" are an urban legend. I have heard the same stories with multiple variations. The technology does evolve but the limitations are balanced by horsepower vs. mileage. The average consumer today demands a larger vehicle. For example, the SUV and 4X4 pickup truck are in the greatest demand. There are vehicles available that could get 40 mpg or more but the cost is either prohibitive for the average consumer and therefore not cost effective even when accounting for fuel savings (hybrid for example) or not in great demand (the Yugo or Metropolis for example).Bio-fuels are not very efficient due to the fact that it takes more energy to produce than is obtained. Ethanol (as opposed to MTBE) is required in many places as an additive for reformulated gasoline to meet clean air standards. The cost is greater than gasoline as well. The only reason that ethanol is produced is because it is heavily subsidized by government. It is usually required production to placate farmers in Midwestern states for votes (mostly the large corporate farmers like Archer Daniels Midland).As far as refining is concerned, refineries are engineered for the various types of crude. Not all crude oil is the same. For example Californian refineries such as the Chevron refinery in Richmond, California is set up to refine Iraqi and Prudhoe Bay light sweet crude. Some in Louisiana such as the Citgo refineries are set up to refine heavy Venezuelan crude. They are not easily interchangeable for the various crude oils. Heavy sour crude requires more refining steps as opposed to light sweet crude for example (I am trying to keep this as simple as possible here). Virtually all the oil is used for everything from gasoline, motor oil, various petro-chemicals, plastics, synthetic textiles, etc. There was an accident at an underground NatGas storage facility a couple of years ago when gas leaked and ignited. It was allowed to burn itself out due to safety concerns. Kansas has a few deep NatGas formations and it is becoming a significant contributor of coalbed methane. I am unaware of how many NatGas storage facilities exist in Kansas but NatGas is stored at high pressure in underground reservoirs such as leached out salt caverns for example (any favorable site with low permeability and low porosity to retain NatGas at high pressure). Explosions and unexpected releases are really quite rare. - Black Blade Goldilox (3/24/03; 22:15:44MT - usagold.com msg#: 100225) Swiss bank agrees to Iraq asset grab - Dollars, not dinars, are being hunted by the US http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2881389.stm Although, further into the article, he questions whether UBS would be sooooo cooperative if the assets were in Switzerland. Maybe this is why Sir AG has been hanging around 1600 Penn Av so much this weekend.-GLsnippit: By Jeremy Scott-Joynt BBC News Online Foreign countries and their banks are starting to fall in line with US demands to seize Iraqi assets "for the benefit and welfare of the Iraqi people". The move is prompted in many cases by fear of America's power to blacklist institutions and countries from doing deals with US organisations or in US dollars, BBC News Online has been told. Swiss bank UBS said on Monday it would hand over to the US Treasury assets it has frozen since Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolution 661. The US is demanding the estimated $648m in Iraqi assets held outside its borders, most of it in the UK, should be handed over. And it has called on other countries to help in what US Treasury Secretary John Snow called a "worldwide hunt for blood money". mikal (3/24/03; 21:59:58MT - usagold.com msg#: 100224) @Goldilox http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=390544 I'm glad you pointed that out.The problem was I left out the most important part of the link, the ascription- the "whose" part! The Independent, and the correct link is now shown. Thank you. Cytek (3/24/03; 21:55:13MT - usagold.com msg#: 100223) The Bank of Japan said they were suppose to try to intervene Sector - though you might find this interesting.BTW - good post back to DD.ReutersBOJ to mull easing, share buys at emergency meetMonday March 24, 5:43 pm ET TOKYO, March 25 (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan will kick off an emergency policy-setting meeting on Tuesday to discuss ways to prop up the weak economy amid the impact of war in Iraq, raising hopes of a more proactive stance by new Governor Toshihiko Fukui.Analysts believe the meeting, to be held shortlybefore the critical period of major firms' book-closingson March 31, could result in further monetary easing ora pledge to buy more bank-held shares.Japanese media reported on Tuesday that the BOJ would expand its limit (Oh, you have raised the limit)of buying shares directly from commercial banks to three trillion yen ($24.8 billion) from the present two trillion yen. The scheme is intended to shield financial institutions from market volatility. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun also said the central bank would consider increasing its outright purchases of long-term government bonds and scrapping its self-imposed ceiling on bond buying.But more unorthodox steps, such as purchasing equity funds, real estate and foreign-currency-denominated bonds, to provide more liquidity to the money markets, are seen as unlikely.The meeting is scheduled to start at 8:00 a.m. (2300 GMT on Monday).The BOJ has said it would provide ample liquidity beyond its current reserves target of 15 to 20 trillion yen ahead of the fiscal year-end to stabilise markets. Current-account deposits parked at the BOJ stood at 24.4 trillion yen on Monday.But markets could see further turmoil after U.S. stocks sank more than three percent on Monday on concerns that the U.S.-led war in Iraq would be protracted.The Dow Jones industrial average skidded 307.29 points to close at 8,214.68.The dollar was also sold overnight against major currencies, losing more than one percent against the euro and Swiss franc.The greenback slipped half a percent against the yen after hitting three-month highs on Friday.The dollar was last at 120.70/78 yen, little changed from late U.S.trade. "So, their remaining focus lies on what the BOJ and the government will do in the run-up to March 31 to keep the Nikkei from falling further," he said.The BOJ, which concluded its meeting during the lunch break, said that it had decided to leave monetary policy unchanged but would provide as much liquidity to the market as needed for the time being to prevent instability."No surprise, given Governor Fukui's comments on March 20 had suggested he would introduce no drastic policy measures...in the immediate future," said Yorinobu Hara, general manager at Resona Asset Management."But the BOJ seems to have wanted the market to know that they were discussing ways to expand monetary policy by holding a timely meeting."The Policy Board meeting was the first under new Governor Toshihiko Fukui.The Nikkei has lost more than 20 percent since the end of the last fiscal year, representing big losses for banks and corporations that need to value their shareholdings at market prices when they close their books on March 31.Cytek - the BOJ will only see the light when they buy GOLD instead of worthless paper. Sundeck (3/24/03; 21:40:39MT - usagold.com msg#: 100222) Sector #100218 Gold, Silver, War, The President and Everything Well stated SIR Sector...I AGREE with everything you say and will defend to the death your right to say it!Let us hope that this middle-eastern mess resolves itself through passive intervention of cool, thoughtful heads and honest mouths munching humble pie...before too many innocent folk get slaughtered.It takes a great man to admit error, and that is strange, because all people respect honesty and humility.;-) Goldilox (3/24/03; 21:25:54MT - usagold.com msg#: 100221) Basra H20 crisis http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2882967.stm mikal: your Timesonline link failed, so here is a BBC link to the same storyline. Goldilox (3/24/03; 21:17:49MT - usagold.com msg#: 100220) Mexico - Ag DD: I'm not sure why you're dishing "sector". I've read his previous post a couple times, and it seems in line with what I've seen reported as Fox's political conundrum by both the BBC and published analyst's evaluations. The extrapolations are "interesting", but the pressure to disassociate is real. mikal (3/24/03; 21:12:39MT - usagold.com msg#: 100219) Glimpses of Basra from UK http://news.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=390544 Red Cross warns of 'humanitarian disaster' in BasraBy Justin Huggler in Amman25 March 2003 -Excerpts:"A humanitarian disaster is looming in the city of Basra, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says. More than a million civilians have been without clean water or electricity in the city since Friday as fighting rages outside. The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, made an urgent appeal yesterday for water supplies to be rushed in.Outside Basra, British troops pulled back after they met ferocious resistance when they tried to enter the city where the US and Britain had predicted their forces would be welcomed as liberators.Desperate civilians are drinking water from the river in Basra, the United Nations Children's Fund said. Raw sewage is dumped in the river, rousing fears of a disease outbreak.The Wafa al-Qaed water treatment plant, which usually supplies most of Basra, has been out of action since Friday when the electricity cables to the plant were destroyed.Other plants have supplied 40 per cent of the city of two million people with water, though the quality is poor. The rest of the city has none, the ICRC says. "This is an emergency situation," Nadia Doumani, its spokeswoman, said.Florain Westphal, also of the ICRC, said: "We have not been able to gain access to the main water station today, so we will try to do it tomorrow. Sixty per cent of the population are still without access to a regular water supply. This could develop into a humanitarian crisis."At the UN headquarters in New York, Mr Annan said: "Urgent measures should be taken to restore electricity and water to that population. A city of that size cannot afford to go without electricity or water for long. Apart from the water aspect, you can imagine what it does for sanitation."...US and British planners have seriously misjudged the reception their troops would receive in Basra, where the majority of the people are Shia Muslims..." sector (3/24/03; 21:12:23MT - usagold.com msg#: 100218) @DanielD Thanks for the Backhand Compliment I Take them all...Regarding Mexico I have opined here that... ...since gold is controlled by official selling of bullion reserves, so too must silver.In the case of gold, we have very good data and evidence as to the selling culprits who obscure their otherwise free market interventions with clever ruses. With silver, it is much more difficult to obtain useful evidence since the metal is consumed in large commercial quantities with lots of accountant's hiding places.Using logic alone, one can either agree or disagree that a large seller is responsible for silver's low price. This seller would necessarily receive compensation for their dollar-supporting role. Say, $9.00 for every ounce of silver sold at $4.50. Who wouldn't take such a deal?But there comes a time in every relationship for parties to move on. This may have happened with Mexico and the US when Mr. Fox realized that we needed him [1.5 million bbls of crude per day] more than he needed us [He could get more than $9.00 per ounce on a free silver market].All this is engaging cryptanalysis of a deliberately obscure market dynamic in precious metals...no disrespect intended to anyone.As for the war and separation of topics, when one observes, holds, measures, tastes, eats and sleeps with United States Government duplicity up close and personal for years, one gains a healthy dose of skepticism regarding the official news media. Look at CNBC as an example. It is a marvel of structured propaganda. The government has simply extended the successful, fact-warping principles of CNBC to the Iraq War coverage. A kind of mass thought control. Clear Channel's far-right viewpoint as Orwellian Master. Speak the truth in this universe of [Market] deceit and one is a committing a revolutionary act.The moment when I gave up on Rush Limbaugh was the day he used the phrase "Two-Week War". I'm not a member of the "D" Party and never will be but anyone remotely connected to the regional conflict in the Middle East, could determine that an invasion of Iraq would tend to unite their formerly hostile religious sects into a cohesive [And armed] citizenry. The US war motive basis manifestly lacked credibility and was under-presented by an ill-advised President. These two factors have led to today where economics are intertwined with war as tightly as ever in history.I am particularly disappointed in President Bush's failure to remove Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowicz from Mid East policy decisions. They have a religious conflict of interest. By not doing so, Bush signaled his amateur management skills. In addition he listened to Iraqi exiles...something even Machiavelli warned against. BTW, firing Paul O’Neill and Lawrence Lindsay in an impulsive rage, badly stained his image as a statesman-like leader. He has made a grave mistake in overlooking the geopolitical ramifications of this war. Iraq's oil would have been cheaper if we had just bought it.I sincerely hope our people come home safely and we can get back to free markets where traders can trade but history gives little confidence.If one embraces the Fed's economic motive to cap gold, follows the bubble-generated cap-gains tax-money, he or she can see the coercion in action.Sean Corrigan has recently said government is all about coercion. The bigger the government, the more coercion. mikal (3/24/03; 20:25:41MT - usagold.com msg#: 100217) Sounding out something ... well, sound! http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest_03/cochran032503.html Sound Money and the Business CycleJohn P. Cochran -Excerpts:"Sound money is then a money whose purchasing power and quantity is determined by consumers'/producers' valuations as determined by their preferences, knowledge, and resources—a market determined commodity money absent government intervention.... ConclusionsGovernment control/intervention into the money system creates distortions in the money pricing system. These interventions lead to money prices that are not based on individual valuations and knowledge. Calculation errors will be in excess of entrepreneurial errors that are part and parcel of the unavoidable uncertainty associated with planning for future provision of consumer wants. Planning to meet consumers' most urgent demands is hindered, and in the case of a crack up boom where no substitute money is readily available, so shortened in time horizon as to be effectively eliminated.The arguments supporting a sound money policy were originally extensions of the Austrian business cycle theory. Credit creation systematically undermines capital-based entrepreneurial plans by increasing the difficulty associated "with the relationships between resources at one point of time and outputs of subsequent points of time" (Kirzner 1996, p. 43). The crisis or bust following a boom is just a calculation meltdown cut short. The intervention is stopped or slowed and the falsified calculations are revealed. The corrective action of profit/loss feedback begins again to assert itself. Economic activity 'recovers', as the market again begins a process to align business plans with consumers/producers valuations and available resources. If the intervention is not slowed or stopped, the inflation continues until a crack up boom sets in with the associated complete calculation breakdown.Sound money provides a financial environment where economic crisis associated with misdirections of resources and malinvestments can be avoided and where monetary calculation can be as efficient as possible. Economists who accept the Austrian argument on the impossibility of rational economic calculation in a socialist economy and recognize the calculation problems inherent in highly interventionist economies, but reject Austrian business cycle theory, should re-examine their position. The key elements for understanding the market process based on entrepreneurial planning, monetary calculation, and capital are the key elements underlying both the calculation argument and Austrian business cycle theory. Without sound money, calculation is less efficient and the economy will be prone to business cycles. With sound money policy, no boom-bust cycle will emerge and monetary calculation and planning will be as efficient as possible in an uncertain world." Daniel Druff (3/24/03; 19:34:30MT - usagold.com msg#: 100216) sector "We should watch Mexico closely. They hold the key to silver's low price and if they give up on Bush the game is over." sectorTo confuse a popularity contest with the value of silver and/or gold, relative to the buying power of fiat, is rather odd for a man of your intellect, don't you think?You're well worth reading when you stick to business and skip the anti-Patriot act. I say this with respect, in that you've contributed some historic work to this period of time in the world of economics.Let me rephrase your conclusion: We should watch Mexico closely. They hold the key to silver's low price and if they give up on the Dollar the elitist Kodak's of the world will be forced to raise the price of their Throwaway Cameras, imho.Sector, it's a sin curse world in which we live. That's the way it will remain until Judgement Day...unless you know something that I don't know.DD TownCrier (3/24/03; 19:20:45MT - usagold.com msg#: 100215) Duisenberg to stay on at Euro Bank http://money.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2003/03/25/cnwim25.xml&sSheet=/money/2003/03/25/ixcity.html (Filed: 25/03/2003) Wim Duisenberg, president of the European Central Bank, is to stay in office for up to another year to give Paris time to find a suitable French replacement for the post. The Greek presidency of the European Union said the 15 EU states were ready to extend Mr Duisenberg's term after it expires in July, though the final decision would be made by EU finance ministers next week.[Randy's note: actually, that July date is not so much a term expiration as a pre-agreed-upon voluntary mid-term retirement. Long story, covered in article.]...One possible alternative to Mr Trichet is Jean Lemierre, the French president of the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development. But the Gaulliste Mr Chirac is reportedly cooling to the idea because of Mr Lemierre's socialist leanings.Mr Duisenberg appears to have shrugged off a furore earlier this year over the antics of his wife, Gretta, the head of a pro-Palestinian lobby group who outraged Dutch Jews by saying the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank was worse than Nazi rule in Holland.The comments broke the ultimate taboo in Holland, where almost all of the country's 100,000 Jews were deported and killed during the Second World War. Mr Duisenberg said that he supported his wife's views "100 per cent".--------(see url for article)-----They say all is fair in love and war. Even with this apparent executive "hiccup" the euro-Europeans certainly seem well-positioned to curry currency favor (vs. the dollar) among some of OPEC's principal pro-Palestinian players.R. goldfool (3/24/03; 19:03:19MT - usagold.com msg#: 100214) Black Blade - O'Higgins article quote about gold, "because it's not subject to the manipulations of government or central banks or dishonest corporate executives," Just what planet is he referring to? I know the Vulcans are a highly principled and honorable race....couldn't be the Cardassians, the Klingons, the Romulans, the Bajorans, or the Ferengi....and forget about the Borg...they're too much like Wall street and programmed US investors. Gonlyold (3/24/03; 18:45:24MT - usagold.com msg#: 100213) Carbs & Corn With all this talk about oil based economies, It gets me to think of past efforts to become energy selfsufficient. In particular why are the products of these efforts not presently in production and practice. Remember all the so called talk of automobile carburators that would get 50 and 70 Miles Per Gallon? It was my understanding that such carbs were invented but were bought out by the big oil companies and placed in limbo. The obvious reasons are self-evident. I often wondered about the truth of this matter.For a country that can place a man on the moon, surely we could develope a fuel-miser carb. Makes me feel that such carbs do exist. And if they do, is it possible that these oil companies will now "discover" this carb, or any similar device, and place it in production? Perhpas there would be a move in this area.Also, don't forget our farmers. I know that corn can be turned into fuel. The only reason it's not being done now is because of rules and regulations. If this country gets tight on oil, perhaps we could grow our way out of the delima. I am not an petrochemical refinery expert, but I was thinking if it was possible to refine crude oil just to make oil and other solvents and not the gasoline? In effect i'm thinking that this would "stretch" the use of refining the crude oil. Perhaps some of you could either confirm or deny my musings. Crude oil would still be required to make oil, but reducing the gasoline requirement of crude oil seems to me would reduce that requirement.It seems that USA could manage if we get rid of some rules and regulations. Also, there was some news reported, I think a year or 2 or 3 ago, which discussed the problems Kansas had with "unsolicited" natural gas eruptions in the area. Seemed that natural gas was erupting out of the ground helter-skelter all over the place and causing fires and environmental problems. Was being told that Kansas had an over abundance of nat'l gas. Was also told the gas was being pumped into the ground as storage for future use. I don't have any references but does anyone know of this situation? 1340cc (3/24/03; 18:44:54MT - usagold.com msg#: 100212) Our Boys and Girls Rare Gold; Let's hope our boys and girls come home with ALL their body parts and minds still in tact. SOON......They just need to send a bunch of us armed post menopausal women over there. ;-) Elevator Guy; 10-4 to the 88 cubes! CoBra(too) (3/24/03; 17:39:44MT - usagold.com msg#: 100211) In a Limbo ... I do feel a bit uneasy! Uneasy about the policies of this forum, as well. Even as I appreciate it is one of the best pro gold sites - and, yes it is commercial. Fair enough and understood, though please tell me where the differences between the alledged suppressed 'free press'is derived from? Initiating a timeline to post off-topic political views, is a very subjective demonstration of bi-partisan policies.Considering the unfolding drama in Iraq - which, after all has (un-?) deserevedly, or not captured a "war premium" in paper assets and abandonded the same in the real value of "Gold" is somewhat disturbing to my sense of fair reporting. As everything will return to the mean (valuation) - long term - anyway.Whatever the final outcome, and GWB and his cronies are pretty adamant it is the total obliteration of the Saddam Hussein regime, the aftermath has not been calculated in any way. No-one can claim knowledge of what's going to happen then - except it may just lead to more and total antagonism towards the US. Being a humble european, who happened to meet -and being impressed - by the senior man once, I'm becoming dis-illusioned by the policy - the son has inherited and enacted since!Signing off for a while - again ... cb2 TownCrier (3/24/03; 17:26:35MT - usagold.com msg#: 100210) Recap of market action in 1991 Gulf War in latest WGC weekly update http://www.usagold.com/wgc.html Also, scroll down to previous week for a good chart of historic gold price.R. Arcticfox (3/24/03; 16:49:33MT - usagold.com msg#: 100209) Why would Mexico announce that they will be selling US$'s.. What am I missing here? I know it probably has minimal affect on the Forex, but why bother at all if they want to maximize return. You don't have big hedge funds announcing which stocks they will be shorting prior to the action. tau (3/24/03; 16:47:35MT - usagold.com msg#: 100208) mikal #100177 http://www.yt.org/article.php?sid=1185 that was quick:www.yt.org has been suspended by its provider before I could follow the link you includedQuite telling (and frightening) indeed! sector (3/24/03; 16:32:21MT - usagold.com msg#: 100207) The Gold Cover Clause It is a mechanism that permits the Fed to... ...print more money as gold rises. They do this in order to somewhat escape the increasing debt dilution of inflation. The Fed gets to claim they still have "n" percent gold coverage as gold rises because they printed "n" more dollars to sustain the percentage coverage.10% 20% coverage... it depends upon on how many ""old" dollars return to be redeemed. The more redemptions the less the coverage.Mexico has decided to sell dollars, Russia is selling dollars. That's about $100 Billion worth. If depositors fail to get the message that their "Old" dollars will "Expire" on a date certain they will not redeem them and lose them thus helping the US Fed.Count on confusing dates, changing dates and everything else to cause dollar holders to forget to redeem. That ignores the usual rejection of soiled and defaced bills.So the Fed gains by a redemption action. That's why one is happening so soon after the Andrew Jackson coiffed bills were released. Another gig from the Fed.One could envision gold being slowly released with the announcement of bill redemption. We can be certain of one thing:The United States Federal Reserve and Treasury Departments are being forced to sell an unacceptable tonnage of their gold in order to maintain a price control action on gold and silver.We should watch Mexico closely. They hold the key to silver's low price and if they give up on Bush the game is over. glennh10 (3/24/03; 16:25:30MT - usagold.com msg#: 100206) Re: Aristotle, et al, New "Dollars" On the domestic side, there is a significant amount of cash the gov't could get its hands on via a currency recall/exchange. I read about this in the late 1980's, and for sure, the domestic "cash" economy has grown in magnitude since then.From the foreign pespective, I don't think that an act of foreign debt repudiation (or adjustment) would have to directly relate to a recall of paper currency, other than that the timing of both might facilitate their success. I am not aware how the logistics of such an operation might unfold. But, that doesn't mean that it won't. Repudiation is a way of reducing the debt. The foreign debts are on record. They can be honored at 100%, or at 10¢ or 50¢ on the dollar. From a diplomacy standpoint, honoring debts is the flip side (the dirtier side) of granting loans and "aid". The U.S. dollar is the biggest player in the IMF. If the fate of the almighty world-dollar is up against the wall, I would not dismiss selective repudiation as an option (new age diplomacy). The gov't reneged on its "solemn" obligations several times during the 20th century. It will happen again, given the current milieu, if the circumstances present themselves. The reneged "solemn" obligations of the past involved gold and silver redeemability, and adhering to an established, fixed monetary standard of value. People bought "gold bonds" with this understanding, thinking that a "solemn obligation" meant something. Today's obligations are debts, as all "money" is debt. You get the parallel. It can, and, I believe will, recur. What can one do to protect oneself? We all know the answer to that one, too. The answer is the same as it was for the people during the early 1930's. Convert paper to gold and silver. Topaz (3/24/03; 16:07:05MT - usagold.com msg#: 100205) Deja-vu. http://www.futuresource.com/charts/multicharts.asp?symbols=tyxy%2Ctnxy%2Cfvxy%2Cgcj3&period=D&varminutes=&bartype=line&bardensity=LOW&r=&go.x=7&go.y=11 We seem to be repeating the Oct'02 pattern here on T-Yields. 4.65% was breached and they retreated to 5+%. Mr G will announce a rate-cut in short order if the pattern holds true.We should then head back down to an Epic "Triple-Bottom" on the Yield's...Deja-vu, all over again, or three strikes and yer OUT! Paper Avalanche (3/24/03; 15:43:06MT - usagold.com msg#: 100204) @ Ari - I agree on the misnomer Your question: "Since 90% trumps 10% every time, wouldn't it be less misleading to the would-be savers of the world to refer to these hypothetical "new dollars" as paper-backed dollars?"Yes. I would agree that to call the new pink dollars gold "backed" is misleading.How about "free-gold" dollars. Or whatever conveys the idea that when the US$ hops on the gold train there will be no other paper currency left in the world that seeks to suppress the "price" of gold.It has been enjoyable debating with you this afternoon.PA TownCrier (3/24/03; 15:41:38MT - usagold.com msg#: 100203) Money not an endangered species http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Emu%20Top%20Stories&tag=emu&s1=blk&tp=ad_topright_all&T=markets_bfgcgi_content99.ht&s2=ad_right1_all&bt=ad_bottom2_all&s=APn9tSBPjRmVkLCBF Central Banks at the ready.(excerpts)The Bank of Japan said it will hold an extraordinary board meeting tomorrow to deal with the economic impact of the war. The meeting will ``examine the current severe financial and economic conditions, including the effect of the U.S. military attack on Iraq, and consider necessary monetary adjustment,'' according to a BOJ statement. Since Sept. 11, the Fed has improved access to the discount window, where banks can withdraw emergency funds if needed. The bank has also added facilities to back up the trading desk at the New York Fed, which executes monetary policy.The major central banks have also arranged currency swaps to send dollars abroad should financial institutions have a shortfall. The U.S. central bank sold $50 billion to the European Central Bank on Sept. 13, 2001, after the destruction of the World Trade Center curbed foreign banks' access to dollars needed for transactions denominated in the currency....Central bankers have also announced plans to flood the financial system with money in the event of emergency, as was done after Sept. 11 and after the October 1987 market crash. --------(from article at url above)--------Bottom line: "...plans to flood the financial system with money in the event of emergency..."That's the nature of it, and they'll never give it up. Because a stubbed toe or skinned knee or political pressure can substitute for an emergency at any given time, gold becomes a vital component of any wisely structured portfolio.Call Centennial to discuss a strategy that is right for you.R. Waverider (3/24/03; 15:22:46MT - usagold.com msg#: 100202) **VIP** DAILY GOLD MARKET REPORT http://www.usagold.com/DailyQuotes.html Snip:"Gold made gains as the "war premium" on the U.S. dollar and equities markets declined (the DOW was off 300 points at the close of gold trading). The war in Iraq appears to be bogged down after several disappointments taking much of the irrational euphoria out of the stock markets. There was no follow through this week after eight straight positive trading sessions on Wall Street as hopes for a quick end to the war failed to materialize. Investors are once again beginning to take note of market fundamentals including corporate earnings warnings, rising deficits, and the overvalued U.S. dollar." TownCrier (3/24/03; 15:18:58MT - usagold.com msg#: 100201) HEADLINE . Fed's Kohn: No need for Fed to target inflation http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt_top.jsp?cat=TOPBIZ&src=201&feed=reu§ion=news&news_id=reu-n24280650&date=20030324&alias=/alias/money/cm/nw Excerpts: [Marvin Goodfriend, senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond] said the Fed practices in some ways "implicit inflation targeting," and suggested the Fed publicly recognize its goal of low, long-run inflation and ask Congress to recognize it as well.Some critics of the Fed have said it has relied too much on the seeming policy improvisation of its long-time chairman, Alan Greenspan. They argue the Fed could increase its inflation-fighting credibility by setting some sort of explicit goal in terms of inflation. Greenspan, in contrast, often cloaks explanations of Fed policy changes in terms of "imbalances" in the economy.In his response to Goodfriend, [Federal Reserve Governor Donald] Kohn said the Fed has not engaged in implicit inflation-targeting by saying it supports "long-run price stability," and noted the central bank has not adopted a numerical goal for inflation."I think it would be naive to assume that circumstances would not arise in which the central bank faced short-term choices between inflation stability and economic or financial stability," he said.------(see article at url)-----Bottom line: In other words, some within the Fed feel they are less apt to rattle markets through elimination of the disappointment that follows missing a target. That is, you cannot miss a target if you do not set one to aim for. "All is well," ...as far as the market knows.R. Black Blade (3/24/03; 15:02:15MT - usagold.com msg#: 100200) Accurate doomsayer sees ever darker economic cloud http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/1831100 Snippit:Three years ago, when Michael O'Higgins was entirely out of stocks and into zero-coupon Treasury bonds, when he was predicting that stocks would lose half their worth, people didn't believe him. If you listen to O'Higgins now, you won't want to believe him either: He's predicting another depression. O'Higgins, for whom the term contrarian is much too mild, has a record of being right when most of us are headed in the wrong direction. And a record of making money while we're losing it. Today, O'Higgins won't touch a Dow stock or almost any other stock at current prices -- because he is looking for a depression to begin soon, if it isn't already in progress. "Perhaps the greatest deflation and depression of all time," he says, "Following the greatest speculative boom in stocks of all time." It'll begin as the baby boomers wake up and realize that the stock market's downturn over the last three years has wiped out almost half their nest eggs. "When you say it can't be like 1929 through 1931 when stocks lost 89 percent of their value, you're right. It could be worse," he says. People today have higher levels of debt -- for consumers, government and corporations as a percent of gross domestic product -- than at any time since 1929, he notes. The depression will not end until that debt is liquidated, he says. When consumers decide to save more, they'll stop spending. And the economy's main support will collapse. After that, you can wait and watch for the Dow Jones industrial average to sink by another 22 percent to 6000. And that's his best-case scenario. It could go as low as 3100, if the stock market goes back to its normal range throughout the last century for the dividend yield, which is the figure you get if you divide a stock's dividend by its price. Right now, O'Higgins is only interested in gold, which he sees as undervalued and heading up because of deflation. "Because it's real money, because it has held its value for thousands of years, because it's not subject to the manipulations of government or central banks or dishonest corporate executives," he says. What's more, gold goes up when stocks go down. In 1929-1932, he notes that gold rose 69 percent. And indeed, in the last 12 months, it is up 20 percent. Yet its price is still far below what it traded for in 1980: $850, or roughly 2 1/2 times higher than today's roughly $350 an ounce. Global supplies of gold, too, are dwindling. Last year, as he moved out of bonds and into gold, his fund rose 19 percent, when the Dow dropped 17 percent. Black Blade: Another "Depression"? Consumers stop spending? That sounds vaguely familiar – where did I hear that before? Let's see…. Oh yeah! Hmmm… Operative (3/24/03; 14:48:24MT - usagold.com msg#: 100199) A Familar Look or The Original "Shock & Awe" Times were getting tough in the canyons of Wall St. The Naz down by some 70 percent sent chills through the PPT team. The action on Dow was drying up as investors lost and pulled funds out of the market. What to do? A plan was hatched that would provide Shock and Awe to those watching the markets. General Greenspan boarded his bullet proof limo and ploughed through the streets. Slashing rates here, dropping laser guided cuts there, the markets watched in wonder as he bombed the interest rates to oblivion. The attack looked good to the pundits of fianacial talk shows, they leaped and forcasted wonderful turn arounds, albiet in the "second half". Some believed in the spin created by the networks and media. In retrospect, the plan failed. The markets did not come back in any meaningful measurement. It appears the plan had overlooked pockets of resistence called debt, overvaluation of stock prices, unrealiable accounting assesments, and a host of other problematic areas that would refuse to be solved with such a daring and swiftly implemented plan. Then the second part of the plan gained speed as the dollar printing presses rolled into action. Day and night they spewed thier ink in efforts to boost the markets. In the end, it only would make matters worse. Investors left the markets, and turned to safety of bonds, a few even to gold. Greenspan is last seen bogged down in the sands of debt and surrounded by arch enemies known as inflation/deflation/stagflation. Any prognistics of his final demise will probably be tied to incoming scuds also known as higher energy prices. The initial Shock & Awe has turned to Whimpers & Dismal Outlooks. Somehow, I feel the current Shock & Awe hoped for in Iraq will be following a similar pattern as, they too, it seems, have miscalucated the inherit resistence to the plans laid by mice and men. Aristotle (3/24/03; 14:42:27MT - usagold.com msg#: 100198) Paper Avalanche, "It will be a partial backing (i.e. gold cover at say 10%)" Forgive me for nitpicking the details, but that's where we'll find the devil, right?So far, I think I like where your headed with this, and my main beef is one of semantics. If people don't understand what they're getting, due to vague presentations of things like "Gold backing," then they'll surely be duped out of their wealth by the folks who were on a first-name basis with the devil (in those details.)Maybe it's just me, but the term "backing" doesn't sit well with me because it makes bits of Gold sound more substantially connected to the monetary units than it really is.If there were to be a 10% Gold cover as you've described it -- where the cover may compensate for a growing money supply by either increasing in price or in weight -- why would we (as Gold advocates) emphasize that this is "Gold-backed money" when in fact there would be a more significant 90% NON-Gold cover?Since 90% trumps 10% every time, wouldn't it be less misleading to the would-be savers of the world to refer to these hypothetical "new dollars" as paper-backed dollars?The above semantics aside, with official monetary reserves continuing to be a mixture of contractual (paper) and tangible (Gold) assets, and with your description of a floating Gold price, it seems like we're treading the same path as the system being implemented by our colleagues in Europe. That is, only as long as there is a non-adversarial relationship between the "new dollar" and Gold in your overall conception of this thing.Someday it'll HAVE to be that way more or less; but for now, as the dollar fights tooth and nail with the euro in order to retain its unique post-Bretton Woods privileges, the dollar's system of derivatives is still able to function to keep a foot on the neck of the Gold market. A buyer's market if ever there was one! Thanks for the gift, Waldo.Whew! All that airy floating monetary stuff is almost too much for me to fathom. I'm keeping it easy, keeping it real...Gold. Get you some. --- Aristotle Black Blade (3/24/03; 14:37:40MT - usagold.com msg#: 100197) 4th Quarter Home Foreclosures Set Record http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/030324/economy_foreclosures_3.html Snippit:WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. home loans in foreclosure in the fourth quarter of 2002 hit a record high as the weak economy forced a larger portion of mortgage holders out of their homes, a mortgage trade group said on Monday. Loans in the process of foreclosure rose to 1.18 percent of mortgages, eclipsing the previous high level of 1.15 percent in the third quarter of last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America said.The trend signals that the worst may be over for people struggling to make their home loan payments -- as long as the economy rebounds, said Doug Duncan, chief economist for the trade group. "The overall picture for foreclosures is that it appears that the share of loans entering the process of foreclosure is peaking and we're about two quarters after the peak in delinquencies," he told reporters during a telephone briefing. Duncan said mortgage bankers expect delinquencies to fall, but only if the sluggish U.S. economy revives. Businesses have cut back on hiring and spending as the U.S. economy has remained weak, causing financial strains for many people. U.S. bankruptcies rose to a record level in 2002. Unemployment is the main reason people fall behind on or are unable to make their home payments, Duncan said. Mortgage bankers are worried the economy has not added new jobs in recent months, he said. "We are concerned that economic recovery is crucial to improved employment and thus to driving a decline in delinquencies," Duncan told reporters.Black Blade: The outlook is not good. The US economy continues to deteriorate and unemployment announcements appear to be on the rise. More foreclosures are likely. miner49er (3/24/03; 14:27:37MT - usagold.com msg#: 100196) 21mabry @ 100187 - Bond funds... Hi 21mabry, fwiw here's my response for you. I see Ari took care of it below, as I was writing this. But so as not to have wasted the effort, and for anyone else's sake, here goes...This is what's taking place. First, yes, the US Treasury "guarantees" its obligations regarding both interest and principal. If you bought the security outright, you would be able to expect your interest payments in full and on time, and when the security matures, your principal to be paid back entirely. If you buy the security on the secondary market, you will usually pay either more or less than the original par (face) value of the issue. If you buy above par, and you hold it until maturity, you will only get back what the par value is. So in essence you would have lost the difference between the premium you paid over par, and par. If you purchased the security below par and held it to maturity, you would realize the difference between the discounted value you paid and the par value as a capital gain. Similarly, if you traded the security on the secondary market before maturity, you would also realize losses or gains just like any other security.In a Treasury bond fund, this is all that is happening, except it is in the context of someone else doing it for you. With a fund, you are not buying the securities. You are buying shares in an investment company organized as your bond fund. They invest your money according to their charter as desribed in your prospectus. Let's say it is a very simple fund that only buys and sells Treasury debt. No futures or other derivatives, and no non-Treasury transactions. They are buying and selling all the time, hopefully trying to buy low and sell high. Interest payments are just a part of the income stream. So, if they bet bonds are going up, and bet wrong, and sell their losing bet, guess what? You lose. They undoubtedly are more sophisticated than this, and employ hedging strategies to mitigate any single-directional exposure, and many funds will boost the octane of their returns by playing other games. So read your prospectus carefully. Likewise, your investment's value is dependent upon whether your fund is closed or open ended. If closed, then a fixed number of shares are issued, and their value is determined by the market entirely, which in its irrational rationality ascribes either a premium or a discount to the overall NAV of the fund. If it is open ended, then new shares are issued as new money comes in, or the number of shares contracts as investors liquidate their holdings. Investors buy and sell at the NAV of the fund. Your fund is daily marked to the value of its holdings, and your share is proportionately revalued. With your bond fund (not knowing the specifics of yours, but generally speaking), you are simply a stakeholder in an investment company that invests in Treasury debt. You must think of it simply in terms of giving someone else your money to do the work for you. You have loosely directed them to invest in Treasuries. They work their magic, you pay them some percentage in fees, and you both hope they can do well by you.Hope this helps,miner Socrates964 (3/24/03; 14:12:25MT - usagold.com msg#: 100195) Aristotle by then there'll be a parallel market. As long as you have a trustworthy money changer it won't be a problem converting your money into gold. rare gold (3/24/03; 14:07:49MT - usagold.com msg#: 100194) 1340cc Regarding women POW's, there is no doubt in my mind that women can endure more pain than men especially after that bowling ball analogy! Cheers,Raregold rare gold (3/24/03; 14:02:29MT - usagold.com msg#: 100193) mabry Some may hope that US gets taught a lesson in Iraq however WHEN US finds WMD I wonder what they'll say then. 21mabry (3/24/03; 13:54:29MT - usagold.com msg#: 100192) (No Subject) Thanks Aristotle that clears that up. Does anyone else feel most of the world is hoping the U.S. gets taught a lesson in Iraq. I pray this does not get turned into a meet grinder. TownCrier (3/24/03; 13:53:39MT - usagold.com msg#: 100191) Fed ads $4.75 billion to national banking system http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/030324/markets_fed_openmarket_1.html Fed funds were trading on the easy side this morning, more than 6 basis points below the FOMC tarket of 1.25 percent. The Fed may have signaled its willingness to ease rates further with today's addition of $4.75 billion in new funds through open market operations in spite of the current ease in the market. The Fed's New York trading desk utilized ten-day repurchase agreements for today's intervention.Note: There is an error in the news brief provided at the url above. Reuters erringly reported only $4.5 billion.R. Paper Avalanche (3/24/03; 13:47:12MT - usagold.com msg#: 100190) @ Ari - answers to excellent questions Question #1: Not being very familiar with the concept of "Gold-backed" dollars, what procedure could you walk me through in order for me to convert my numerical account into the physical Gold that now "backs" it? In other words, how could I tap into the "official backing" to get Gold?Answer: You would not be able to convert your new gold dollars into physical gold. I believe that you may be confusing converatbility with backing they are not the same. IMHO, the new US dollar will be backed by gold. If you want to convert said new dollar to gold you simply call Marie at CPM and they will sell you gold. The fact that a bank would not do this does not preclude a gold backing. Question #2: Is the price of the Gold "backing" the dollar fixed, and is it full or partial backing?Answer: It is not fixed. It will be a partial backing (i.e. gold cover at say 10% of outstanding dollars). The new note will require that either a.) the POG increase in order for the money supply to increase or b.) the amount of gold in reserves be increased to increase the money supply. The certainty of FOREX arbitrage will ensure that countries do not fudge their stated gold cover covenants to the actual amount of money in circulation.Question #3: For example, is it a 25% "backing" -- in which case I'll get only one dollar's worth in physical Gold for every $4 in my account? For anything less than 100% "backing" I'd be better off buying my Gold on the open market, right -- but would it be at a fixed or floating price? What does "backing" really mean?Answer: See answer #1. Physical gold will replace or be an equal counterpart to the old passbook savings account.PA Aristotle (3/24/03; 13:31:53MT - usagold.com msg#: 100189) 21mabry -- treasury securities Mabs, the government's guarantee of payment, such as it is, only applies to the pre-agreed payment terms (interest/yield/principle) if the bond is held to maturity. Losses occur in the interim to the principle value of the bonds as the secondary market discounts their current value to compensate for expectations of a weakening dollar. (The result of the lower market price becomes a higher effective yield for the new buyer/holder of the middleaged bond, and a potential net loss for the old holder/seller of that bond. If he held it to maturity, sure, he'd get his payments, but the purchasing power might be completely gone by that time, hence, the desire to sell early, even if it means taking a loss.)The choice is easy. No muss, no fuss...Gold. Get you some. --- Ari Aristotle (3/24/03; 13:21:05MT - usagold.com msg#: 100188) Paper Avalanche, on old dollars someday "replaced by the new and improved, gold backed dollar." Suppose I could magically teleport myself ahead in time to that day you describe, and this forum is the only way that I can communicate with my old friends in the old troubled world of March, 2003.Ok, so here I am standing around in my bank's lobby, having been informed by the ATM that I've got about eighty-nine million in my savings account.Not being very familiar with the concept of "Gold-backed" dollars, what procedure could you walk me through in order for me to convert my numerical account into the physical Gold that now "backs" it? In other words, how could I tap into the "official backing" to get Gold?Is the price of the Gold "backing" the dollar fixed, and is it full or partial backing?For example, is it a 25% "backing" -- in which case I'll get only one dollar's worth in physical Gold for every $4 in my account? For anything less than 100% "backing" I'd be better off buying my Gold on the open market, right -- but would it be at a fixed or floating price? What does "backing" really mean?I'm sorry if I appear confused. I'm trying to keep it easy...Gold. Get you some. --- Ari 21mabry (3/24/03; 13:00:30MT - usagold.com msg#: 100187) (No Subject) Could someone explain to me, how one can loose money in a treasury bond mutual fund.I was under the impression that capital and interest payments are guarented by the goverment. Paper Avalanche (3/24/03; 12:50:13MT - usagold.com msg#: 100186) @ Ari - second question I would expect this new dollar to benefit from a perpetual increase in the POG as is the case for its Euro counterpart (can't beat them join them). I believe that the day that the pink dollar comes out the comex paper gold contracts wil be forced to settle in old dollars and physical gold becomes unavailable for purchase overnight (it's true scarcity will then be realized).Please tell me why you think this scenario impossible?PA Paper Avalanche (3/24/03; 12:38:20MT - usagold.com msg#: 100185) @ Ari How do they differentiate digital yen from digital francs from digital pesos?I don't see the digital aspect of the conversion being problematic. I anticipate that there will not be any conversion at all. I believe (and again, I'm probably wrong) that the two currencies will coexist until the old greenback is inflated out of existence to be replaced by the new and improved, gold backed dollar.Maybe instead of being quoted as US$ it will be GUS$???PA Aristotle (3/24/03; 12:20:29MT - usagold.com msg#: 100184) glennh10, Paper Avalanche, et al on new dollars I'd like to pose a question to you guys on your musings that an introduction of new U.S. currency notes would be part of a repudiation of the existing dollars, particularly those overseas.You're familiar with "eurocurrency" right? With so many of the overseas dollars in the form of interbank eurodollars (basically digital things) over and above those grungy paper green things, how will the United States implement policy to differentiate and devalue "old" eurodollars from the "colorful new" eurodollars?I'm curious how you are seeing the whole picture playing out in your speculation on this. And what about Gold -- impact on foreign and domestic demand, price, etc?I'm keeping it easy...Gold. Get you some. --- Aristotle Paper Avalanche (3/24/03; 12:08:23MT - usagold.com msg#: 100183) @ makcumka I just heard a news conference during lunch with Ari Fleischer in which he was questioned by a reporter as to why the master of the universe, Alan Greenspan, had made three trips to the White House in the last 48 hours (especially over the weekend). Ari said that it was no big deal - happens all the time. Coincidentally, we now get a story that the roll out of the new colored currency has been delayed another six to eight weeks. I think that the purpose of AG's visit was to revise their plan to roll out the gold backed pink dollars until we have the oil wells secured. I believe that the original plan was to take Iraq in less than a week and then roll out the new currency. Things have not gone according to plan. I was thinking about the last time the change in the currency was made in 1996 and, if memory serves me, they started out with the $100 bills (which makes sense if you are trying to thwart counterfieting). Why are they starting out with the $20 bill unless there is a plan to get this new currency in circulation ASAP? And if there is a need to get these dollars in circulation ASAP, what would that be?Food for thought. As always, I'm probably wrong.PA glennh10 (3/24/03; 11:59:26MT - usagold.com msg#: 100182) Delay of Colorful Currency I have suspected that they might use new "money" to implement some type of "adjustment" via a recall if necessary. Perhaps they were going to simply release the new notes as they have done in the past. But now with the outcome of the war and the successs of U.S. regional hegemony turning out to be something less than a slam-dunk, they might be holding out 'till later, when they may have to do a recall. A recall could flush out the domestic underground economy, providing a one-time cash flush. Overseas, a recall coud be used for reducing the foreign debt burden, where foreign debts owed to less-than-favorite countries could be "dismissed" if they failed to "not come around" and support us in our interests.Politics is always messy. Just a theory. makcumka (3/24/03; 11:44:36MT - usagold.com msg#: 100181) @ Paper Avalanche PA, With the previously posted news of the delay in introduction of the "colorful" money (Eleanor of Aquitaine (3/24/03; 08:39:01MT - usagold.com msg#: 100172), does this alter your estimate for the GBPDT?TIA Belgian (3/24/03; 11:38:06MT - usagold.com msg#: 100180) @ Sir Gresham All the theories about "liberation"..."WMD"..."terror"...are slowly but surely sliding into the public's background-thinking, for all those who aren't part of the willing coalition. The shiites in southern Iraq, already know the real purpose of the liberators : Arabian Oil Control ! Father Bush stopped at Bagdad as to let Saddam, suppress the shiites, so they wouldn't form a block with Iran and making it a super oil-power with the addition of the southern oil reserves.The same counts for the Kurds an Turks.In other words, the "oil" aspect is going to be the main play (problem) after the liberation, disarmement, regime change...The real danger comes when the general public is going to understand, that the control of the world's oil-reserves are going to be linked with the dollar's reserve function ! Euroland's most important cement is the euro-currency. It is this euro-cement, that is so vitally important today, as to overcome the present Euroland divisions. That's why I keep stressing on the $/€ exchange rate evolution.Don't foget that France will take the presidency of the ECB after Duisenberg leaves. And it was not Germany who suggested euro for oil, but was rather suggesting to sell (made available-lease) goldreserves. France will never sell one nanogram of its Gold !We will see who will make, which, next move. Black Blade (3/24/03; 11:30:42MT - usagold.com msg#: 100179) "Black Hawk Down" Now the US army has lost contact with one of their Black Hawk helicopters in Baghdad. This is on top of yesterday's loss of an Apache helicopter and crew. The weather window is closing now as rain is expected in the north and snad storms in the south. This will slow things down a bit.For anyone interested, Matt Simmons of Simmons and Co. Intl. will be a guest on CNBCs "Heckel and Jeckel" show tonight.- Black Blade CoBra(too) (3/24/03; 11:30:13MT - usagold.com msg#: 100178) Not Much To Add ... http://www.dailyreckoning.com/body_headline.cfm?id=3024 ... Except that the war in Iraq is not just a surgical cyberoperation. It is getting more messy with the day - as wars always tend to get - and the real purposes are still questioned.May that be as it may - the real and fundamental questions may come after the war. As there is little doubt as to the final outcome, there may be even less doubt about the reasons for the "aggression" as some say. Whatever, as nobody doubts that without the tough stance of the US, Saddam would have not succumbed to even "re-invite" the UN MWD teams, the question remains lingering - given more time to the Hans Blix's may have destroyed all lingering doubts - or not!?Not being nai`ve enough anymore, of course I do feel some overriding rationale has come into play. The problem is that you can't purge a fundamental problem by "transporting" it to another level - It may just come back to roost and haunt the originators.I'm unfortunately reminded of a world order, fairly instigated by the US after WWII and destroyed by force by the now only remaining superpower ... The consequences will reverberate throughout the globe and the potential answers won't bode well for freedom and peace in "our time"!Thank you - cb2 mikal (3/24/03; 11:28:11MT - usagold.com msg#: 100177) Does the Pentagon need $400Billion+/yr. for this? http://www.yt.org/article.php?sid=1185 ''Pentagon press briefing: farce, charade and deception'' Friday, March 21, 2003 @ 06:10:13 EST By Matthew RiemerYellowTimes.org Columnist (United States) (YellowTimes.org) -- The typical Washington press briefing -- whether from the White House or Pentagon -- generally displays one dominant characteristic: a notable lack of useful or new information. As of late, the presence of a barely disguised hostility and contempt towards the attending reporters is also quite noticeable. Reporters are at least half the reason why press briefings are usually a waste of time -- Washington's press corps simply ask the most meaningless, non-confrontational questions imaginable. What is worse is when, after the fact, correspondents or pundits talk about how the reporters in attendance "pressed the issue" or "touched sensitive areas." Such comments further obscure the fact that the real questions are not asked and powerful figures in Washington are not held accountable for what they say. Today's briefing presented by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard B. Myers was no exception.After opening statements from Rumsfeld and Myers, the groveling reporters squealed from their seats, "Mr. Secretary," "General," like a gaggle of pre-pubescent boys trying to win a chance to kiss the prom queen. Rumsfeld continued the simile with his tough guy responses and general air of disrespect. One of the first questions Rumsfeld faced was: "Mr. Secretary, two quick ones, if I may. Did you have information--" The Defense Secretary quickly reprimanded the questioner for wanting to ask two questions: "With all this crowd, why don't we just try one?" After, quite naturally, ending up asking multiple questions anyway, the reporter was reprimanded further by Rumsfeld: "I thought we agreed on just one." While tone of voice cannot be conveyed through the printed word, the environment Rumsfeld attempts and succeeds to create is one of sheer intimidation. Some of the "pressing" and, indeed, almost rhetorical questions asked include: "Do you plan to try and move quickly to stop [the setting afire of oil wells]?" "[I]f indeed we missed Saddam last night, what does that do to the Iraqi spirit?" "Is it also your hope that some elements of the military might remove Saddam themselves?" There was also the following exchange: Rumsfeld: The fewer [Iraqi defectors] there are, the risks that it will be broader and more difficult, take more time, and more lives will be lost. Q: Mr. Secretary, what evidence do you have that it's actually working, that there are actually Iraqis who are heeding this call to-- Rumsfeld: We have evidence. Q: And what sort of evidence is that? Rumsfeld: Good evidence. This coming from the same administration that recently presented forged documents to the United Nations Security Council as the key evidence in its campaign to prove that Iraq had revitalized its nuclear weapons program. Rumsfeld also made a highly questionable comment regarding the depth of the "coalition of the willing." Reuters news agency picked up on this and has already released an article refuting his claim. Rumsfeld said, "The coalition in this activity is larger than the coalition that existed during the Gulf War in 1991." Reuters skillfully pointed out that "But the facts put out by the administration itself suggest otherwise. "In 1991 at least 33 countries sent forces to the campaign against Iraq and 16 of those provided combat ground forces, including a large number of Arab countries. "In 2003 the only fighting forces are from the United States, Britain and Australia. Ten other countries are known to have offered small numbers of noncombat forces, mostly either medical teams and specialists in decontamination, making a comparable alliance of about 13 countries. "U.S. officials have named 33 countries which support the U.S. invasion of Iraq but this includes countries which are providing overflight and basing rights and which are giving only diplomatic or political support for the invasion. "President Bush said on Wednesday that 35 countries have chosen to 'share the honor' of supporting the campaign but U.S. officials could not name more than the 33. "They say some 15 other countries are cooperating with the U.S. war effort behind the scene, mostly by giving access to bases and airspace, but they do not want to be named. "In 1991 the United States and its allies did not count countries which provided overflight rights or political support because the campaign had the overwhelming support of the U.N. Security Council, which had voted 12-2 for the use of force." Arguably, the most significant thing uttered during the entire briefing was this chilling threat from the Defense Secretary: "What will follow will not be a repeat of any other conflict. It will be of a force and scope and scale that has been beyond what has been seen before." *YellowTimes.org is an international news and opinion publication. YellowTimes.org encourages its material to be reproduced, reprinted, or broadcast provided that any such reproduction identifies the original source, http://www.YellowTimes.org. Mr Gresham (3/24/03; 10:02:25MT - usagold.com msg#: 100176) Socrates964 http://www.ccel.org/g/gibbon/decline/volume1/chap4.htm Soc -- I woke up this morning wondering the same thing myself, why the hatred for France. My thoughts in this most clarified moment of the day quickly ran to: It's one of the rules of Empire, and that's how the US operated even back in WW2, as it saw its moment in the sun arriving.A logical question might run something like, After 60 years, aren't you allowed to deviate from your liberators one little bit? Especially when they want to start another war? Answer: No.Once you are invaded, as by the Germans, you are "in play". In other words, you belong either to the conqueror, or to your liberator, forevermore. (I suppose there's a "Godfather" theme I could probe here, too. No time.) How convenient. Especially to believe for a nation that does not want to study or remember history, but endlessly flog a few moments of its true heroism.This, like the glorification of the troops "in harm's way", is making these innocent heroes into cannon fodder twice. Once to face the bullets that await them, and the other to promote the policies or cover up the mistakes of those who send them. These should always be TWO SEPARATE TOPICS, but (see paragraph above) a public able to keep only one thing in its mind at a time is easily led wherever PTB wants them. Sheep at their shearingest... Belgian (3/24/03; 09:56:04MT - usagold.com msg#: 100175) @ Socrates964 My 2 cents on your # 100167-question :In Germany, there is much more affinity towards the US/Euro-Atlantic Alliances. And since Germany, France and Belgium, decided to form a hard euro core...one better choses only one of this triumvirate (France) to *demonize* as to hopefully divide and rule some more.France has the capacity to mobilize some global dollar-infidels, who could be asked to put pressure on the dollar/euro exchange rate by selling dollar-reserves .France is opposing the UK and Turkey's candidacy for EMU in the present constellation. Etc...The UN is nothing more than a circus place, where the public shows are played. The US wouldn't even oppose the Euro idea of bringing the complete UN to Switzerland.I'm even afraid of NATO becoming totally irrelevant also.Altering Alliances of the willing, will most probably, be formed * à la carte *, in the future.Some serious changes are coming. Buena Fe (3/24/03; 09:01:44MT - usagold.com msg#: 100174) another bl washington needs two trophy's from this war;1 evidence of wmd to justify (i note that the fox story of yesterday is already being played down) invasion. this is #1 priority, without this gwd will be portrayed as a war criminal within a few months. us has huge resources set aside to find any evidnece (i hope integrity is maintained)2 saddam's death cert., this is of considerable less importance compared to #1 above.what if both these trophy's prove elusive? (ahhhh ... end of the green-span?) contrarian (3/24/03; 09:01:01MT - usagold.com msg#: 100173) Excellent article blowing up the bull*&#! http://news.goldseek.com/GoldenJackass/1048491408.php We live in dangerous times. But we also live in times where delusional behavior is raising the risks and intensifying the danger. An unchecked cancer is growing on our nation's consciousness, fed by denial of degenerative hardship, grown from a layer of ignorance, inhibiting its ability to perceive reality and to properly make decisions for the future. The American public clings to a scintilla of hope that all will be well, jobs secured, threats eliminated, wealth restored, pensions returned to health. My January article "Predictions for the 2003 Year – Bear Claws" closed the preface with an admonition on pervasive delusion within the American psyche:A dangerous multi-faceted delusion has caught our entire nation in its grip, characterized by naïve perceptions and acceptance of economic disinformation, fair stock values, safe haven in real estate, ultimate sanctuary in Treasury bonds, imminent economic recovery, quick resolution to Iraqi conflict, moderation of crude oil prices, and trust in failed re-tread federal government (Keynesian) and Federal Reserve (monetary) stimulus programs. Pervasive delusion breeds a climate for further accidents, errors, and additional financial losses. The new year will provide ample opportunity to toss much more cold water of reality on our faces. This bear has only begun to claw its way toward Main Street and Wall Street. A ray of hope lies in new the new Bush economic package and the Fed's willingness to forestall deflation. However, the harsh reality calls for political squabbling, watering down its best elements, and watching them fall short of accomplishing much more than procrastinating the time of reckoning. (JW, January 2003)If anything, the delusions are becoming deeper, wider, more desperate, and departing farther from reality in just the first three months of this new year. A sense of profound denial lingers after the bust of the economic miracle, irresponsibly founded upon the greatest debt-generated speculative mania in human history. Could the New Economic miracle have been a mirage? Won't our fabulous productivity pull us out of the morass? Doesn't debt build wealth? Wasn't the business cycle repealed? Can't the Fed save our skins as in the past? Can't the federal government just print enough money to rescue the economy? Didn't the strong USDollar produce the world's engine of growth and prosperity? What in God's name went wrong? What are we missing? In short, the answer lies in "Economics 101" at a fundamental level. Our entire economics community supports a heretical system that produces apologists for perpetual debt abuse.... Eleanor of Aquitaine (3/24/03; 08:39:01MT - usagold.com msg#: 100172) new money to be delayed... http://money.cnn.com/2003/03/24/news/currency_postpone/index.htm So much economic news today... mikal (3/24/03; 07:57:50MT - usagold.com msg#: 100171) Profits and losses http://www.etherzone.com/2003/henr032403.shtml PROFITS OF WARWHAT ARE THEY?By: Ed Henry After my last article, "Nausea and General Anxiety," a friend emailed to tell me that because of the oil we would get, this one will be a freebie, an idea that is probably held by quite a few of the people unconcerned about the cost of this invasion.The misconception is that rewards in oil will pay for the expense we're putting out to both conduct the invasion and rebuild Iraq afterwards. It would be a valid point if we were living in the old days of piracy and plundering, but it isn't applicable today. We haven't occupied and seized a nation's territory since the Spanish-American War in 1898.And the last kingdom's treasury that was raided by a pirate might well have been Iran's, or at least that's what the Ayatollah Khomeini was screaming about when he took hostages from our embassy and demanded we return the Shah of Iran and their treasury's money he said the Shah had put in American banks.The only business the federal government is actively engaged in has something to do with national parks and monuments, maybe presidential libraries and subsidies for things like the Amtrak railroad that operates at a loss.Plenty of people in office have backgrounds and connections with oil companies. Bush and his family are heavily involved with the Carlyle Group. Dick Cheney is from Halliburton. And the list goes on. While there may be all sorts of favors and kick-backs, campaign contributions, and so forth, no oil money is going to legally find its way into the U.S. Treasury.About the most we can expect is that the oil companies will pass on lower prices and, if they profit more, pay more in taxes that will find their way to the treasury.You haven't heard much about the big oil companies being in trouble during this recession have you? They haven't laid off people left and right. In other words, they wouldn't be hiring more people once we have our hands on Iraqi oil.What's more, the intention with Iraqi oil isn't to seize it. The intention is to control it. There's a vast difference.We set the prices and decide who gets it. The Iraqis do the work, maybe even refine the oil. We might even put OPEC in its place the way we've done with NATO and are about to do with the United Nations. What's more, once we are based in Iraq we could start taking over other oil rich neighbors. Most of the 9/11 terrorists came from Saudi Arabia. Hasn't Iran been a long standing enemy with weapons of mass destruction?In short, paying billions for this invasion is up to the taxpayer, no one else. And, since there is no plan to raise taxes, that leaves only two places to get the money. First, it can be taken from other budgeted programs. And second, it can be borrowed by issuing more Treasury securities to investors who still have faith in the American taxpayer's ability to pay them back plus annual interest.You can witness both of these things happening right now. State and local governments are complaining about housing, health, school, and other promised money that they are not receiving. Even the "front line" police, fire, and hospital Homeland Security money is missing. But by far, the greatest source for the Bush administration has been the fact that it borrowed $638 billion in the last five quarters, chalking up a phenomenal amount on the credit card for our children and grandchildren to handle.Then there's the defense industry. Expecting huge contracts in building more weaponry, the huge defense industry that can't move to third world countries for cheaper labor is booming temporarily on the stock market.If the attack on Iraq uses up a lot of inventory, demands new and better weapons, and so forth, the industry may expand with new tooling and by hiring many of the currently unemployed.Now, we're talking about more than the annual 10 percent or so that comes from corporate taxes for the government. If a great many more people are suddenly employed, then the Treasury will receive more in personal income taxes and the economy may truly begin to turn around.The only pathetic part would be that we would be doing this on the backs of a lot of dead people—today in Iraq, tomorrow someplace else. And there's tremendous risk involved.We may have pressured, coerced, and bought the leaders of some other countries to go along with us in the vendetta to displace Saddam Hussein, but most of the people in the world, including majorities within our staunchest allies, were dead set against this war without UN approval and are still demonstrating and rioting everywhere.The United Nations is liable to sanction us, and we may even cause the dissolution of that organization, but the people of the world already consider us a rogue nation. Some are even drawing comparisons to Hitler and the Nazi regime.Be that as it may, if the people of other nations decide to boycott American products then we truly are in deep doo-doo. Already reeling under a $240 billion trade deficit, we're liable to find ourselves with no business outside of our own country.Further, we are liable to find that more than 140 countries throughout the world start demanding we pull our troops out. Yankee Go Home can easily become the cat-call of the people in these countries until their leaders have to respond. Germany is already complaining about the expense of using their police to protect our boys stationed in their nation.Then, what are we going to do with 250,000 troops coming home and looking for jobs? Do we keep them on the government payroll and have them patrol the Mexican and Canadian borders? Do we end up with many of them working for Homeland Security and a pillbox on every street corner?These are things that George W. Bush's cowboy bravado does not consider.EpilogueThere is an insurance business that the government operates called Social Security. Liberal think tanks like the CATO Institute have long advocated the extremely expensive idea of taking this business out of the government's hands and privatizing the whole secondary retirement system. But it wouldn't help us at this point anyway.For years, the Beltway Bandits have been robbing the profits/surpluses generated by Social Security and planning that money directly into their budgets as "off budget" revenue. It's a big chunk of the government's discretionary spending but it's already committed.In other words, we are back to the two options mentioned above. You are going to pay for this invasion as well as the ones that will follow. And you are going to pay it while the nation sinks deeper and deeper into economic ruin."Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact." Waverider (3/24/03; 07:47:06MT - usagold.com msg#: 100170) Commodity traders wage war on gold http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B8576053C%2D439D%2D4E25%2D9323%2DD9CD8574A976%7D&siteid=mktw Snip:"Much of gold's movements in recent months is due to "psychological factors and uncertainty" regarding the effects war might have on the economy, stocks, currencies and people's perception of security," said Erik Gebhard, president of Altavest Worldwide Trading. But it's up to the individual to make his or her own conclusion on how much of gold's recent rise is due solely to the war threat as opposed to weakness in the U.S. dollar and the economy as a whole -- factors, analysts say, support a long-term bullish trend for gold. In the past six months, gold futures prices traded as high $388.80 in February and as low as $309.10 an ounce in October 2002 -- that's an almost $80 trading range. And in the last year, gold was up as much as 33 percent at its peak in February 2003 from its mid-March of 2002 level." And gold hasn't only been stripped of its war premium -- it's now trading "based upon its inherently bullish underlying fundamentals," which include huge governmental budget deficits and recent weakness in the U.S. dollar, said Kaplan." Albatros (3/24/03; 07:15:01MT - usagold.com msg#: 100169) Operation Persuation http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2003/transcripts/s814963.htm "How much should you believe the media coverage of the Iraq war?"Have just finished viewing a weekly Aussie current affairs programme. Well worth taking a peek of the transcript when it becomes available."Four corners looks at the propaganda war: How US, British and Australian military forces - and the Iraqis - employ sophisticated spin to control the flow of images."I have the feeling the "sophisticated spin" is about to implode. Hope plenty of lemmings sell off their gold on the US market tonight before I go shopping tomorrow!!! Toolie (3/24/03; 06:52:27MT - usagold.com msg#: 100168) Europe to boycott American products? As reported this morning on WJR radio, Detroit. During a recent trip by "Automation Alley", a local automotive supplier trade consortium, to trade shows in Europe, the American suppliers were told by many of the trade show attendants that they would no longer consider doing business with Americans, due to our lack of UN approval for the Iraqi war. Should this boycott become evident, it would heap misery on an already battered sector of the American economy. American suppliers had been hoping to take advantage of a weaker dollar.In a related report, it was said that Canadian truck drivers now have to have a visa to avoid long delays when crossing the world's longest unfortified border. It is the practice of the Big 3 (or 2) to receive parts "just in time". Any slowdown of a production line can cost millions an hour.The economy will still be weak when the war is over. The nightmare scenario that must be avoided, at all costs is a collapse of the credit bubble. It will take a lot of FRN's to keep the unemployment rate from rising further. It's a great time to buy gold. Socrates964 (3/24/03; 06:29:53MT - usagold.com msg#: 100167) Russian Propaganda http://www.gazeta.ru/money/17663.shtml"Mozhet' byt' pora grazhdanam pokupat' zoloto means "Maybe it's time for citizens to buy gold!"Obviously a deliberate piece of misinformation designed to undermine the economic underpinnings of the US war effort;)PS - Anyone have any idea why the Americans are directing so much venom against the French but not against the Germans. Is it just because Germany doesn't have a permanent seat on the Security Council? WAC (Wide Awake Club) (3/24/03; 06:26:21MT - usagold.com msg#: 100166) Nigeria violence hits Chevron http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2876923.stm The move follows large-scale shutdowns over the past few days by both Shell and Total Fina Elf, the two other major oil producers in the region.The combined total loss of production now stands at more than 30% of Nigeria's output. Dozens are believed dead in clashes involving the rival Ijaw and Itsekiri communities and thousands of soldiers sent in to try to bring the situation under control. He says that with existing uncertainty in the oil markets as a result of the war in Iraq, this trouble in the world's sixth oil exporter will be causing increasing concern. Nigerian army sources said two soldiers and at least two civilians were killed in an attack on an Elf flow station on SaturdayThe army accused Ijaw militants of being behind the attack. The Associated Press news agency quoted an Ijaw leader, Dan Ekpebide, as threatening to blow up 11 oil installations captured from the three companies in retaliation for army raids. "We'll blow up these flow stations and blast the pipelines," he said. "We will take Nigeria 20 years backward." WAC: Better pray things return according to plan in Iraq. Black Blade (03/24/03; 02:44:28MT - usagold.com msg#: 100159) Iraq Captures Apache Helicopter Intact Now the Iraqis have captured a US Apache "Long Bow" helicopter intact with armaments. The fate of the two man crew is unknown. Apparently the copter had mechanical failure and set down. Also some Brit soldiers are missing and may have been captured. There are a lot of set backs this time. - Black Blade Black Blade (03/24/03; 02:28:19MT - usagold.com msg#: 100158) Euro Markets Tank http://quote.yahoo.com/m2?u Euro markets are awash in red. Earlier President Bush said that the war will be more difficult and take longer than most expected. The "war premium" in the US dollar and stock markets is coming under pressure.- Black Blade Black Blade (03/24/03; 02:20:17MT - usagold.com msg#: 100157) Market Indicators http://www.mrci.com/qpnight.asp After Saddam Hussein appeared on Iraqi television tonight gold and silver started higher. US market futures are decidedly negative, oil and NatGas are moving higher, and the USD is off sharply. It appears that coalition forces are meeting tough resistance and the invasion is not exactly going to plan as casualties pile up from accidents and fire fights. This is obviously not a repeat of Desert Storm.- Black Blade Elwood (03/24/03; 01:41:03MT - usagold.com msg#: 100156) (No Subject) "How, now, thou American, frustrated crusader, do you know where you are? "Is it security you want? There is no security at the top of the world. "To thine own self a liberator, to the world an alarming portent, do you know where you are going from here?" --Garet Garrett, The American Story, 1955 elevator guy (03/24/03; 00:32:38MT - usagold.com msg#: 100155) 1340cc (aka 88 cubes?) Well, they can't cut her n*tz off! Ok, ok, I know, off topic, and not enlightening. I'm guilty, and will be taking my time out now. Good Bye! ViewYesterday's Discussion.
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