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ARCHIVED DISCUSSION FROM 3/31/2002 All times are U.S. Mountain Time (Yesterday's Discussion.) Black Blade (03/31/02; 23:45:12MT - usagold.com msg#: 72454) Investors turn dubious over earnings reports http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/090/business/Investors_turn_dubious_over_earnings_reports+.shtml Snippit:NEW YORK - Over the past few months, Wall Street has waited for first-quarter earnings, anticipating that the numbers would confirm whether a business turnaround is indeed underway. But judging from the stock market's behavior of late, it is clear investors have lowered their expectations considerably. Light trading volume, fizzled rallies, and flat market indicators are all signs that investors have shifted from optimism about the economy to concerns that it might take yet another three months before earnings really recover from the recession.Black Blade: The (actual net bottom line) earnings picture on Wall Street is not likely to get any better. Notice how every quarter the Wall Street pimps say it will be better next quarter? Hmmm… mikal (03/31/02; 22:20:06MT - usagold.com msg#: 72453) "The thinking for now is to be rid of big positions in any currency..." http://www.reuters.com/newsarticle.jhtml?type=businessnews&StoryID=759 A foreign bank trader maintains that "the latest developments should simply be taken as a dollar-negative factor." And competitive currency devaluation escalates with nations liquidity and confidence problems, oil and war tensions, etc. Yen Starts Fiscal Year GlumMarch 31, 2002 09:39 PM ET TOKYO (Reuters) - The yen kicked off the new fiscal year on a glum note on Monday as a key survey of Japanese corporate sentiment fell short of expectations. But the dollar's gains were hardly heady as traders cast an uneasy eye over escalating tensions in the Middle East. In holiday-dulled trade, the dollar crept up to 133.18/24 yen in Tokyo from 132.74 in late New York on Friday. Volumes were light with holidays in Hong Kong and Australia and much of Europe off for Easter later in the day. .......... "The dollar's supported on the expected flows from Japanese investors, though it's all a bit iffy just how much financial strength they have for any large-scale investments," said a trader at a foreign bank.......... YEN TROUBLED........."Japan's outlook seems to be improving on hopes for an export-led recovery, but what's worrying is that many domestic problems remain unsolved," said Masayuki Yamamoto, research analyst at Bank of America. "There are also risks for economic reforms taking much longer than the market would like...which is negative for the yen," he said. MIDEAST VIOLENCE The Swiss franc continued to make the most out of the rising violence in the Middle East, firming to 1.6805/15 per dollar from 1.6817 on Friday. Israel looked set to step up a crackdown on Palestinian militants on Monday after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised an uncompromising war to crush a "terror" campaign he said was directed by Yasser Arafat. While many saw the conflict as hurting the dollar, others argued it could spur buying of safe-haven U.S. Treasuries and thus help the greenback. "We're not without doubts that the latest developments should simply be taken as a dollar-negative factor," said the foreign bank trader. "The thinking for now is to be rid of big positions in any currency," the trader said. END Waverider (03/31/02; 21:54:40MT - usagold.com msg#: 72452) Nikkei 225 http://www.astrikos.com/public/japan.html The link gives a realtime graph of the Nikkei 225 - looks like the Nikkei and Gold switched direction at about the same time just past 0900 - Japanese PPT action? Interesting! uponroof (03/31/02; 20:56:36MT - usagold.com msg#: 72451) Burst.... Assault.... Two Year Highs.... Notice the adjectives and descriptions being used regarding POG in the media lately. For example, just spotted these at our forum....you don't have to look too far to find many more of the same:"...GOLD has burst through US$300 an ounce..." "...The precious metal had made an assault on US$300 in February, peaking at US$307 before falling back to US$288 in mid-March...""...Already last week, bullion prices hit a two-year high. Gold closed at $303 a troy ounce in London, up from $301 midweek. The price has risen from just above $260 since 11September..."and on and on the 'explanations' go. This is painting the picture of an incredible POG shot into the stratosphere....when it is in actuality nothing but a dribble.Not that I'm complaining about the coverage (or move to 300), it is this perspective drubbed into the masses that will actually help the long term bull case. How much 'leg' is left in this run is in part being determined by the 'low expectation' factor. Simply put, If the masses (herd) believes gold is close to overbought at 300, or even 325, they will not realize true value until later in the 'leg'."True Contrary opinion is about buying low expectations, not low prices". (Bernie Schaeffer)The unintentional (or intentional) distortions about POG being 'high' or overbought at 300 are building this 'low expectation' which translates to consistent future strength.300-325 POG....HIGH? OVERBOUGHT? From 1992-1997 POG ranged never less than 340 to 400+...and that was during much more innocent economic and political global circumstances. This little move to 300 is nothing given this global climate.However, The misconception is understandable given the brainwashing over these last 6 years. In that context, gold has run an unbelievable course and in doing so must be 'running out of strength'.A month ago I advised a buy on DROOY, which was declined replying "it had just had a nice run and looked ready for a correction" (running out of strength).....since then it has almost doubled.Get ready for more of the same.Thanks to low expectations, through media exaggerated performance (implying overbought status to an uniformed public) the fuel for this rocket is not going to be depleted anytime soon.until...the 'all out mania' kicks in. That will occur just after the herd realizes their low expectations were very, very wrong.********Keep the discussions going with those unfamiliar with gold. Visit other equity sites, and talk to your friends an neighbors when you can. These are the folks that will eventually push POG into the legitimate startosphere (this year? next year?). It is hard for them to accept, and I can't blame them. It'll take a firm effort from you. The sooner you reach them the earlier they enter, and we all win.Cheers Black Blade (03/31/02; 20:02:08MT - usagold.com msg#: 72449) Gold Edges Higher http://www.kitco.com/charts/livegold.html Gold has recovered all of this weekend/holiday losses in the Third World markets since the NY close. Should get interesting as the reality of news out of the ME takes hold. Meanwhile earnings warnings and corporate losses will dominate much of the financial media over the next few weeks. - Black Blade Black Blade (03/31/02; 19:54:48MT - usagold.com msg#: 72448) Explosion Set Off In West Bank Paramedics Office-Reports http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/020331/200203310933000030_2.html Snippit:JERUSALEM (AP)--An explosion, apparently detonated by a suicide bomber, went off Sunday at an office for paramedics in the Jewish settlement of Efrat in the West Bank, medics and television reports said. Four people were wounded, including one who was in serious condition, medics said. One of the wounded apparently was a paramedic in training. A Palestinian detonated the explosive device, the Cable News Network reportedBlack Blade: Oh yeah, the violence intensifies some more. And another bomb has been reported a short time ago. No details yet. Meanwhile Israeli soldiers are sweeping through the West Bank towns rounding up Palestinian males and killing some. This has the potential to spread throughout the region and drag other ME nations into the conflict. Black Blade (03/31/02; 19:34:21MT - usagold.com msg#: 72447) Petroleum Prices Higher On ME Concerns http://www.mrci.com/qpnight.asp Oil and natural gas prices are moving higher on concerns over the war in the Middle East and the likely imminent war in Iraq. NY light sweet Crude is bouncing just under $27.00/bbl and is poised to move much higher. NG is slightly higher in sympathy with oil and due to supply concerns for the year end inventories as withdrawal rates have more than doubled over last year. Meanwhile Gold has made an occasional attempt to rise as well only to be thrown back by desperate shorts. We have plenty of time to see more developments tonight.- Black Blade sector (03/31/02; 19:02:28MT - usagold.com msg#: 72446) Citi Bank Hangs the Argentinians...are we next? Robert Rubin must have approved the siezures and mandatory conversion from dollars to pesos. March 30, 2002 New York TimesArgentines Feel Misled by U.S. Banks in CrisisBy LARRY ROHTERBUENOS AIRES, March 27 — As the Argentine economy lurched toward collapse late last year, Mar'a Carmen de los Santos was worried for her country but felt secure about her own prospects. After all, she had $225,000 in the bank — not in some fly-by-night local bank, but in dollar accounts in a rock-solid symbol of American capitalism, Citibank.Over the last four months, though, Dr. de los Santos, 45, has watched helplessly as all four of her accounts were first frozen and then converted into pesos. They have lost more than two-thirds of their value, standing at less than $75,000. She still cannot withdraw her money, and for that she blames Citibank as much as the Argentine government."I feel that they deceived, betrayed and lied to me," Dr. de los Santos, an anesthesiologist, said in an interview. "Citibank made all kinds of promises to get me to deposit my money with them, but when the crisis hit, they didn't keep their word. And their promises turned out to be false."Now she has become a leader of a group of more than 500 Citibank account holders who demonstrate regularly outside the bank's headquarters here. They maintain that Citibank, which has operated in Argentina since 1914, lured them into a financial trap through false advertising and deceptive practices. They are threatening legal action to get their dollars back.With this nation of 37 million mired in the worst economic crisis in its history, feelings are running especially strong against United States banks and other foreign banks that aggressively expanded operations in the 1990's, promoting their links to home offices in an effort to increase their share of what was then one of the world's most lucrative and least regulated markets."Anytime you'd talk to them about not renewing a time deposit, they would always say, `You can't compare Citibank to some small bank, because you have real security here,' " said José Baraschi, 53, whose deposits have fallen in value to less than $60,000 from $180,000. "I thought I had the same security as an American citizen in New York."Mr. Baraschi's case is typical. He built up his nest egg in 25 years at I.B.M. (news/quote) but was laid off six months ago. He and his wife and their two daughters, 18 and 20, had been living off the interest on the various Citibank accounts, "but now every cent we had is frozen," he said.Many depositors here, some of whom are United States citizens, also have accounts at Citibank branches in the United States but said Citibank officials had discouraged them from shifting money there, saying they would earn higher interest rates here. To their surprise and exasperation, they now find that the new restrictions here also prevent them from transferring funds between accounts.The Argentine government also has complaints about foreign banks. Citibank was already under attack as a result of a United States government report accusing it of participating in a money-laundering scheme involving associates of Carlos Saúl Menem, a former president of Argentina. Then, earlier this month, a judge here ordered senior executives from five banks, including Citibank and BankBoston, not to leave the country while he investigates accusations of illegal capital flight.Citibank officials here declined to discuss any aspect of its activities and policies in Argentina. An official at the New York headquarters referred comment to the Latin American office in Miami, where a spokeswoman, Lula Rodriguez, said the privacy rights of depositors precluded any comment on the accusations of account holders here.Lawyers and bankers here, however, argue that foreign banks, which account for 7 of Argentina's 10 largest banks, are hamstrung by the same restrictions that apply to domestically owned banks. They point out that it was the government, not the banks, that froze accounts and ordered the conversion of dollar deposits into pesos.Argentine depositors say foreign banks could easily recapitalize their operations here if they wanted to. But local analysts say that with the banking sector facing combined losses of more than $20 billion, such a step is extremely unlikely.With no signs of a solution, the depositors say they are willing to file suit in the United States to recover their money. But legal experts say their chances are slim, given the way United States banking laws have been rewritten, precisely to avoid such suits.After Communist governments took power in Cuba and Vietnam, some foreign depositors were able to recover their money after filing suit in the United States. But the banks involved were branches of United States banks and not wholly owned subsidiaries, as is the case for both Citibank N.A. and BankBoston N.A.In addition, a bank is not required to repay a deposit originally made in a foreign branch if that branch is unable to do so because of a government action, which is what happened in Argentina."This statute was specifically designed to protect American banks from claims of this type," Rodgin Cohen, a banking law specialist at the New York law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, said in a telephone interview.But depositors here say they intend to argue their case on other grounds. Citibank and other United States banks, they maintain, made guarantees that they knew were impossible to keep, and that constitutes fraud."We were led to believe that depositing our money here was the same thing as having it there in the United States," said Marta Cortelezzi, 50, a biochemist and owner of a medical laboratory. "I even closed my account in New York and put all my money in accounts here because I trusted in the assurances I was given and thought it would be easier to have the money here."If they hope to win, the depositors must cite more than the verbal assurances they say they received from local bank managers. But they say the banks are destroying the written evidence."All the documents that can be used as proof of deceit have suddenly been withdrawn from circulation," said Claudio Laborda, leader of a BankBoston depositors' group. "The brochures and pamphlets, posters and billboards, every bit of advertising promising that in a case of crisis the branch here would be backed by the home office — all of that has been taken away."A spokeswoman for BankBoston here, Mariela Mart'nez, said that "for the moment, we are not making any comments" on any aspect of the bank's activities or policies. Phone calls seeking comment from the bank's parent in the United States, FleetBoston Financial (news/quote) Services, were not returned.The accountholders say they know the odds are against them. But they say they intend to pursue the case as far as possible, if only as a warning to other depositors here and in other countries."Depositors need to know that if a bank doesn't keep its word in one part of the world, then its word doesn't mean anything anywhere else," Ms. Cortelezzi said. "Who is to say that the same thing that has happened to us here won't happen someday to depositors in Uruguay, Mexico or Brazil?"+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++The Fed has authorized the destruction [Among other things] of the South African Rand as a part of their failed monetary policy...does anyone still entertain the notion that extreme cruelty is beyond Alan Greenspan?He is, after all is said, subsumed by the arrogance of power and the inability to accept responsibility. Does he actually believe he has the right to do anything in defense of the dollar...anything?Time is telling. Golden Bear (03/31/02; 17:40:58MT - usagold.com msg#: 72445) Intuition and financial peace of mind Greetings All,It never ceases to amaze how one's intuition can help in protecting wealth from disaster. In 3 days, 2 pieces of coincidence have reinforced the insurance policy that many here at the forum adhere to for financial protection...1. Opened the book Pit Bull by Legendary trader Marty Schwartz and landed on the page discussing the crash of 1987. He saw the banking system possibly seizing up and ran to his bank to take 40 pounds of gold out of his safety deposit box before the beaurocrats freezed all accounts. On the way to the bank, he passed Rockefeller's townhouse and noted many limosines out the front - he knew the big boys were there scheming how they were going to keep the system afloat... The chapter is called Going for the Gold II.2. Last night I watched Jonny Depp's movie Blow where he plays a drug dealer. He had 60 million dollars in US fiat in a Panamanian bank(in the mid seventies). The bank was nationalized and the account was confiscated by the government. Based on a true story.Black Blade's words for financial preservation were ringing in my ears loud and clear these last few days.Hope everyone had a great Easter... Waverider (03/31/02; 17:10:58MT - usagold.com msg#: 72444) POG http://www.kitco.com/charts/livegold.html It looks like POG may break $304.00. Cheers! R Powell (03/31/02; 16:55:40MT - usagold.com msg#: 72443) turkey hunter/gold or silver? Why not both? For those of us with limited fiat, a much greater amount of physical silver in hand is possible than is gold. That is my reality but with more funds available, I'd opt for both. How much greater the investment returns will be in one rather than the other, who knows? IMHO either should surfice quite nicely. mikal, I asked David Morgan for some information on what he and others said in Phoenix at the Wealth Preservation Conference. Reportedly, it was here that he talked of $6.50 silver by year's end and much, much higher prices in 2003. As of yet, I haven't heard anything. However, I did see audio transcripts of the Conference advertised for sale but don't remember where I saw them. I believe $89 was the price. I do subscribe to his newsletter and was hoping for a conference summary. At least I don't have to pay to listen here. Thanks Rich nickel62 (03/31/02; 16:42:49MT - usagold.com msg#: 72442) James Turk's article from his website on the Howe Lawsuit 3/31 James Turk - Howe vs. BIS Letter No. 302April 1st, 2002Howe vs. BISby James Turk© 2002 by The Freemarket Gold & Money Report. The long awaited ruling from Judge Lindsay has arrived. All claims against the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the other defendants have been dismissed.When I received this news, my initial reactions were dismay and disappointment, but I was also surprised. The wrongdoing by the Defendants appears so clear-cut, and the evidence that has emerged to date so compelling, I wondered how this case could possibly be dismissed? But then I thought more deeply about this dismissal and my own understanding of the law.If there is one thing I have learned in my 30-plus years of business experience, there are right and wrong, and then there is the law as it is written and interpreted in America today. After all, if President Clinton could claim innocence because of ‘what the definition of is is’, who knows what could be possible in a complex case like Reg's? As I started to read the Judge's ruling, my question was quickly answered. To put it in non-legal terms because I am not an attorney, the answer is that the Defendants may be guilty, but in the eyes of the court, the law is the law. Or in other words, Reg Howe may be right, but the Judge denied him the opportunity to pursue these claims. The reason? Reg in the opinion of the Judge does not have ‘standing’. In other words, the case may have merit, and Reg may have convinced the Judge of wrongdoing by the Defendants. Indeed, given that the Judge did not say that the factual allegations are insufficient to bring a price fixing case, one can reasonably conclude that the Judge believes Reg's case has merit. But regrettably, Reg was unable to persuade the Judge that within the scope of the law that he has ‘standing’. In essence, the Judge said that Reg is the wrong person to bring this case to trial.The ruling from the Judge began forthrightly and candidly: "This case involves allegations of ‘an unholy alliance of high public officials’ and ‘large bullion banks’ to manipulate the price of gold. Compl. ¶ 82. The plaintiff, Reginald H. Howe (the ‘plaintiff’ or ‘Howe’), asserts that various combinations of the defendants committed two interrelated sets of wrongful acts: first, that all of the defendants conspired to depress the price of gold; and second, that a subset of the defendants conspired to set an unfairly low price in the mandatory redemption of shares of the Bank for International Settlements (the ‘BIS’)." The Judge then describes the aforementioned "wrongful acts" as "factual allegations". Having only completed just the first paragraph of a 38-page ruling, I could sense that I had an interesting read ahead of me. And in fact, my interest perked up considerably in the next section, entitled "Background".The Judge began this section by stating: "The facts set forth below are those alleged in the complaint as well as uncontested matters of public record, which have been adverted to by the parties in their papers. Alternative Energy, Inc. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 267 F.3d 30, 33 (1 st Cir. 2001) (noting that a district court properly may consider matters of public record in deciding 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss). I must accept as true the allegations in the complaint and construe in the plaintiff's favor all reasonable inferences from those allegations." Then through another three pages he lays out in detail key facts that Reg presented in his complaint.As I read the ruling it became clear that the Judge was not dismissing the case because the allegations were unfounded. Nor was the Judge saying that the factual allegations made by Reg were insufficient. To the contrary. The Judge said nothing negative about the allegations put forth by Reg. For that reason one can reasonably conclude that there is merit to Reg's argument that the Defendants committed "wrongful acts", and perhaps more importantly to the future of this case, that the allegations presented by Reg are sufficient for this case to allege price fixing by the Defendants.Thus, I didn't have to wait long to answer my question about how this case could possibly be dismissed. It was not because the Defendants didn't manipulate the price of gold. Rather, the case was dismissed for a reason that I consider to be a technical matter. The Judge said that Reg did not have standing.To explain this point, the Judge states: "...there are many participants in the gold and gold derivatives markets who could allege a more direct injury than does the plaintiff. For example, there are many gold mining companies and private investors in gold (not to mention those central banks with gold reserves) that the plaintiff does not allege to be involved in the conspiracy. All of these persons or entities would be more directly injured than the plaintiff by a scheme of the kind he alleges." In Judge-speak, there are "more appropriate plaintiffs" than Reg. And as if his point is not sufficiently obvious, he says further: "…it seems clear that there is sufficient incentive for any of the many gold mining companies or private investors in gold or gold derivatives to bring suit."Will the gold industry please stand up? In this remarkable statement the Judge is giving us here an open invitation for a gold mining company to take over Reg's complaint and his allegations of price fixing. Is there a gold mining company out there to whom Reg can pass the baton? So the gist of the ruling came quickly, but I'm glad that I continued reading the Judge's memorandum. There were some surprises, unbelievable even to my jaded eyes.For example, one surprise involved the Judge's statement as follows: "Thus when there is no evidence that Congress intended to subject federal government agencies, officials, and instrumentalities to the antitrust laws – indeed, when all evidence points in the opposite direction – it is inappropriate for a court to infer such an intent." The ghastly conclusion reached by the Judge of this reading of the law is: "For all the reasons set forth above, I conclude that Greenspan, McDonough and the Secretary of the Treasury in their official capacities are not ‘persons’ within the meaning of the antitrust laws. They enjoy the protection of sovereign immunity." In other words, they are above the law. You can only sue them if they first allow you to sue them. Now where did the Founding Fathers put that clause in the Constitution?The Judge observes: "All of the relevant case law, as discussed above, indicates that government officials are not subject to the Sherman Act, and both the Federal Reserve and the ESF have statutory authority to trade in gold." And therefore to manipulate its price? Interestingly, the Judge never addresses that thorny issue.Having read this far through the ruling, it was becoming clear that the Judge was stretching to justify his conclusions. But the most egregious statement was yet to come in the tortured reasoning offered in the following conclusion: "The seventeen directors of the BIS voted unanimously to adopt the mandatory share redemption plan. Only two of the directors, Greenspan and McDonough, are defendants in this case. Given the votes of the other directors, the share redemption would have gone forward regardless of Greenspan's and McDonough's votes."Aside from the fact that some of the other directors may have voted differently if Greenspan and McDonough had not been able to vote, the issue here is the simple matter of right or wrong. Theft is not made right just because a preponderant number of directors self-proclaim it to be right.I stopped reading here. I only completed 35 pages. Why go on? I got the picture.Clearly, to my mind the Judge was grasping for reasons to throw the case out, and frequently, his twisted logic defies reason. A gold mining company has standing, but as a shareholder of Freeport Gold's gold-denominated preferred shares Reg does not? Then there's the comment that Greenspan and McDonough are only two votes at the BIS, and they would have been out-voted by the other directors anyway.So Reg loses in court, but he still wins. Reg wins because this ruling appears so contrived in so many respects, even the most casual observer who chooses to read it will readily understand that this ruling says little about justice, but everything about power. In the end, this ruling says that the Defendants Greenspan, Summers and McDonough are above the law. Even the Stuart kings of Britain yearned for such unbridled power. But this privilege of sovereign immunity does not extend to the other Defendants, which brings up another reason Reg wins.Reg wins because the court did not say that his allegations were insufficient. Thus, the Judge practically provides a roadmap that explains how this case can go forward. First, the Judge has in effect invited a mining company to take up this case, because he states that a mining company has ‘standing’ and would therefore be an "appropriate plaintiff" under the law. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the Judge did not say that the factual allegations made by Reg are insufficient to bring a price fixing case. That opening left by the Judge – which is big enough to drive a Mack truck through – must be making the attorneys for JP Morgan Chase, Deutschebank, Citibank, Goldman Sachs and the BIS very nervous indeed. None of these banks qualify for the privilege of sovereign immunity.The upshot is that the Judge is allowing this case to go forward, but only with a different plaintiff, and provided further that Greenspan, Summers and McDonough are not named as Defendants. And it is not hard to imagine what is necessary to make that event happen. There are only two ingredients needed to move this case forward – an attorney well versed in price fixing and a gold mining company. Here is how I think we could expect to see this scenario develop at a purely practical level.It would require that the attorney works on contingency, and the gold mining company hires this attorney to bring suit. I would expect that the attorney would only require payment for out-of-pocket expenses, with the balance of his remuneration coming on contingency if he successfully litigates the case. This case could even be a class action suit on behalf of all gold mining companies injured by the price fixing of the named bullion banks. The claims could easily run into the billions, which would be more than sufficient to attract some of this nation's top attorneys experienced in litigating price fixing cases.There are some 10 million ounces of gold mined in the States each year, or some 45 million ounces over the last five years. I can easily make – and others can as well – the case that gold should be at least $500 per ounce, based on historical valuations and other methodologies that measure gold's value. For example, Frank Veneroso's work shows that gold's equilibrium price is over $600 per ounce. But in fact, the average price during the past five years when the alleged price fixing has occurred has only been $288 per ounce. Even if we just accept a $500 valuation, the potential claims are huge. Because of the price fixing, sales revenue of the US gold mining industry averaged $288 ounce instead of $500 per ounce. At $212 times 45 million ounces, revenue was $9.5 billion less than it would have been if there were no price fixing. And this value only shows the impact on the US gold mining industry. There may in fact be an opportunity for non-US gold mining companies to be involved in a class action suit, which considerably expands the scope of the claim. Using this same methodology, lost sales revenue for the gold mining industry worldwide during this 5-year period approaches $80 billion.Just a fraction of that amount of money is large enough to attract a first-class attorney specializing in price fixing, and willing to work on contingency. All we need now is a US-based gold mining company ready to accept Judge Lindsay's invitation to pursue Reg's allegations of price fixing. OK, gold mining companies. Which of you will it be? ¤jamesturk@goldmoney.com Leigh (03/31/02; 16:39:42MT - usagold.com msg#: 72441) Thom Calandra How many more days does gold need to stay above $300 before Thom Calandra dyes his hair? Black Blade (03/31/02; 16:29:48MT - usagold.com msg#: 72440) Gold sent above US$300 by hedge funds http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,2276,40447,00.html? But views differ on whether they intend to hold positions Snippit:GOLD has burst through US$300 an ounce because of purchases by macro hedge funds speculating in currencies, stocks bonds and commodities, said London bullion dealers. The precious metal had made an assault on US$300 in February, peaking at US$307 before falling back to US$288 in mid-March. But it refused to decline further. This, said dealers, prompted purchases by commodity and macro funds.The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) estimates that commodity fund and other speculative derivative purchase positions of 4.8 million ounces, late March, exceeded speculative bear positions on US exchanges by 2.8 million. Kevin Norrish, metals analyst at Barclays Capital, interpreted this as bearish on the grounds that speculators eventually must take profits and sell.But the figures are more complex, other precious metals traders said. 'The positions are firmly held,' said a leading London dealer, indicating that macro hedge funds have bought physical gold and intend to hold it. Secondly, 'commercial' short sale bear positions of 9.4 million ounces on US markets exceeded purchases by 5.5 million ounces, according to the CFTC. Commercial positions denote dealings of precious metals merchants and bullion banks. A large proportion of this trade is a hedge or insurance against counter positions with producers and consumers of gold. But it also includes proprietary trading positions of the houses, dealers said. To be sure, professionals covered a part of their bear positions last week and thus contributed to the rally. There are also large speculative positions in Tokyo and over-the-counter derivatives positions around the world, but it is difficult to quantify the size.Black Blade: Good news that commodity and hedge funds intend to hold onto physical Gold. This will likely continue as speculative purchasers watch events unfold in the Middle East and the prospect of possible petroleum shortfalls from declining inventories, declining production, and imminent war in oil producing Iraq. Also the declining corporate (actual net bottom line) earnings picture, crushing consumer and corporate debt, and deflating real estate bubble puts additional pressure on the US economy. The outlook for Gold is very positive. turkey hunter (03/31/02; 16:12:53MT - usagold.com msg#: 72439) @R Powell Silver I would tend to think if gold goes to "da moon" that would mean that it isn't there to buy, so the buyers would turn to the next best thing "silver". That's how it should work. Do you agree? Should be an interesting week. Black Blade (03/31/02; 16:12:36MT - usagold.com msg#: 72438) American Reporter Hurt in Ramallah Shooting http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,49193,00.html Snippit: RAMALLAH, West Bank — An American reporter was shot and wounded in the shoulder in Ramallah on Sunday, and Israel warned that foreign journalists were at risk and should not be in the occupied West Bank city. Anthony Shadid, a Washington-based Boston Globe reporter on assignment in Ramallah, was standing in a doorway of a shop with Globe stringer Said al-Ghazali when he was shot, said Globe foreign editor James F. Smith. Black Blade: It's a safe bet that he was shot by Israeli soldiers as they made a sweep through Ramallah. Another US reporter had told of being held at gunpoint by Israeli soldiers and forced to enter into rooms in the PA compound first in case they were occupied. Also there are reports that 12 Palestinians were summarily executed in the streets of Ramallah. This is somewhat similar to the Warsaw Ghetto attack by the Germans in 1944. There are reports that Israeli tanks bombarded a medical facility in Ramallah a short time ago. A short while later, Dr. Moussa Abu Hmeid, a Palestinian Health Ministry official, said troops confined the doctors and nurses in the hospital to several rooms and cut off the phone lines. Meanwhile more attacks were made overnight in Haifa with 17 to 20 more Israelis killed in a café and another in Tel Aviv with several casualties but only the attacker killed by his bomb. Israeli troops and tanks are now moving into the West Bank town of Qal Quilya to snuff more Palestinians. And just out are reports of another suicide bomb attack in the south in a coastal Israeli settlement – there are reports of many more casualties. Ariel Sharon announces that Israel is at war – Duh! Sharon continues to call Arafat a terrorist – in a case of "the pot calling the kettle black" I suppose. It's only a matter of time before they kill Yasser Arafat.Meanwhile dim bulb George Dubya continues to demand that Yasser Arafat order his fellow Palestinians to stop the attacks while he is held in a dark room surrounded by hostile troops and tanks while cutoff and isolated. Not that Arafat has any real control or power anyway – he's irrelevant. This mess will only escalate further and possibly drag others into this black hole of violence. Americans are being told by the State Department to keep a "low profile" around the world. On the positive side from all of this – we will likely see a sharply rising Gold and Petroleum prices. mikal (03/31/02; 16:02:34MT - usagold.com msg#: 72437) @Turkey Hunter, R. Powell, All Funny you should mention your concerns abou POS. I think I changed my mind at least half a dozen times just this weekend about whether or not to trade some more silver for gold. I am enjoying this like a hobby, researching, absorbing and concluding that I'll diversify and get more gold this week- thanks to your input and my gut feeling. BTW, has anyone heard David Morgans rationale for his $6.50 POS call for yearend? By then, gold should be setting new records while many more gold coins will be unavailable! Black Blade (03/31/02; 15:25:49MT - usagold.com msg#: 72436) Non-hedgers vs. Mega-Hedger http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/q?d=c&c=abx%2C+gg%2C+hgmcy%2C+gold&k=c1&t=3m&s=nem&a=v&p=s&l=on&z=m&q=l A picture is worth a thousand words. This tells volumes. nickel62 (3/31/02; 14:42:07MT - usagold.com msg#: 72435) Thanks MR Gresham I saved it in a file at the time and when I hit a button while cleaning out my email file this gem popped up. I couldn't remember which of the great minds that write here wrote it but it is so insightful I had to reprint it. Even more enlightening now that several years have past and some of the peices are falling into place. Thanks for remembering that it was ORO. Quite a guy. Mr Gresham (3/31/02; 14:18:38MT - usagold.com msg#: 72434) nickel62: Thanks for bringing back a great ORO post "In summary, the productivity boom is as much a mirage as the money that drives the apparent success. There is not productivity boom. There is an import boom. The imports are not driven by the great growth of the American economy. They are driven by debt of the countries producing this wealth. The imports, in the view of the advocates of the New Rome theory, are a payment of tribute by vassals. The result of this distortion driven by the monetary system is a decline in real living standards in all of the indebted world, and in the United States. Indeed, reward has been divorced from effort. "We have yet to hold the economic diamond up to the light and see as many facets at once as this extraordinary jeweler; thus no one has quite yet confirmed or disproven his theses, but they hold merit for the interwoven coherence they make out of much complexity... R Powell (3/31/02; 11:58:55MT - usagold.com msg#: 72433) turkey hunter You voiced concern about silver. "I am worried about the price of silver going up." When the POG goes up silver will go with it as most investors equate the two as precious metals. Even if you don't consider silver as money and view it only as a commodity like lead, zinc or copper then silver must be appraised from the supply/demand viewpoint. We know it's in a deficit situation with the amount of reserves being used and not replaced presently about 7 million ounces per month (according to GFMS for year 2001). This can not continue indefinitely without price rationing. Silver is still cheap. I worry too. I'm worried that I don't have enough. I have slowed down a little over the years but I still have all the greed I was born with. Happy weekend Rich turkey hunter (3/31/02; 11:38:18MT - usagold.com msg#: 72432) Good article I found arcoss the valley http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/news/business_story.html?in_review_id=538620&in_review_text_id=504392 Gold price ready to shineby Dan Atkinson, Mail on SundayGOLD prices are about to surge as the world's central bankers prepare to renew a 'ceasefire' on sales of their own bullion reserves. The present deal, agreed in Washington in September 1999, expires in 2004, but talks behind the scenes suggest it will be extended, or even made permanent.'There is every indication of a renewal,' World Gold Council chief executive Haruko Fukuda said. 'The agreement is likely to be enhanced and to go forward for another five years - or for ever.' Already last week, bullion prices hit a two-year high. Gold closed at $303 a troy ounce in London, up from $301 midweek. The price has risen from just above $260 since 11September. In the Washington deal, 15 European central banks, including the Bank of England, agreed a five-year moratorium on gold sales. The US Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the International Monetary Fund supported the deal. It came in response to the plunge in bullion prices after a number of high-profile sales of gold reserves, notably by Switzerland and Britain. With gold at its lowest in real terms since the early Seventies, producers such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Russia, Indonesia and Brazil faced growing problems. turkey hunter (3/31/02; 11:28:24MT - usagold.com msg#: 72431) @AU-some The Coming Battle I read the book about one year ago. It is very well documented using Congressional records. The book gives the names of the politicians who made the changes in the US Government. After reading this book I am worried about the price of silver moving up. The big boys devalued it back then and they can do it again if they want. I think this is why William Bryant Jennings the Senator from Nebraska gave his "Cross of Gold" speech in Chicago at the Democratic convention. The big boys just wanted gold to be worth something because it is the money of Kings and silver was the money of the common folk. In a land of plenty even the farmers were starving because silver was devalued. Hope I'm wrong about the price of silver moving up. Rock (3/31/02; 11:15:52MT - usagold.com msg#: 72430) Happy Easter to the fourm I have a greater perpective on my christian heritage as well as the freedoms and the price that has been paid for these freedoms and it isnt free. Not to preach to anyone but to take a moment on the highest holy day of the christian faith to say indeed we are a blessed people. On another note, it has been one interesting and exciting time to watch gold. I actually enjoy watching some of the finanical programs now because I know they have to mention the G word. I still hear the critics down gold in fact one lady on CNBC yesterday said investing in gold is like going back to live in the caves but one gentleman said well my gold stock is up 33% and with that the lady remained silent. God bless to all and may God bless America. nickel62 (3/31/02; 10:48:21MT - usagold.com msg#: 72429) I don't remember who posted this on USA GOLD maybe ORO or Aristotle But I thought is was worth reposting to help PIppin in his search... Quantifying Import impact on productivity measurement. First steps (Charts are at URL above in order of reference in the text). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- According to Chen/Woods theory (http://pages.prodigy.net/ashino4112/articl01.htm), imports are resold in the importing country at a greater margin than provided for the exporter. If the exporter accumulates bonds and currency of the importer, then the exporter will see no benefit from exports as goods leave the country but none come in to offset the imbalance. True wealth is given away by the exporter for nothing, at least until a long term trade deficit allows the former exporter to import an equivalent amount of goods. The quality of the currency accumulated makes for the difference in quantity of goods and services received when the currency and investments in the importer are cashed in. Since the driver of trade imbalances are overvalued currencies at the importer or undervalued currencies of exporters, obviously the one sided trade can only end when the exporter has wasted away much of its wealth, or the importer has run deficits to levels that overwhelm the willingness of the exporter to accept more of the importer's debt. Interest rate policies of central banks are usually the culprit in this matter, as they may drive investment flows in one direction, making necessary the excess export and import situation. As presented above, the importer enjoys a greater gross margin on the imported product than the exporter may realize in export. In part, this has to do with the inflated distribution cost in the importing country because of overvaluation of the currency. Thus the $2 comb set leaving the Chinese factory is a $3 part of a shipment arriving at San Diego. By the time your daughter buys it for $10, your economy registers in GDP, +$10 in final sales, -$3 in imports for a +$7 in GDP. The GDP improvement to import ratio is greater than two, in this case 2.3. The numbers for other products vary greatly, but the pattern is similar. The $1.2-1.3 trillion of imports this year are probably directly responsible for some $2 to 2.5 trillion of GDP. Perhaps more. Viewing the greater margins available in the importing country, to a great extent, as a result of a currency valuation imbalance and understanding that retailing and distribution are still very inefficient relative to manufacturing, one comes to the observation that imports raise apparent productivity because sales per employee increase as one goes from the production floor towards the final consumer. Also, the closer in function the production floor is to the retail space, so the higher its apparent productivity. If through marketing and proximity a seller can gain advantage in assembly of imported major parts to order, the producer can win final sales away from the offshore integrated manufacturer who makes the same parts and assembles them abroad. In the high technology arena, time to market is key, as are key design elements. By hiding costs through the use of employee stock options for compensation, a local in the importing country can use the high valuation of his stock, driven by artificially low interest rates at the exporter country, to subsidize the production of final product, be it software or hardware. The content of the product will, increasingly come from exporting nations, and the producer's action may be but little beyond a glorified twist of a screw driver, advertised ad nauseum. In attempting to quantify the order of magnitude of the effect of importation on apparent aggregate productivity, it is possible to observe a direct relationship to the trade deficit. The end result is that the productivity improvement observed is not as strong as presented by aggregate data. The 4% level in the government statistics can be primarily attributable to the great increase in imports. The improvement in net productivity is much smaller, on the order of 1.8% since the technology revolution began affecting the economy as a whole. Much of the rest of the improvement has to do with normal cyclical behavior of productivity, the result of normal rise in capacity utilization during boom times. There is another measure of volume increases in trade flows that stems from the improvement of the trade weighted dollar. The trade weighted dollar measure shows improvement consistently because of the attempts by European, Arab Oil and Japanese holders of US debt to retain value in the dollar by creating dollar denominated debt in emerging economy countries that actually produce something, as opposed to the US which gains foreign income through the use of international protections for grossly overvalued intellectual property. This is discussed elsewhere in some detail. For the purpose of this discussion, one need focus only on the fact of the broad trade weighted dollar index being in a rising trend as highly indebted emerging market economies attempt to extricate themselves from dollar denominated debt through devaluation of their currencies and subsidization of exports. The impact on the index of US price inflation is that of amplifying the trend through the US expansion of monetary aggregates, also known as monetary expansion and money printing. Adjusting for this debt driven increase in the value of dollars, the import volume into the US can be estimated in relationship to these aggregates. This is given in the figure below. The growth rate of the volume of goods shipped to the US has remained near 15% for most of the 1990's. As the slightest and most cursory glance at the chart will show, the United States enjoys a booming economy when the currency is gaining ground. This occurs when central bank controlled interest rates in the US are higher than those in its creditor nations. This leads to the odd conclusion that raising interest rates in the US actually prolongs the boom rather than threatening it, because it causes massive flows of liquidity into the US financial system, lowers import price inflation, increases apparent productivity, and prompts further spending by the consumer. For those who view the US as the New Rome, this great stream of imports is the spoils of war waged by an economic empire plundering the world, this data would come as no surprise. If the transition to off shore production is considered to be the source of the productivity boom of the "New Economy", then what remains of the productivity increase that is not attributable to the importation of other nation's productivity, is summarized in the figure below. While the published government figures of the productivity index show a rise of nearly 70% since 1974, the actual rise in productivity is between 0 and 10 % for the period. The lower values are consistent with the life experience of anyone in the working class and the middle class. This experience of declining reward for effort coincides with the Reagan shift to having workers pay for their benefits, while promoting steep subsidies of corporations, particularly in the earlier stages of corporate growth. The record of this transition is chronicled well by Batra in his books "The Myth of Free Trade", and "The Crash of the Millenium". Though Batra does not pay attention to the monetary root cause of the problem, he does record its effects with great powers of observation. Historical timelines for the actual levels of productivity in the US may be traced back to the introduction of accounting computing by IBM and later EDS in the late 1960's. This cleared the accounting pools of the great corporations and some government agencies. Automation of scientific work began even earlier and entered mainstream engineering by the mid 1970s. By 1980, the ordering systems and inter-corporate billing were computerized to a great extent, as had occurred in banking and finance in the 1970s. By this time, PCs were available, Digital's Rainbow, Commodore 64, Sinclair, Amiga, and others were available, and were quickly entering mainstream secretarial work. By the mid 1980s office automation was well underway. Computer controlled manufacturing equipment and processes were the hot items of the late 1970s and were mainstream by the mid 1980s. Business to business networking within and without the internet became mainstream five years ago, as were supply chain management and inventory control. The current process is one standardization and inclusion, whereby the final applications of old technologies are coming to an end. The productivity gains are still minor because of the low level of brainpower produced by the American public school system can not be sufficiently ameliorated by the computers that have come to replace missing intelligence. Inventory management in the current Just In Time manner was not attractive until high real US interest rates made the holding of inventory unattractive. Prior to this, inventory was a profit center, not a cost center. Now that the world has organized away the inventory that cushions supply disruptions and price inflation, we are quite defenseless against them. This is the best chance for Murphy's Law to demonstrate itself with a cruel spate of price inflation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In summary, the productivity boom is as much a mirage as the money that drives the apparent success. There is not productivity boom. There is an import boom. The imports are not driven by the great growth of the American economy. They are driven by debt of the countries producing this wealth. The imports, in the view of the advocates of the New Rome theory, are a payment of tribute by vassals. The result of this distortion driven by the monetary system is a decline in real living standards in all of the indebted world, and in the United States. Indeed, reward has been divorced from effort. There have been enormous strides in productivity around the globe, few of them came in the United States. It has been the seigniorage of the dollar reserve system granted to the US without economic consideration, that allowed the import of productivity from abroad and the superficial appearance of health in the economy. TownCrier (3/31/02; 09:02:11MT - usagold.com msg#: 72428) Buy gold and fuhgeddaboudit http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/020329/economy_debt_1.html WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. government's annual financial report for fiscal 2001 on Friday showed that the federal debt, historically the administration's biggest burden, is no longer the government's largest liability. The annual report, the fifth to be released, showed that a hike in federal employees' benefits in FY2001 have pushed the $3.6 trillion program --which covers pension, disability and health care costs for civilian and federal retired employees and veterans -- above the $3.3 trillion federal debt held by the public. While the government disbursed $624 million for the new benefits in fiscal 2001, it is expected that in ten years payments will reach $8 billion. Funding of these new benefits will last for as long as federal employees retire, an official from the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) told reporters....It also reported that the government deficit widened to $514.8 billion in FY2001, a dramatic downturn from a $39.6 billion surplus the previous year.The General Accounting Office said in a statement that it ``could not express an opinion on the reliability of this year's statements as a result of financial management weaknesses at the Department of Defense and the inability to track transactions among government entities.'' -----------When you can't trust the fiscal responsibility or accounting practices of big firms and government, you can always find comfort in the reliability of gold; more relevant than ever even after all these years of human development and financial sophistication. Call Centennial this week for a consultation on portfolio diversification.R. slingshot (3/31/02; 08:40:38MT - usagold.com msg#: 72427) To All at the Forum Golden Day Today is most pleasant outside and another day to thank the Good Lord for what we have and keeping us out of harms way.Wishing all of you a Happy Easter.Slingshot-----------<> Belgian (3/31/02; 08:24:27MT - usagold.com msg#: 72426) 30 Years USA in M.E. and possible implications for GOLD !? 9/11 + WA(islamic)T + Palestinian suicide attacks, bring the entire ME - Arabian oil (and other trades) into another kind of dynamics. The entire matter is shifting from leadership-arrangements into the emotions of the ordinarry people ! The levels of hatred have risen to such a broad extend that any resolution will have a chance to be ever lasting (durable). WAT has the effect of democratising (populasing) the ME/Western relations and future.This rapid evolving and broad, more fundamental, *aversion* to the West (western policies), contains much higher risks as existed before within the past 30 years.WTC / Afghanistan / Israel, recent events have reached the minds of all islamic individuals in the streets. And in a very different emotion than what (regular) "wars" are causing. The main immediate risks are not a (regular) WWIII as such but rather the effects of Western profound aversions.More precisely the US$ - POO-policies - The (undiscovered)Gold Tool. Or shortly : Boycot of the prosperous (?) western economy ! Arafat / Sharon / Arabian signs of Unity, are putting the West (US+Europ) into a difficult decision taking position. Terror is one point but "suicidal" terror is quite another matter. The more that it seems to become systemic with no immediate end in sight. Heros and martyrdomcarve deep traces into the next generation. Impulsive reactions will increase in violence and degree of atrocity, blocking / deviating, previous set agendas of expansionism.In other words : The prelude to islamic revolution of masses out of their previous leadership control. The very negative side effect of WA(islamic)T.Revitalization of the Gold dinar, oil/dollar/gold combined economic weapon and the euro on the sidelines !?The present situation is putting the UK between two chairs : The US and European chairs. That's why Tony is so very silent these days. The Iraq chapter is on hold. Russians do position them better and w're lucky that Chinaisn't fully involved at present.The suicide attacks can only be stopped by massive concessions, not only to Palestinians but to the whole ME region as well. But haven't we crossed the point of no return already ? Is this grim future, going to affect dollar/oil/gold/euro - relationships and Western (global)economy for a long time to come ? I do think that the WAT-crusade will NOT turn out as planned. Economic contraction/poverty/inegality will on the contrary engrave the present situation and polarize the contradictions and double standards. Yes, indeed : GRIM !It is a pitty that possible FREE GOLD has to be/will be, installed under such conditions of massive human suffering. Au-some (3/31/02; 07:32:14MT - usagold.com msg#: 72425) (No Subject) http://www.newswithviews.com/TheComingBattle.htm Lets try this. Au-some (3/31/02; 07:18:08MT - usagold.com msg#: 72424) Who Controls America? http://www.newswithviews.com/TheComingBattle/The ComingBattleIndex.htm I don't think this has already been posted. Its a Jekyll Island/conspiritorial view. Some might find it interesting. I can't review it because I haven't gotten around to reading it. Happy Easter! Eternal life to all. The Invisible Hand (03/31/02; 04:52:46MT - usagold.com msg#: 72423) Who remembers gold at $ 1,000? ;-) http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/article/0,,182-252499,00.html In an article "Gold glimmers as producers shore up price", which attributes gold's fall in recent years to "yellow gold" jewellery being unfashionable, but which fails to mention the existence of shorts, in today's London Sunday Times David Smith is writing:" There is also a belief among some investors that gold will do well if Middle East tension escalates. Its price rose to nearly $1,000 an ounce after the fall of the shah of Iran more than 20 years ago. "What statistics does this guy have? Anyway, gold is getting positive press coverage. Black Blade (03/31/02; 03:50:11MT - usagold.com msg#: 72422) Decline in stocks, low interest rates make Wall Street investors see gold http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/2963720.htm Snippit:After a long and deep slump, gold is the market's new sensation. In the first quarter, gold stock mutual funds posted a preliminary 35.21 percent total return, according to Lipper, the mutual fund tracker. That compares to just about no return at all in the rest of the market during those three months. Lipper says the average domestic stock fund returned 0.35 percent while taxable bond funds returned 0.17 percent.Gold's first-quarter performance confirmed a rally that began quietly a year ago in April. ''What's causing this is a number of things, all associated with a weak economy,'' says Joe Foster, a geologist who manages Van Eck International Investors Gold, a mutual fund that is up 45 percent so far this year and more than 82 percent over the last 12 months.The decline in stocks and extremely low interest rates, he said, push people into a place where they feel they can protect their investments against extreme downturns. ''Gold tends to do well when other asset classes are doing poorly,'' he says. The recent action in gold has also centered on its sudden attractiveness in Japan, where the government plans to impose a limit on insurance on timed bank deposits of $75,000. That limit will next year cover all savings deposits, Foster said. Japanese investors, reeling from recession and fearful of a banking system collapse, were seen buying bags full of gold coins last week, according to a British press report. While that has added to the rally, so have increased expectations for this market sector. Foster says the short-sellers, who expect stock prices to fall, are moving out of gold stocks.Black Blade: Aside from a very few sectors that look stable such as energy and real estate, the safe haven Gold and Silver sectors look set to shine as the Global Economy deteriorates further and investors look for a "flight to quality" (as the CNBC media Trolls now say). The CoinGuy (03/31/02; 03:24:56MT - usagold.com msg#: 72421) Gold Price Ready to Shine...Interesting Comments on Washington Accord http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/news/top_story.html?in_review_id=538620&in_review_text_id=504392 Gold price ready to shineby Dan AtkinsonGOLD prices are about to surge as the world's central bankers prepare to renew a 'ceasefire' on sales of their own bullion reserves. The present deal, agreed in Washington in September 1999, expires in 2004, but talks behind the scenes suggest it will be extended, or even made permanent.(Rest of the story at the link above)The CoinGuy Henri (03/31/02; 01:03:31MT - usagold.com msg#: 72420) Rejoice all who choose to He is riz! darkhorse (03/31/02; 00:10:45MT - usagold.com msg#: 72419) @mikal/BB Amen, brothers. I, also, appreciate what the manipulators have done for me and mine. GOD willing, I'll be able to help many more people because of them when TSHTF. I don't have/can't afford much, but it's because of them that I have been able to afford anything at all. I feel like the smart-ass kid on The Simpsons when I say "Ha-Ha" to those that have wanted to manipulate things to their own advantage. Whatever becomes of either their kind or mine, in the end (no pun intended, really) GOD will see to it that they get theirs! On this weekend that we celebrate His risen Son, may y'all have a most pleasant enjoyable one! Sierra Madre (03/31/02; 00:03:58MT - usagold.com msg#: 72418) Pippin: an excellent book you should read I'd like to recommend strongly "Money and Man" by Elgin Groseclose.This book is presently out of print, but you can get a used copy through amazon.comI'd advise staying away from modern technical writers who really can't see the wood for the trees. Shun any book with statistical tables! (Ditto as regards graphs). Reading such a book rots the mind.This is the Age of the Gold-Bug a-dawning, and gold will have the last word. Trash the statisticians! The essence of gold is QUALITY, which concrete-bound minds cannot grasp; they only think in quantitative terms. This is the reason they can only think in terms of statistics.Let them go the way of the fatuous fool, Rukeyser.Happy Easter to all!Sierra ViewYesterday's Discussion.
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