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Silver Stocks -- Comparative Valuations Weekly Report #47
By: Jason Hommel, GoldIsMoney.com
26. Dezember 2024, 15:26
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http://news.silverseek.com/GoldIsMoney/1093270024.php
Silver Stocks -- Comparative Valuations Weekly Report #47
By: Jason Hommel, GoldIsMoney.com
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http://www.antaranews.net/en/index.php?id=s8422
Economic
Aug 23, 2004 18:49
MINING CAN BRING ABOUT ECONOMIC BONANZA -- NERI
MANILA, 23/8 (ANTARA/PNA) --
The Philippines stands to derive a bonanza of economic benefits from a developed mining industry.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said that for starters, the potential mining wealth in the country is estimated at $840 billion (about P47 trillion) or 10 times the nation,s annual gross domestic product (GDP) and 15 times its total foreign debt.
"The growth of the mining industry is critical in inducing greater economic growth, attracting more investments, creating more jobs and reducing poverty, particularly in the rural areas," Neri said.
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http://www.swissinfo.org/sde/s…?siteSect=143&sid=5163672
Montag 23.08.2004
Gefahr des Überspringens des Vogelgrippe-Virus auf Schweine
PEKING - In China hat die WHO nach dem mutmasslichen Überspringen des tödlichen Vogelgrippe-Virus auf Schweine vor einer weltweiten Epidemie gewarnt. Die WHO werde ein mögliches Übergreifen des Virus auf Schweine sehr genau prüfen.
Die Gefahr einer weltweiten Epidemie sei «näher gerückt, aber wir wissen nicht, wie nahe», sagte der Leiter der Weltgesundheitsorganisation für die Region Westpazifik, Shigeru Omi, im malaysischen Penang: «In diesem Moment gibt es noch keinen Grund für eine Panik, aber wir müssen wachsam bleiben».
Die chinesischen Behörden dementierten derweil Angaben einer führenden Wissenschaftlerin, wonach das Virus in diesem Jahr bei Schweinen nachgewiesen wurde. Insgesamt 1,1 Millionen Gewebeproben von Geflügel und Schweinen seien untersucht worden, teilte das chinesische Landwirtschaftsministerium mit.
In den Gewebeproben von Schweinen sei das besonders gefährliche Vogelgrippe-Virus H5N1 nicht entdeckt worden. Chen Hualan vom chinesischen Vogelgrippe-Referenzentrum hatte am Freitag darüber informiert, dass bei jüngsten Tests an «einem einzigen Ort» ein Stamm von Vogelgrippe-Viren in Schweinen nachgewiesen worden sei.
Zudem lägen positive Tests bereits aus dem vergangenen Jahr vor. Schweine gelten als gute «Mischgefässe» für das Virus. Weil die Tiere sich sowohl mit der menschlichen Grippe als auch mit der Vogelgrippe infizieren könnten, könnten die beiden Erreger in den Schweinezellen zu einem neuen, von Mensch zu Mensch übertragbaren und tödlichen Virus mutieren. 230918 aug 04
SDA-ATS
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http://www.n24.de/politik/inland/?a2004082315552116256
Letzter Ausweg aus der Armutsfalle - das Sparschwein der Kinder?
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23. August 2004
Deutschland 2004: Unzufrieden und ärmer
Datenreport sieht wachsende Ungleichheit
Deutschland droht in den kommenden Jahren zunehmende Armut und wachsende Ungleichheit bei der Einkommensverteilung. Bereits jetzt sind die Bundesbürger immer unzufriedener mit ihren Lebensbedingungen und haben immer weniger Vertrauen in ihre soziale Absicherung und das Gesundheitswesen. Das zeigt der "Datenreport 2004", der am Montag in Berlin vorgestellt wurde. Demnach geht es den Deutschen inzwischen nicht mehr besser als ihren Nachbarn, sondern sie sind im europäischen Vergleich in vielen Bereichen auf mittlere oder hintere Plätze abgerutscht.
Der seit 1983 alle zwei Jahre vorgestellte Datenreport erfasst die soziale Lage und das subjektive Wohlbefinden der Bevölkerung in Deutschland. Erstellt wird er vom Statistischen Bundesamt, dem Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB) und dem Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden und Analysen (ZUMA) in Mannheim. Die Ergebnisse deuten bei den Bereichen Einkommen und Armut eine Trendwende an: Nachdem der Anteil der Bevölkerung, der unter der Armutsgrenze lebt, in Westdeutschland mehr als ein Jahrzehnt stabil war und in Ostdeutschland nur langsam stieg, zeigen für 2002 alle Indikatoren eine Zunahme der Armut. 2002 lebten demnach 13,1 Prozent der Deutschen in Armut, 2001 waren es 12,5 Prozent.
Tendenz zu Ungleichheit und Armut
Gleichzeitig wird die Einkommensverteilung immer ungleicher: Die ärmsten 20 Prozent der Bevölkerung erhielten 2001 nur noch 9,3 Prozent des gesamten Einkommens gegenüber 9,7 Prozent im Vorjahr. Zudem sind in Ostdeutschland elf Prozent und im Westen sieben Prozent der Haushalte von Überschuldung bedroht. Einzeln betrachtet sei dies noch keine dramatische Entwicklung, hieß es in einer Stellungnahme von WZB und ZUMA. Insgesamt zeige sich aber eine Tendenz zu einer von zunehmender Ungleichheit und Armut gekennzeichneten Gesellschaft, was die inzwischen eingeleiteten Reformmaßnahmen für die Sozialsysteme noch verstärken würden.
Doch schon vor den Reformmaßnahmen waren die Bürger im Jahr 2002 mit der sozialen Sicherung mit Abstand am wenigsten zufrieden. Insgesamt geht das subjektive Wohlbefinden der Bevölkerung - die allgemeine Lebenszufriedenheit und Zufriedenheit mit verschiedenen Aspekten der Lebensbedingungen - zurück. Dabei sind die Ostdeutschen bis auf das Thema Kinderbetreuung unzufriedener als die Westdeutschen, vor allem bei den Themen Haushaltseinkommen und Lebensstandard.
Ostdeutsche glauben weniger an die Demokratie
Alarmierend ist vor diesem Hintergrund die Einstellung der Ostdeutschen zur Demokratie: Mit 49 Prozent glaubte im Jahr 2000 nur knapp weniger als die Hälfte, dass die Demokratie in Deutschland die beste Staatsform sei - bei den unter 35-jährigen Ostdeutschen waren es sogar nur 45 Prozent. Von den Westdeutschen stimmten immerhin 80 Prozent dieser Aussage zu. Zufrieden mit dem Funktionieren der Demokratie in Deutschland waren im Jahr 2000 nur 38 Prozent der Ostdeutschen gegenüber 60 Prozent der Westdeutschen.
Drei Jahre später stieg die Zahl der zufriedenen Westdeutschen auf 66 Prozent, bei den Ostdeutschen sank die Zahl auf 32 Prozent. "Es trifft nicht mehr länger zu, dass es den Deutschen besser geht als den meisten anderen Europäern", erklärte Roland Habich vom WZB. Die Situation auf dem Arbeitsmarkt war 2002 bei den damals 15 EU-Ländern nur in Spanien, Griechenland, Finnland, Italien und Frankreich schlechter als in Deutschland. Das Vertrauen in Gesundheitswesen und Sozialversicherung ist in Deutschland derzeit deutlich geringer als in den meisten EU-15-Ländern. Und weniger zufrieden als die Deutschen mit ihrem Leben insgesamt sind nur noch Italiener, Franzosen, Griechen und Portugiesen. Außerdem gehört Deutschland zu der Minderheit der EU-15-Länder, in denen weniger als die Hälfte der erwachsenen Bevölkerung mit ihrer Gesellschaft zufrieden ist.
Positive Nachrichten gibt es immerhin von den Rentnern: Diese sind mit der sozialen Sicherung wesentlich zufriedener als die noch arbeitende Bevölkerung, und auch ihre Lebenszufriedenheit sinkt selbst im hohen Alter nur unwesentlich. Einbußen der Lebensqualität sehen sie hauptsächlich bei ihrer Gesundheit. Dagegen konnten sie ihre Einkommenssituation im vergleich zu den Jüngeren in den vergangenen 20 Jahren verbessern - vor allem im Osten, wo sie klar zu den Gewinnern der Nachwendezeit gehören.
(N24.de, AP)
Mehr zum Thema:
Hartz-Proteste in 140 Städten
Schickt Hartz IV Kinder in die Armut?
Neue Altersarmut - Hartz sei Dank?
Und was sagen uns die Meldungen von heute?
Immer schoen etwas GOLD und SILBER dazu kaufen!
Gruss
ThaiGuru
Bitte zwischen den Zeilen lesen!!!
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/ne…af53811d885e900000e2511c8
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US Treasury wants to identify issue holders
By Jennifer Hughes
The US Treasury on Monday called on holders of large positions in a government bond issue to identify themselves to the New York Federal Reserve
The Treasury asked for those holding $2bn or more in the 4 per cent bond due June 15 2009, by close of business on Wednesday August 18, to notify the NY Federal Reserve by Friday. Such summonses are usually issued when dealing in a particular security in the repo, or lending, market has become unusually tight. "It's their way of letting the market know they're paying attention and telling it not to misbehave," said John Roberts, head of government trading at Barclays Capital in New York.
Conditions in the US repo market, where participants can borrow securities for short-selling and other uses, have become a concern because of a growing number of "fails", where the securities in question are not lent or returned in spite of a repo agreement. A prolonged fail last year raised concerns among observers that the problem was becoming more entrenched and could undermine confidence in the market.
The Treasury responded at its quarterly refunding this month by announcing it would maintain current levels of issuance in 10-year notes against previous indications that it could scale back the sales.
The Treasury also noted market concerns about the growing number of overseas holders of government bonds. About half of all liquid Treasury bonds are held by foreign investors, mainly central banks.
Zitat"They are more reluctant to lend the securities and this has been linked to the larger number of fails," said Kim Rupert, bond market analyst at ActionEconomics.
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August 23 - Gold $410.50 down $2.40 – Silver $6.74 down 11 cents
Gold Cartel Digs In, Massive Open Interest Increase, Gold Breaks Out In Euro Terms
ZitatMany of us spend our whole lives running from feeling with the mistaken belief that you can not bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain. What you have not done is feel all you are beyond that pain... Kahlil Gibran
GO GATA!!!
As soon as I saw gold open lower in the Access market last evening, it made me feel like the spouse who has caught her husband, or his wife, cheating over and over again. The spouse finds her marriage partner missing in action one more time and believes there is a legitimate excuse for the most recent no-show. The denial, or hope of change of a decadent pattern, is so strong as to rule out infidelity for the 100th time.
Sorry, some habits and patterns do not change very easily. While a good part of the gold market action was different on Friday and should lead to substantial moves higher in the weeks and months ahead if the physical market holds up as we expect, The Gold Cartel isn’t going to go quietly into the night. They are going to have to be kicked in the pants and sent squealing into the dumpster.
As par for the course, we are seeing their patented modus operandi. They cap, cap, capped gold up within their $6 Rule parameters the last few hours of trading on Friday in preparation for a regrouping today. Clearly, they were surprised and stunned by the enormous buying on Friday. So, once again the dollar was propped up for no apparent reason in Europe this morning and gold was sent to the cleaners.
What is so obvious about this is the consistency of their rigging pattern. Markets which break out like gold did last Friday, usually follow-through for a bit further – and then they might fail. Gold never does. Instead, it is always taken down before trading begins the next day in an effort to influence the trading on the Comex. The S&P does just the opposite. The Working Group on Financial Markets maneuvers it to come in higher on most mornings, as they don’t have to compete with any cash market and can prop up the US stock market by employing relatively modest amounts of funds.
Aside from the contrived Gold Cartel inspired price-capping, gold is due for a rest from a technical standpoint to consolidate its gains after its run-up the past month. Physical market buyers were the ones responsible for gold’s big jump last week and it is only natural they wait for pull backs to add to their positions.
However, the proof is in the pudding when it comes to gold's price, which should be correcting from $423, not $413. To give you some idea of how desperate The Gold Cartel is to keep that price from going to where it should, the open interest rose an astonishing 19,062 contracts to 257,077. With that sort of buying power hitting the market, gold should have rallied $16 on Friday, or more. Clearly, cabal headquarters put out the word to stop the gold advance at all costs (after they were kicked you know where in the early going). As John Brimelow constantly points out, no seller wanting to maximize profits would have sold gold the last few hours in such a manner as to keep the price from rising. The massive rise in the open interest with gold failing to move higher in the last hours of trading is PROOF how important the $6 Rule is to the crooks.
London checked in and is looking for a short-term pullback to $405/$408 as the cash market buyers take a breather. However, they are looking for gold to rebound by week’s end as the physical market buying picks up. They expect that demand to really pick up in September and for gold to take out $418 and go on from there.
Our stalker source also says there was a decent amount of junk gold which surfaced at the refiners in the US and Europe when gold took out $400 to the upside. Refiners like this sort of raw material as they can price it right. However, this recent supply has dried up and it will take higher prices to bring in the next tranche. Thus, the refiners are running low on supply at the moment and will have to pay up in the marketplace to secure new inventory.
The funds were the buyers again today, looking at the price setback as good entry points. Even with the astonishing open interest increase, there is room for another 50,000 contracts to pile in before we take out this year’s earlier high of 305,000+.
So this was not a good day for gold right? The gold price went down, yes? Nope, not necessarily. If you own gold in euros, it went UP! Matter of fact, it took out some key resistance at 337.40, a high made last December 1 when gold was trading around $430 in dollar terms. The only major resistance now is at the 349 level where it put in a quadruple top in late March, the last time gold approached $430.
This is a marvelous development. For the second day in a row, gold has traded with some independence from what the dollar is doing. Been that way for more than a week actually. However, the last two trading sessions have been more dramatic. This tells me The Gold Cartel is throwing all they have (plus the kitchen sink) at gold to keep from being routed, to keep the price from accelerating too fast - and they are having trouble doing so. The enormous buying in the physical market is giving them fits and certainly is hastening their DOOM!
The dollar closed at 89.18, up .95, while the euro lost 1.64 to 121.39.
September dollar
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/US/94
September euro
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/EC/94
Currency analysts we spoke to could give no clear cut explanation why the dollar was so strong today. It was up sharply against ALL major currencies. Most answers were of a technical nature. From a fundamental standpoint, this surge in the dollar makes no sense. Was the trade deficit corrected the past few days? This smells of ESF intervention of some sort and signals The Working Group on Financial Markets has some bigger problems going on behind the scenes which have them spooked.
The dollar's startling strength also blows out of the water those who contended it was holding up because of the strength in oil; that dollars were needed to pay for the higher oil prices. October oil closed at $46 per barrel, down 75 cents. Thus, oil and gold have gone in opposite directions, and substantially, for two days in succession.
Silver’s tired action of the last two trading sessions kicked in today with silver swooning almost 20 cents in the early going. It stabilized from there on in and actually closed near its highs of the day.
The silver open interest rose sharply too, gaining 5,008 contracts to 104,931.
The best silver news of the day was the warehouse stocks, after rising somewhat, fell sharply again and are close to making new lows for the move. They fell 1,260,115 ounces to 110,130,514.
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http://www.lemetropolecafe.com
The John Brimelow Report
Is Big Brother watching us?
Monday, August 23, 2004
Indian ex-duty premiums: AM $5.74, PM $6.88, with world gold at $410.90 and $409.60. Adequate, and ample, for legal imports. Impressively resilient performance: very bad news for Bears.
India’s credit rating was raised by S&P today, and UBS has published a report linking the country with China in a forecast for stupendous growth in consumer spending over the next generation. After an initial flurry in the early 90s, Chinese economic growth has meant disappointingly little for gold (in contrast to platinum); India, on the other hand, has been excellent. The concept that India should be compared with China must ultimately improve sentiment towards gold via comprehension of the Venerosian "wealth effect" idea.
Wealth growth is the reason advanced for the double- digit surge in gold demand (by weight) in the Gulf in Q2 ’04 compared to ’03, which is reported in several Gulf Newspapers today. (See the eccentrically headlined
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Di…st/business_august398.xml story.)
Considering the gold price, this is indeed a remarkable event: geopolitical factors must surely be involved as well. Needless to say, the latter is not going away.
With the active contract up 16 yen at the close, liquidation on TOCOM has clearly resumed. On comparatively heavy volume equal to 36,631 Comex lots (127% above Friday), open interest slipped another 544 Comex equivalent to equal only 93,493 Comex contracts. This is quite low for TOCOM. World gold was $1.95 below NY’s close at the end of trading. (NY on Friday traded 86,343 contracts. Open interest leapt a staggering 19,062 lots, (59.3 tonnes!) to 257,077.)
Observers generally seem to have some difficulty accounting for gold’s behavior last week. It emancipated itself from the dollar of course. UBS is also puzzled by what they consider to be a low build up in spec longs:
"The COTR for gold showed a smaller than expected increase in the net long position in gold in the week to 17 August. As we stated on Friday, based on the move in the gold price over the preceding week, we expected an increase of 2-3 million ounces. The one million ounce addition… probably indicates that OTC rather than Comex buying has been driving the metal. Subsequent changes in open interest suggest that the net long position has increased by around another 1-2 million ounces since then, again a rather small move… OTC funds have been largely absent from the gold market since the May sell-off and the fact that they may be returning to the gold market could herald a move back to the highs of earlier in the year"
The obvious explanation, that the gold move last week was rooted in the Middle East and Indian physical market (which is what the premiums have been saying), is surprisingly overlooked. There is, of course, a real question as to how close an upscale outfit like UBS is to the grubby business of shipping many small parcels of metal to the Arabs and Indians.
Commentaries are probably more justified in attributing Friday’s action to Funds – although UBS interestingly reports heavy activity on the PM fix (which was $410.55), suggesting there was physical appetite as well. What is not discussed, and on the basis of past experience will not be discussed, is what kind of seller stands from 11am to the close on an August Friday, pouring huge volume into the market, and holding the price static (at around $413 spot). This after the gold price had triumphantly vaulted just about every technical obstacle recently popular.
Mike Bolser, who believes gold is under constant management on the basis of the 200-day moving average of the Dollar Index price, has begun considering if the effort to keep this parameter flat (which he detected early in the summer) has been abandoned. What can be said on the basis of the physical premiums is that the hero seller is likely to be needed again.
JB
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http://www.lemetropolecafe.com
CARTEL CAPITULATION WATCH
The DOW struggled all day long after WalMart disappointed, closing off 37 to 10,073. The DOG meandered, finishing the day up 1 at 1839.
Not good for down the road oil supply:
Yukos cuts oil production target for 2004
Bloomberg
The company reduces its oil output target to 1.72M barrels/day from 1.8B barrels. The company has paid $1.5B of its $3.4B tax bill.
* * * * *
Last week Wall Street was pleased about WalMart’s guidance. Their smiles have turned to frowns on the retail front:
07:44 WMT reduces August comp. guidance to flat to +2% (54.65)
Prior guidance was +2 to +4%, given on 8/16.
* * * * *
The CRB is crawling back, rising 1.15 to 277.64 and led by a surprisingly resurgent soybean complex. Lumber not doing too badly of late either:
Lumber price goes through the roof
Spot price at record high: Hurricane Charley and hot U.S. housing market cited
Financial Post
Friday, August 20, 2004
VANCOUVER - Lumber prices continued their meteoric rise this week and are expected to break through a record as Florida home owners prepare to rebuild after the devastating impact of Hurricane Charley.
On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, September lumber futures delivery were yesterday sitting at US$442 for 1,000 feet of two-by-fours, the highest in 10 years….
-END-
GATA’s Mike Bolser:
Hi Bill:
The Fed added $8.25Billion in temporary repos today August 22nd 2004, an action that caused the repo pool to rise to $49.765 Billion. The pool's 30-day ma however continues its roll-over from its linear slope up and now sits level. An explanation is still needed for this Fed tactical move, coming at a time when the markets seem ready to swoon. Oil in particular desperately needs derivative support. It is difficult to imagine a healthy JP Morgan under this kind of strain. Recall that the BIS reported over $450 Billion in their "Other" derivatives category which contains oil. JP Morgan also has a massive $29 Trillion interest rate derivatives colossus that teeters although the bond rig seems OK for now.
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I continue to focus on crude oil as a potential catalyst in the coming gold war capitulation. Attached is the DIVO_Recent chart current for the IPE Brent daily close on the 20th. It shows a strong up move in the all-important 200-day ma at a time when the ma pierced its previous long-term ma ceiling at $28. This condition is serious and significantly exceeds the normal boundaries of the Fed's control mechanism. It is this view, combined with the existence of an Army in the Middle East and the nearness of the presidential election that continues to suggest that the SPR is effectively drained. Here's yet another indicator:
[Blockierte Grafik: http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/img2004/DIVO_Recent0823.gif]
'Iraq oil stocks coming to an end' :
World News > Kuwait City, Aug 21 :
http://www.123bharath.com/world-...ws&id=9805
Iraqi oil export is currently averaging 800,000 to one million barrels per day from its stock that is close to being exhausted, Xinhua reports.
There is no production of oil now in Basra and what is being exported is from previously produced and stored oil, an Iraqi South Oil Company source was quoted by the Kuwait News Agency as saying.
The source in Basra added this stock is on its way to exhaustion.
South Oil Company spokesman Samir Jasem refused to specify the volume of exported oil, saying, "A lot of what is being reported is false."
As for the extent of damage suffered by the company in recent attacks, Jasem said the damage is "great", expressing sorrow that political conflicts have such a devastating effect on the oil sector, which provides services to the people.
END
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
As I indicated in past weeks, the oil propaganda machine has been ramped up. This article continues the fiction that the SPT is fully available for "release" to drop the price of oil. If it were available, in my opinion, it would have already been "released" (Note also the similarity of SPR market controlling size to the Exchange Stabilization Fund's $30 Billion):
Politics Dog the Oil Reserve
An independent panel should be given control of the U.S. stockpile.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opin...t-opinions
By David G. Victor and Joshua C. House, David G. Victor, adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Joshua C. House are in the Program on Energy & Sustainable Development at Stanford University.
STANFORD ‹ With oil prices heading toward $50 a barrel, what would happen if the markets really blew?
Ever since the late 1970s, Washington's answer to such an event has relied on oil stockpiled mainly by the federal government, to be released if market instability warranted it. Today, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve contains 666 million barrels ‹ nearly 65 days of imports ‹ worth nearly $30 billion at current prices. Our industrialized allies have similar stocks, India has started one and China, whose oil imports are rising rapidly, is expected to create a reserve soon. Through the International Energy Agency in Paris, the major oil importers have agreed, in principle, to coordinate their stockpiles. END
++++++++++++++++++++++
The DOW holds its Friday gains and gold is also subdued this morning and tracks around $410. On Friday I reported that an important metric had sharply turned upward. The next few days will fill in much more data. If that turn continues, I see a period of $410-$415 gold ahead for about a month as being the Fed's goal.
The controllers seem to be signaling this plan but it is exposed to increasing attacks by more and more longs who become fully convinced of the Fed's absurd monetary policies and switch their wealth to metal. There inevitably will come a day when a significant player moves to take the rest of the precious metals inventories and that day is un predictable because it is controlled by people.
Mike
More from Mike:
Hi Bill:
The DIVG took a big jump today up to 355.04. This means that in the last week the DIVG has moved 9.72 points upwards.
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[Blockierte Grafik: http://www.lemetropolecafe.com…%20200ma%20Single0823.gif]
By focusing only the DIVG instead of the PM Fix values we gain the same perspective that the gold cartel uses and by that view the cartel seem to be retreating once again as it did in early 2003 after a protracted defense of DIVG 323. It is still too early to say this for sure because the fed and its acolytes can attempt to engineer another cyclic defense.
I am watching this by the moment and know for a fact that the cartel will adopt a regression target IF they are in a full retreat mode. I will get that target slope almost as fast as they intercept it.
For today they have made a very sharp turn upward with the DIVG and this is unusual but not totally unexpected. When they apply downward pressure the Fed's computer geeks are VERY slow and deliberate. This slowness indicates to me that gold is indeed "precious" to them as they refuse to throw it away in big lots, preferring to add relatively gentle pressure, gradually steering the DIVG. They took exactly 40 days to intercept their last up slope, carefully steering things all the way.
It is important to appreciate that the yellow 200-day ma intercepted an exactly flat growth condition before this up move.
Note also the perspective of the currency chart which shows the current divergence between the Euro and PM Fix and examine the previous times that such a divergence occurred.
Mike
Some moments of clarity from Wall Street. First from Goldman Sachs:
"It is remarkable how mild the reaction was to last Friday's June trade report. The dollar fell slightly; bonds and stocks were little disturbed. In our view, however, the sharpest one-month deterioration in history is a warning: The dollar will ultimately fall sharply, worsening the growth/inflation tradeoff for the US."
Bill Dudley
The Soaring US Trade Deficit—Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
Aug. 18, 2004
Then from Barron’s:
ALAN ABELSON---8/21
THAT CHART ALSO SPEAKS VOLUMES about the popular notion -- popular, that is, among sell-side economists and government hacks -- that inflation is quiescent. And what it says is that it ain't necessarily so.
Yes, we're aware that the consumer-price index was up a piddling 0.2% in July (and only 0.1% if you use the core number, which leaves out everything except straw hats in winter and snow tires in summer). Truth is that the CPI is a splendid measure of prices -- but of prices in a parallel universe, where the money supply never runs wild, central bankers are wise, there are no deficits, only surpluses, and productivity grows at 3% year in, year out, and GDP likewise.
We not only can cite empirical evidence that the cost is rising inexorably for energy, shelter, food and kindred nonessentials, but the latest reports from a clutch of companies big and small also attest to the sorry fact that prices are moving up. Several sharp-eyed spotters have pointed out to us that Sysco, the big food distributor, noted in reporting its second-quarter results that it had to overcome "the effects of 8% product inflation" in achieving higher sales and earnings.
And the Philadelphia Fed in its latest survey of businesses in its region reported significant boosts in the prices companies had to pay and the prices they were getting.
What's the old saying about none so blind as those who won't see? At the very least, we urge the folks who work up the CPI get a vision check, and ditto the no-inflation chorus on the Street.
A little aside on prices. We're an unreconstructed nonconspiracy stalwart. But we think it more than passing strange that after an extended stretch of almost instantaneous response at the pump, the latest surge in crude has not yielded a comparable rise in gasoline prices. Explanations for the lag seem notable for their vacuity. Could it be that, acting quite independently, of course, the petro moguls suddenly became a tad hesitant to crank the tab up once again lest the populace grow mutinous?
-END-
An interesting perspective from the Asian Times:
THE ROVING EYE
Oil's slippery slope
By Pepe Escobar
Click here: Asia Times - Asia's most knowledgable news source
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/FH24Dj01.html
In euros, please
….From an American perspective, the need to control Iraq's oil is deeply intertwined with the defense of the dollar. The strength of the dollar is guaranteed above all by a secret agreement signed between the US and Saudi Arabia in the 1970s that all OPEC oil sales be denominated in dollars. Saddam Hussein started selling Iraqi oil in euros (and making a handsome profit) in November 2000 - and that's another crucial reason for the Iraqi invasion. Many OPEC countries, not to mention Russia (President Vladimir Putin already referred to it on the record), flirt with the idea of trading their oil in euros. (OPEC is made up of Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.)
A recent analysis published by Goldmoney states that OPEC has already switched, in fact, to trading oil in euros - as oil-exporting countries fight to offset the weak dollar, "It seems clear that OPEC and the other oil exporters are already pricing crude oil in terms of euros, at least tacitly. Whether they start invoicing their crude oil sales in terms of euros remains to be seen."
-END-
Some follow-up on the stink Gold Cartel member Citibank made in Europe recently:
Hi Bill
I have been out of the country for two weeks so if this topic has already been covered please disregard:
I ran across this FT article while in Zurich and it struck a chord. We get a highly manipulative illegal trade by Citi where they bang the FX market for big profits and the authorities take immediate action. As I see it the only problem that the powers to be had with this trade was Citi did it to other elites like themselves and those guys on the other side of the trade that lost millions did not like it at all and neither did the regulators who want to protect orderly markets. Seems this type of trading is just not good for stable and fair trading markets. Here we get an incident of illegal trading in the FX market and the regulators jump to action crying fowl, investigation, and we need to make sure this does not happen again.
Now to connect the dots: isn't this the same type of illegal trading activity that we are complaining to the CFTC about in the gold market. Where are the regulators when the same thing happens to us time and time again.
I think this Citi situation and the regulatory response to Citi's illegal trading activity should be used as an argument for our case that what is going on in the gold market is no different than what Citi did in the FX market and we should be give fair and equal attention from the authorities. If the regulators saw fit to intervene in the Citi case then why don't they intervene in the manipulation of the gold market.
Pointing out this example to the CFTC should by my way of thinking be tough for them to explain away and at the very least a little embarrassing. And a little embarrassing is probably all we will get.
Don't you just love some of the following quotes from the article:
"unusual trading activity"
"stunned"
"The FSA's key aim includes maintaining efficient, orderly markets"
"large players in financial markets to have regard to the likely
consequences of their trading activity"
"unprecedented trading tactics which caused significant losses"
"some... called for sanctions"
"undermined confidence"
W Bishop Jordan
Café input from France:
Hi Bill,
My second largest position is in a Utah based company, Clifton Mining (CFTN). In addition to its vast mineral holdings, it maintains a 29% stake in American Biotech Labs. They manufacture an ingestable colloidal silver product (ASAP) that has kept me infection free for four years.
Mainstream media has had to tip toe around the well known but suppressed scientific fact that silver products are literally a non-toxic, inexpensive panacea for virii/bacteria control. This knowledge, if it became widespread, would collapse the pharma's bread and butter antibiotic sales.
With more diverse applications of silver products for bacterial control (bandaids, clothing, etc.), it seems as though silver has found a backdoor into the marketplace. Once established, it would be only a small step for silver to be accepted as a safe, internally ingested product. Then the lid will blow off.
ABL has already gained EPA approval for their AGX-32 (32ppm) product, for use as a surface disinfectant in hospitals and research labs. It is now being successfully experimented with in the poultry/meat packing industry as a way of greatly increasing the shelf life of those food products that are prone to rapid bacterial deterioration. The applications seem limitless.
My 5 year professional involvement in the nutritional supplement industry made me acutely aware of the extreme regulatory pressure that is brought to bear upon any product that non-toxically and inexpensively brings about robust health. Articles, such as the one below, are slowly bringing an awareness to the public of silver's miraculous health and medical applications, and that can't be bad.
Keep up the good fight.
Don Duca
Moissac, France
Has French gold met its Waterloo?
By Paul Betts
Published: August 20 2004 05:00 | Last updated: August 20 2004 05:00
Financial Times
The Paris gold market has long seemed quaintly anachronistic. Rather than choosing a single measure such as the ounce, prices were quoted for weird and wonderful items such as Napoleon and Louis-Philippe gold coins, ingots and British gold sovereigns, American gold dollars and Mexican gold pesos.
Making it all the more eccentric, these coins and bars had to be physically delivered, so traders, unlike in London and New York, could not deal in paper.
This romantic but archaic state of affairs came to a close this month when pan-European stock exchange Euronext suspended the market until further notice because of a dearth of operators.
An 8 per cent sales tax has hurt trade, causing sellers to travel abroad to sell their gold.
But the suspension gives the authorities a chance to modernise the market by quoting gold in a standard measure and slashing the levy.
The Bank of France has already sought to renew France's love affair with gold by rebuffing government attempts to sell some of its 3,000-tonne hoard to ease the budget deficit.
-END-
[Blockierte Grafik: http://www.goldseek.com/news/LemetropoleCafe/lmpc.jpg]
http://www.lemetropolecafe.com
CARTEL CAPITULATION WATCH
Crude oil is going through a normal correction, one which may not last too long, for many reasons:
The Russia Journal
Government unable to curb gasoline prices
August 20, 2004 Posted: 14:59 Moscow time (10:59 GMT)
MOSCOW - The Russian government is trying to curb prices for oil products, Russian Economy Minister German Gref said, Echo of Moscow radio reported.
According to him, export tariffs will be raised starting September 9. Mr. Gref admitted that prices for oil products were higher than they should be. At the same time, he said it was difficult to curb them. "We are not sure we will be able to do it effectively," the Economy Minister noted.
The price for AI gasoline rose RUR 4 per liter since June 1, from RUR 11 to RUR 15. Analysts say AI gasoline will cost RUR 17 to RUR 18 per liter by the end of the year.
This week, retail gasoline prices in Russia reached US levels, for the first time ever. Moscow retailers accuse large oil companies of deliberately raising fuel prices. According to them, gasoline prices have climbed 40 percent this year in Russia, against 8-12 percent in the United States. Monopolists agree among themselves about price increases, and large companies use their monopoly to sell their products at higher prices.
For their part, oil companies say oil prices are rising throughout the world. In addition, the demand for oil is growing, and transportation and electricity are also rising. In the opinion of Russian analysts, gasoline prices will continue increasing, and they are likely to reach European prices by the summer of 2005.
Meanwhile, fuel prices are going to rise again soon. In recent years, they have increased in the period from mid-August to early October. The seasonal rise is due to harvest campaigns and the return of vacationers. Some analysts think the price of gasoline in Russia will rise another 15 percent by October.
-END-
Something to keep in mind, a note from a fellow Café member:
Richard,
One of the regular customers we have is in the shipping business. I asked him for confirmation of our World Boom theory. He said we're on the right track.
-The Long Beach port is booming.
-Boats can virtually zip over to China faster than they can get cleared and off loaded.
-Brazil is backed up (I think he said 7 week delays) and rather than expand capacity they're raising rates.
-He said India is the next big thing and he needs to develop better sources and facilities for India.
Another customer is a metal fabricator. He said he is so busy and he doesn't know how all these people are finding out about him. He said he has 5 YEARS of work on his desk right now. Also, he confirmed that China is sucking up every bit of metal out there - steel, copper, stainless, etc.
Boomer Mike
The gold shares corrected from an overbought condition. The XAU fell 2.02 to 93.80 and the HUI lost 4.64 to 204.85. Like bullion itself, they should be correcting from 220, not 210+.
The strange strong dollar action in the face of the horrendous trade numbers and US economic outlook suggests something could be wrong behind the scenes in US financial market land. The PPT wants to prop up the dollar to keep foreigners from running for the hills with their money. Just a hunch, however, something is not kosher.
Meanwhile, The Gold Cartel could not take gold down where they wanted during the Comex session, so they resorted to their same old tactic of taking it down immediately in the Access trading session this afternoon. Gold is $1.70 lower already. That they continue to get away with what they do, and have the pitiful gold industry say and do nothing, is more than sickening!
GATA BE IN IT TO WIN IT!
[Blockierte Grafik: http://www.nzz.ch/nzz/online/images/logo.gif]
Die Schweizer und das Gold (Aus W geklaut...)
Den Goldschatz sofort verteilen?
Diskussion im Bundesrat für Fall eines Ständerats-Neins
Falls auch die neue Vorlage zur Verteilung der überschüssigen Goldreserven der Nationalbank scheitert, stellen sich brisante rechtliche Fragen. Voraussichtlich wären dann nicht nur die Erträge, sondern das ganze 20 Milliarden Franken schwere Vermögen zu verteilen. Der Bundesrat hat darüber an der letzten Sitzung diskutiert.
wab. Bern, 23. August
Durch das doppelte Volksnein vom September 2001 zur SVP-Goldinitiative und zum Gegenvorschlag mit einer Solidaritätsstiftung wurde die Frage, was mit den überschüssigen Goldreserven der Nationalbank geschehen soll, politisch offen gelassen. Regierung und Parlament tun sich seither schwer damit. Am letzten Mittwoch hat der Bundesrat eine neue Aussprache über das Thema geführt, wie Vizekanzler Achille Casanova auf Anfrage bestätigt. Publiziert hat er seine Überlegungen aber nicht; zuerst sollte die Wirtschaftskommission des Ständerats informiert werden, die mit entsprechenden Fragen die Diskussion ausgelöst hatte.
Ist-Zustand rechtlich nicht länger haltbar
Konkret war zu entscheiden, was geschehen soll, wenn auch die neue Goldvorlage scheitert, die der Bundesrat nach der Volksabstimmung eingebracht hatte. Diese Vorlage sieht vor, den verfassungsmässigen Schlüssel für die ordentlichen Nationalbankgewinne (zwei Drittel Kantone, ein Drittel Bund) anzuwenden, dabei aber nur den alljährlichen Vermögensertrag und nicht den Verkaufserlös der 1300 Tonnen Gold - rund 20 Milliarden Franken - zu verteilen. So soll, wie schon im Gegenvorschlag zur SVP-Initiative, die Substanz des Goldschatzes erhalten bleiben.
Scheitert nun auch diese Vorlage, ist die Substanzerhaltung nicht mehr länger haltbar, wie rechtliche Abklärungen des Finanzdepartements ergaben. Dann wäre der verfassungsmässige Verteilschlüssel direkt auf das von Nationalbank und Bund als überschüssig bezeichnete Vermögen anzuwenden, also die Substanz zu verteilen. Die Kantone wären frei, was sie mit dem unverhofften Geldsegen von rund 14 Milliarden Franken tun würden. Der Bund müsste die ausserordentliche Einnahme (7 Milliarden) gemäss Finanzhaushaltsgesetz für den Schuldenabbau verwenden. Er hätte aber auch die Möglichkeit, für seinen Anteil per Gesetz (ohne Verfassungsänderung) eine andere Verwendung zu bestimmen. Beispielsweise könnte er - als indirekten Gegenvorschlag zur hängigen Initiative von Rentnerverbänden und SP, welche die ordentlichen Nationalbankgewinne zu einem grossen Teil der AHV zuleiten möchte - seinen Drittel in den AHV-Fonds einspeisen. Der Zwei-Drittel-Anspruch der Kantone würde dadurch nicht geschmälert.
Juristisch hätte sich die Frage, ob das ganze Vermögen nach dem verfassungsmässigen Schlüssel zu verteilen sei, eigentlich schon nach dem doppelten Volksnein von 2001 gestellt. Denn der Nationalbank fehlt die Rechtsgrundlage, um Vermögen zu verwalten, das sie erklärtermassen nicht mehr für die Geld- und Währungspolitik benötigt, und sie will diese Aufgabe auch gar nicht übernehmen. Damals hatte der Bundesrat aber entschieden, einen neuen Anlauf auf Verfassungsstufe zu nehmen, und im Sinne eines Vorgriffs auf die geplante Regelung wurden lediglich die Vermögenserträge zur Verteilung freigegeben. Bund und Kantone erhalten daher vorläufig bis zu 500 Millionen Franken pro Jahr aus dem Gold (das die Nationalbank im Übrigen schon grösstenteils verkauft und in andere, rentablere Anlagen umgewandelt hat). Diese Mittel kommen zur ordentlichen Gewinnausschüttung von jährlich 2,5 Milliarden hinzu. Die Übergangsregelung sollte aber nur so lange gelten, bis das Goldvermögen im Rahmen einer definitiven Lösung aus der Nationalbank herausgelöst und in einen eigenständigen Fonds transferiert wird.
Bundesrat verweigert Antwort
So klar die Ergebnisse der Abklärungen rechtlich sind, so heikel sind sie politisch. Der Nationalrat hatte sich im Juni mit deutlichem Mehr für eine andere Verteilung (zwei Drittel AHV, ein Drittel Kantone) entschieden. Dabei setzte sich eine Koalition aus SVP und SP/Grünen durch. Im Ständerat hat eine solche Verteilung jedoch keine Chance, weil sie die Ansprüche der Kantone halbieren würde. Die Wirtschaftskommission erwägt daher, dem Plenum Nichteintreten auf die Vorlage (wie auch auf den Gegenvorschlag zur genannten Volksinitiative) zu beantragen, wie Kommissionspräsident Eugen David (cvp., St. Gallen) erklärt. Dies wäre effizienter, als in ein langwieriges Differenzbereinigungsverfahren zu gehen, das am Ende (nach der Einigungskonferenz oder in der Schlussabstimmung) doch in ein definitives Nein eines Rates münden dürfte.
Der Bundesrat hat sich nun nach einer Aussprache über die rechtlichen und politischen Aspekte «geweigert, zu den Fragen der Kommission etwas zu sagen», wie Vizekanzler Casanova erklärt. Die Regierung wolle sich nicht im jetzigen Zeitpunkt für einen Fall festlegen, der noch nicht eingetreten sei. Für Eugen David, der am Montag noch auf die schriftliche Stellungnahme wartete und erst mündlich informiert war, ist diese Haltung «höchst unbefriedigend». Sie dürfte indes die Tendenz in der Kommission nicht mehr ändern. Ein Kompromiss mit dem Nationalrat sei kaum vorstellbar, sagt David, so dass der Ständerat besser sofort mit einem Nichteintretensentscheid klarmache, dass das geltende Recht anzuwenden sei und die zwei Drittel für die Kantone nicht angetastet werden dürften. Die Kommission befasst sich am 31. August mit der Vorlage.
Substanzerhaltung - ein überholtes Tabu (24.08.04)
Die Goldfrage lässt die Schweizer Politik nicht mehr los, seit sie 1997 in den Debatten über die Schatten des Zweiten Weltkrieges vom damaligen Nationalbank-Präsidenten Hans Meyer und von Bundespräsident Arnold Koller lanciert wurde. Die 20 Milliarden Franken, die der als überschüssig erklärte Goldschatz wert ist, blockieren aber zunehmend, statt die Gedanken zu beflügeln. Zwei Vorschläge (die SVP-Goldinitiative und den Gegenvorschlag mit der Solidaritätsstiftung) hat das Volk abgelehnt, und jetzt können sich National- und Ständerat voraussichtlich nicht auf einen Verwendungszweck einigen. Der Bundesrat wiederum tut sich in der neuen Zusammensetzung, mit dem Hauptverfechter der SVP-Initiative in den eigenen Reihen, schwerer denn je und sagt nicht einmal, wie er sich nach einem Scheitern seiner Vorlage im Parlament verhalten würde.
In dieser Situation ist es an der Zeit, von einigen durchaus diskutablen und wohlgemeinten Ideen (AHV, Bildung, Gesundheit und was der guten Zwecke mehr sind) Abschied zu nehmen und sich auf das geltende Recht zu besinnen. Verfassung und Gesetz teilen die Überschüsse der Nationalbank zu zwei Dritteln den Kantonen und zu einem Drittel dem Bund zu. Dies sind die demokratisch legitimierten und ebenso demokratisch kontrollierten Empfänger.
An der Zeit ist es aber auch, ein Tabu, das im Kampf gegen die SVP-Initiative und für die Solidaritätsstiftung entstanden ist, zu hinterfragen: die sogenannte Substanzerhaltung. Sie besagt, dass nur der Vermögensertrag, nicht aber der Goldschatz selbst verteilt werden soll. Verwaltet würde das Vermögen von einem neu zu schaffenden Fonds. Das tönt haushälterisch, und es war im Rahmen der Pläne für eine Solidaritätsstiftung auch sinnvoll. Die Stiftung sollte auf 30 Jahre befristet werden; danach sollte neu über die Mittelverwendung entschieden werden. Mit dem Scheitern dieses Projektes wurde aber auch die Begründung für eine separate Vermögensverwaltung hinfällig. Alle Vorschläge, die seither im Parlament gewälzt werden, postulieren für die Zeit nach den ersten 30 Jahren dieselbe Mittelverwendung wie zuvor. «Substanzerhaltung» bedeutet unter diesen Umständen eine unnötige Bürokratie: Statt gleich das Vermögen den rechtmässigen Empfängern zu überweisen und von diesen anlegen oder zur Rückzahlung von Schulden verwenden zu lassen, wird eine eigene Fondsverwaltung - beim fraglichen Betrag sicher kein Einpersonenbüro - dazwischengeschaltet.
Die direkte Verteilung hätte nicht nur administrative Vorteile. Die Aussicht auf regelmässige Mehreinnahmen verleitet nachgerade zu neuen dauerhaften Ausgaben; eine einmalige Sondereinnahme wird dagegen eher zum Schuldenabbau verwendet. Mit der Vermögensverteilung wäre zudem die Goldfrage definitiv vom Tisch und könnte nicht von Publizität suchenden Politikern stets wieder mit neuen Vorschlägen aufs Tapet gebracht werden.
Technisch wäre die Auszahlung des Vermögens noch genauer zu regeln und entweder auf mehrere Tranchen zu verteilen oder - mit gleichem Effekt - mittels Schuldverschreibungen abzuwickeln, die bei der Nationalbank zu unterschiedlichen Fälligkeitsterminen eingelöst werden könnten. Doch auch dafür genügt das Nationalbankgesetz als Grundlage, das eine über mehrere Jahre geglättete Gewinnausschüttung vorsieht. Die Notenbank verfährt bereits mit weiteren, nicht aus Gold stammenden Reserven in Höhe von 10 Milliarden Franken so: Bund und Kantone erhalten daraus seit 2003 jährlich eine zusätzliche Milliarde. Das ist weniger spektakulär, aber effizienter als der Aufbau einer Sonderkasse.
.
Heute Morgen im Video Text,beim Z D F
Die Bush Regierung sieht sich nicht in der Lage,die Finanzierungs Kanäle der Al Quaida zu stopfen!
Vor monaten hat es mal geheissen,Al Quaida würde mit G O L D
finanziert.
Grüsse
Kalle
.
Hallo Thaiguru!
Schoen dich wieder bei uns zu haben! Wie war dein Urlaub? Wo warste denn alles?
Kommst gerade recht, das geplaenkerl der letzten wochen duerfte vorbei sein, big move(s) ahead...
Für alle Verschwörungsanhänger und die des Englischen mächtigen, eine 71-Seiten-Studie zur Manipulation des Goldpreises an diesem besch.... Tag.Ich hoffe der Link funktioniert:
Grüsse
GC
.
Bis vor einer Stunde gings noch,scheint überlastet zu sein.....
habe die Studie als PDF-Datei,weiss aber nicht wie ich die als Boardmail schicken kann (falls das überhaupt geht).