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CARTEL CAPITULATION WATCH
The US stock market continues its La-la Land routine. The DOG jumped 34 to 1997 and the DOW gained 115 to 10,300.
With a Fed Funds rate of 1%, interest rates remain negative in the US, even with this watered down CPI:
March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Prices paid by U.S. consumers rose 0.3 percent in February, led by higher costs for gasoline and medical care, a government report showed. Excluding energy and food, core prices increased at the same pace as a month earlier.
[B]The rise in the consumer price index followed a 0.5 percent gain in January that reflected the biggest increase in energy costs since the Iraq War, the Labor Department said in Washington. Core prices rose 0.2 percent and were 1.2 percent higher in the 12 months ended in February….
-END-
But there is no inflation:
PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 2004--Allegheny
Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ATI) announced that ATI Allvac is increasing prices effective immediately on all nickel- and cobalt- based alloy, specialty steel and titanium alloy products.[B]
– END-
Finally:
[B]NEWS ADVISORY -
BLS ANNOUNCES MARCH 18 RELEASE DATE FOR JANUARY 2004 PRODUCER PRICE INDEX
The Producer Price Index (PPI) for January 2004, originally scheduled for release on Feb. 19, will be released on Thursday, March 18, at 8:30 a.m. EST, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, announced today. The delay was caused by unexpected difficulties in the conversion of PPI data from the Standard Industrial Classification system to the North American Industry Classification System.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has not yet scheduled a release date for the February 2004 PPI, originally scheduled for March 12, 2004. When a revised release date is determined, it will be announced at least one day ahead of time on the BLS website and through a news advisory. –END-
GATA’s Mike Bolser:
Hi Bill:
The Fed added $4.75 Billion in repos today bringing the pool total up to $36.5 Billion and clearly moving the pool's 30-day ma back in an upward direction. The bottom is thus in for this down cycle in the repo total.
We also see the DOW's own 30-day ma dipping down a bit edging closer to an intersection with its June 2003 to December linear track...the trajectory that places it at 11,750 on Labor Day. There is a lag in the DOW's response to the force application exerted by the Fed's repo machine.
Slow-Motion
These slow-motion actions taken by the Fed through adding and subtracting repos (the main repo driver seems to be its moving average) has a sluggish, steering effect on the DOW and we may expect the DOW to track sideways with increased volatility for a while and then, most importantly for those hoping
that TA is still valid, the DOW will move UP instead of down. Doubtless, this up move will completely confound the TA adherents as the entire, Fed generated "Iraq War Rally" did since March 2003.
This prediction places me squarely in conflict with the vast majority of technical analysis followers and yet I'm very confident of its outcome. Having observed the Fed "up close and personal" as few analysts before me, I show them great deference as they wield their paper currency weapons and direct their primary dealer financial army. On Wall Street the Fed seems invincible.
While they may have a modicum of success in dollar-denominated paper trading entities, the Fed will fail when they inevitably run out of physical materials in their unsustainable, commodity suppressing quest to repeal free market supply and demand principles. They can't hold back such a large tide forever.
The logical counter-strategy is to acquire physical metal.
Mike
Chuck checked in early this morning with a prescient comment:
A very different feel so far today. Stocks gap up, of course, and the golds down, of course. But it has an eerie feel with gold trading in such a narrow band and good strength in the Euro.
My guess is that we will have some movement before the day is over. C.
So did Mahendra, who is on a roll. No sooner had I brought this to the attention of some colleagues, gold and silver SURGED higher. Both were down on the day when I received this email from him:
Dear Friends,
This week I recommended Buy YEN but not Euro and Pound. Yen is doing well and will do well.
From today or tomorrow I am expecting great turn around in metal stocks and many will rise up to 25% with in March 2004 from today morning level. ALSO METAL WILL START RISING FROM TOMORROW SP. GOLD AND SILVER.
Those who want to invest go ahead and those how are holding just can wait. Jupiter is saying - this is time to buy not selling.
Many predictions are fulfilling:
Oil toward to new high.
Silver trading above $7.00.
Palladium and platinum rise.
Stock market down,
Thanks & God Bless
Mahendra
Joseph Granville, Thursday – March 17:
"Now the market is being set up for a huge drop. Take every opportunity to go into cash."
From Gibson’s Paradox to the PPI:
Bill;
To bring things ‘full circle’ so to speak, I thought I’d try to articulate my thoughts a little fuller where PPI, Gold and Gibson’s Paradox are concerned.
The ‘players’ who shaped modern day monetary policy in the U.S. include widely recognized gold expert and Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan as well as Lawrence H. Summers, and his academic research on Gibson’s Paradox prior to becoming Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration. Lord Keynes gave the name "Gibson's paradox" to the correlation between interest rates and the general price level observed during the period of the classical gold standard.
Gibson’s paradox asserts that unless the price of gold is pegged (rigged), interest rates are directly correlated with wholesale prices and are not (as many people assume) directly correlated with inflation (empirical or expected).
So what you might be inclined to ask? Just what does all this mean anyway? Well, let’s have a closer look at this. I would contend that wholesale prices (as measured by PPI) have gone up dramatically in the past few months based largely on empirical observations. Surely, anyone who buys gas for their car, buys lumber at Home Depot or reads a paper knows this to be somewhat if not largely the case. Strangely-the U.S. government for the first time in history-has been unable to tabulate PPI for two months on the trot (both Jan. and Feb. of 04). In fact, just this week a high ranking economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics went as far as to say, "that aging computers were partly to blame for the delays in two months worth of PPI releases." These claims are being made despite Fed Chair Greenspan’s proclamations that unending ‘productivity gains’ are the true reason that jobs are more difficult to find than hen’s teeth in the U.S. economy. Are you confused? You should be. Aging computers as an excuse is nothing more than a ruse for the story the true PPI numbers will reveal. That story is one of increased wholesale prices.
So PPI, if it were to be accurately reported, would likely indicate that wholesale prices were increasing dramatically-so what you might ask? Well according to Gibson’s Paradox, this would imply that interest rates should move up rapidly (crushing hopes for jobs)-unless the price of Gold is pegged (proving them liars). In Rummy speak-the guys in charge know that we know they know this (aka. a known known). This poses a few problems for Wizard Greenspan and Co. In plain English-it’s ultimately a no win situation for the price fixers, just a question of timing-of their undoing. First, they claim there is no inflation. Second, they claim that the price of gold is not manipulated. Third, if/when they relent/capitulate admitting there is inflation, allow gold prices to find their own level and let interest rates rise-forget about any new jobs, the dollar and bond market. We've already been warned about potential financial crisis at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and what I feel is more likely J.P.Morgan (and it's 35 trillion derivatives book) or worse – the rest of the world.
The solution to all of this while not perfect- you gata buy silver and gold. It's on sale at these prices. As you can see-we live in a very imperfect world.
best
Rob
Silver input:
Hi Bill,
I rang the Perth mint in Australia the other day in order to get a quote on AUD $200,000 worth of physical Silver. They tried to talk me out of it and just buy the unallocated fund. If I wanted to proceed with the Physical delivery it would take "4 weeks" to arrange.
Peter Woodland
Melbourne
Australia
From ECU Silver CEO Michel Roy:
Have to continue with these until I receive something from the TSX and can issue a press release. If you have questions, let me know.
Dear shareholders,
We have been very busy yesterday in answering investor calls and trying to get to the bottom of this situation. It was unfortunate that neither Richard nor I were back earlier. Richard and I were in Toronto for 5 days cementing relationships and working on the business plan of the Company. It might have helped alleviate shareholder’s concerns had we been in the office, but it would not have changed events. Our lawyers were in touch with the Exchange yesterday and we can now update you on the situation.
It all started last Tuesday when the stock traded close to 4M shares and the market surveillance branch of the TSX Venture Exchange contacted us about it. We explained the importance of the last press release and they agreed that it was sufficient explanation for the trading. However, the TSX Compliance department initiated a brief review of the documentation filed by the Company on SEDAR. When they realized that no 43-101 compliant report had been filed, they decided to halt trading. Their opinion is that such a report is mandatory for an active Company. Having called a halt, their policy is to review all technical data filed.
The Company, after reviewing the 43-101 rules, is of the opinion that it did not require filing such a report because it never needed it. The Company’s lawyers are currently reviewing the situation in order to ascertain whether it was required under a rule unknown to the Company. However, because of the current development plan, the Company had already mandated a Qualified Person to prepare such a report. The Company is not opposed to preparing a 43-101 report, as it has already endeavored to prepare one.
As of this morning, the Company is awaiting a letter from the Compliance branch of the TSX that will list all the points on which the Company, in the TSX’s opinion, does not respect the filing requirements of the TSX. The Company will then answer by telling the TSX that it will comply with those requirements. We then expect that the Company will be allowed to issue a press release stating the agreement with the TSX and we would be announcing the resumption in trading.
Your Company has been keeping a low profile in the last few years for lack of human and financial resources. In the last four months it has started to increase its activities and to implement the development plans that it had prepared in the lean years. For the previous 18 months, your Company had only a part-time employee in Canada that tried to keep up with the changes in rules and habits, but did not always catch them. The work being done by the Exchange actually will identify all the little missing documents and will permit the Company to bring its filings up to date.
In the brief conversation between our lawyer and the person responsible at the Exchange, we learned that ECU is their top priority situation. As of now, we know they will want our commitment to get a 43-101 compliant report (already being under way), the filing on SEDAR of the English version of the AIF for 2002 (being prepared as I write this) and the filing on SEDAR of all our press releases (will be done shortly). Special thanks to those of you that contacted the Exchange as it certainly helped bring our situation to the top of their list of priorities.
In conclusion, we do not think the 43-101 compliant report was needed, but we will need it in the very near future and will accept the request of the TSX to prepare and file one as soon as feasible. The other known requests of the Exchange, as of now, are minor and easy to accommodate. Consequently, we expect to trade again very shortly after the TSX completes the review of the prior filings of the Company. Then, we will have all the information needed to issue a formal press release. Until then we shall keep you posted of developments.
Notwithstanding all the above, the management of the Company is perfectly conscious that the recent growth justified more controls and help in insuring proper filings and corporate governance. It was one of the important objectives of the last visit to Toronto where a Qualified Person was contacted to do a 43-101 compliant report on the Velardeña project and a specialized firm offered its services to handle all our future filing requirements with the regulatory authorities.
Truly yours,
Michel Roy
011-52-871-727-1061 cell in Mexico
819-797-1210 off in Canada
011-52-871-717-8633 off in Mexico
One more time - this was my call for this week last Friday with gold down $5.20 to $395 and silver down 11 cents to $7.03:
"My bet is gold takes out $406 and silver approaches $7.50."
The gold part is done. Have a couple more days for silver to take a serious shot towards $7.50.
Gold share owners who blew out early today for no reason, or for the silliest of reasons, got bagged. The HUI also put in an outside day key reversal to the upside by taking out yesterday’s low and then closing above yesterday’s high and on its high of the day at 221.94, up 3.65. The XAU finished at 99.04, up 1.60.
I will be very surprised if the gold shares don’t take off tomorrow. They have done all the technical work they needed to do at these levels and below 220 to complete a major bottom.
Gold, silver and the shares are still THE historic investment opportunity of a lifetime!
GATA BE IN IT TO WIN IT!