Beiträge von Schwabenpfeil

What fun to see so many names mentioned in last night’s MIDAS in these reports about the potential IMF gold sales. More on the same issue:

U.S. lawmakers oppose sale of IMF gold stocks

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - United States lawmakers have told U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow to oppose proposals for the sale of the International Monetary Fund's gold stockpile to finance debt relief for the world's poor nations.

In a letter to Snow, 12 senators -- from mainly U.S. mining states -- said sales of the IMF's 103 million ounces of gold reserves, the world's third-largest, would hurt gold producers and cause job losses, including in impoverished countries like Peru and Tanzania.

"We believe that careful consideration must be given to any proposal that could have such adverse effects on this important commodity market, and the businesses and communities in the U.S. and around the world that are affected by it," the senators wrote in the letter dated Jan. 31.

The U.S. executive board member to the IMF is barred from voting to sell IMF gold reserves unless the U.S. Congress has approved the move.

-END-

This is more like it:

Manuel's IMF stance 'worrisome'

Feb 10 2005 05:52:16:463PM

Finance minister Trevor Manuel's support for the IMF's proposal to sell gold reserves is "worrisome", the National Union of Mineworkers say.

Johannesburg - Finance minister Trevor Manuel's support for the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) proposal to sell gold reserves was "worrisome", the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Thursday.

The union also said it supported mineral and energy minister's, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka's, opposition to the proposal.

"The concerns raised by the minister are shared by our union," spokesperson Gwede Mantashe said in a statement.

"In our view the action of the IMF, instead of fighting debt, entrenches poverty."

He said gold's value would decrease considerably if the IMF sold its gold reserves.

This would in the end lead to job losses in the gold mining industry and would force thousands of mineworkers into poverty.

"What the IMF is proposing as a solution to a crisis created by the G7 countries themselves, countries that continue consuming world resources unabated, is a recipe for disaster, hunger and disease.

"It would be wise for other alternatives aimed at eradicating debt to be looked at, instead of this one that will push the poor further into the abyss of poverty."

The IMF said last week that it would study the use of its gold reserves to help finance debt relief for some of the world's poorest countries.

The announcement was made during a meeting of the Group of Seven industrialised nations in London.

-END-

About time:

Newmont opposes gold sale plan

By Leora Moldofsdky, Kevin Morrison, John Reed and Bernard Simon
Published: February 10 2005 02:00 | Last updated: February 10 2005 02:00

Newmont Mining, the world's biggest gold producer, is lobbying US congressmen to block any proposal to sell a portion of International Monetary Fund gold reserves to fund debt relief for some of the world's poorest countries.

Noting that a number of the developing countries' 41 most heavily-indebted nations are gold producers, a company spokesman argued that "the sale of IMF gold would impose a hardship on the very nations that they're trying to help".

Gold fell to a four-month low yesterday of $410.20 a troy ounce, and has dropped $10 since IMF sales were first mooted at the weekend.

Newmont, based in Denver, Colorado, also pointed to potential job losses in the western US, where most of the country's gold mines are located.

Jim Saxton, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, an outspoken critic of the IMF, suggested in a statement that the organisation should use other means to fund Third World debt relief: "IMF gold sales would amount to hidden contributions of gold profits legitimately belonging to IMF donor countries and their taxpayers."

Apart from political concerns, the US government, the world's biggest holder of gold, is sceptical about the idea because of the possible effect of sales on its holdings.

Unlike European countries, which have been selling down their reserves, the US remains attached to its gold reserves and torpedoed an earlier plan for IMF gold sales in 1999.

Mixed sentiment in Africa reflected the fact that the continent is both a producer of gold and potential beneficiary of the IMF debt relief the proposed gold sales would finance.

Trevor Manuel, South African finance minister, who was in London on the margins of Saturday's G7 meeting, said the world's largest gold producer would not necessarily block the sales, as long as they were well managed. But yesterday, Phum-zile Mlambo-Ngcuka, South Africa's minerals and energy minister, asked by Reuters for an opinion of Mr Manuel's cautious support, said: "I don't know about that, I am not in favour of that."

Earlier, she told a mining conference: "We are looking at the latest intentions of the IMF regarding gold sales, and we are looking at ways of avoiding it becoming a problem for gold producers."

The G7 asked the IMF to report in April to its shareholders on the possible sale, among other options, of part of its store of 3,217 tonnes of gold which it values at about $8.5bn - about a fifth of its market value.

Not all producers are against the idea. Owen Hegarty, managing director of Oxiana, an Australian gold and copper producer, said an IMF gold revaluation "wouldn't worry us at all. It isn't a market transaction and it would give the IMF a stronger balance sheet and enable it to lend more to developing countries".

He added: "While there has been a bit of a market reaction to the plan in recent days, we think it is a temporary aberration. The price of gold will continue to reflect the US dollar and other fundamentals and will soon correct to previous levels." Reporting by Bernard Simon in Vancouver, Leora Moldofsky in Sydney, John Reed in Cape Town

What’s this:

Fannie restatement may take a year By Jenny Wiggins in New York

Fannie Mae's estimated $9bn earnings restatement may take a year to complete, the Securities and Exchange Commission (news - web sites)'s chief accountant told policymakers on Wednesday at Congressional hearings held to discuss the recent accounting scandal at the mortgage finance provider.

The SEC last year directed Fannie to restate its earnings for the years 2001 to 2004 after finding that the group did not comply with accounting rules related to its use of derivatives.

Yesterday, Donald Nicolaisen, the SEC's chief accountant, told the House subcomittee on capital markets, insurance and government-sponsored enterprises that it would be "some time" before Fannie restated its results. "We're talking a number of months ... perhaps a year, I hope it's not years," he said, adding that he was unsure of the final amount of the restatement.

-END-

And then some more:

'Morning Bill:
I thought something was funny this morning when I saw the dollar spike up and gold and silver both follow along. We now know the dollar spike did not last but gold and silver kept going.

Silver lease rates keep sliding and gold's have begun to spike back up.

Although it does not show in the chart below, if one month gold lease rates did rise by .03%, the new rate should be .12%, not .093%. All four near term rates have risen and that means some major leasing to cap gold today.

Gold will rise against a headwind but silver's rates are still falling! Gold is in lease rate backwardation, while silver's spot price rise may be unencumbered.
Rhody.

Rhody on leasing:

Good morning Bill:
As you can see from the provided link, silver lease rates are still subsiding. In fact, they are now a half the rate of just three days ago in the near terms. This means much of the leasing pressure on the silver price has been lifted. Gold lease rates are slightly lower in the long terms but continue flat in the near terms. In fact, one year gold lease rates are approaching one month silver lease rates, so soon I will no longer be able to say, "You can lease gold for a whole year for the cost of leasing silver for one month."

The traditional interpretation of falling lease rates is increased liquidity.

There is an abundance of silver available for leasing into the market. This is bearish on the spot price. I can't help but recall that gold lease rates fell starting in 2001 as the gold price finally took off. Could this now be happening in silver? I am sorry that I cannot be more definitive, but the best I can really say is there has been a change in the leasing pattern for silver, and it bears watching, if you will excuse the expression.
Regards, Rhody

Jesse on the trade deficit:

Yes, they did not just revise November, they went back and revised the entire year 2004.
Again, it is my understanding that they do this customarily in June.
At least this time their stats guy had the decency to put an "R" next to the figures they revised and did not just slip them in.
Ok, so they go back and revise entire years. What are they going to do in March?
Love the disappointed reaction from the dollar. Get the stretchers ready.

-END-

CARTEL CAPITULATION WATCH

The DOW went right back up, gaining 86 to 10,749, while the DOG rose 1 to 2053.

US economic news:

08:30 Jobless claims reported 303K
Prior week unrevised at 316K.
* * * * *

08:30 December Trade deficit narrows to $56.4B vs. expected $57B
Prior deficit revised to $59.3B from $60.3B.
* * * * *

14:01 Treasury budget surplus $8.7B in January vs $10.0B consensus
January 2004 budget was ($1.4B).
* * * * *
As we have read for so long now, report after report comes in weaker than expected.

The John Brimelow Report

A valiant Australian goes Bullish!

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Indian ex-duty premiums: AM $8.54, PM $$8.46, with world gold at $414.20 and $413.50. Very ample for legal imports. There are distinctly more references in the wire services to Indian demand influencing the gold market. Of course, with the Chinese New Year, Indian activity this week is possibly more distinct than usual in Far Eastern markets.

In any case, gold rallied gently in the early Asian day. TOCOM does not deserve any credit. Volume did jump 36% to a still small 14,255 Comex equivalent with world gold going out 75c above the NY close and the active contract 10 yen higher, But open interest slipped the equivalent of 648 Comex lots, to equal 108,829 Comex. Japan is closed tomorrow. (NY yesterday traded 41,438 lots. Open interest declined 1,828 contracts to 253,598.)

As UBS puts it "Gold posted a near-repeat performance in US trading on Wednesday, initially trading lower to get to a low of $410.50 offered, half a dollar below the previous day’s low, but then short-covering…sawgold move up three dollars to reach a new high and the metal settled near this level"

Standard London’s account of the recovery is "excellent support from the physical sector caught the dealer market short sparking a bounce back to $413.00 by the close"

The extent to which anyone - dealers, Comex locals, funds -actually is short is now of considerable interest. By holding the 200 day moving average gold has opened the way for a dramatic swing in technical sentiment. Indeed ANZ’s Currency Strategist Craig Ferguson valiantly jumped out of the trench this morning (in Australia!):

Buy Gold for rally to at least $430 – AUD to follow suit

"As the headline suggests, we believe the sharp 2 month long decline in Gold prices appears to be coming to an end… This is now the lowest level of net spec non commercial longs since April 04 when Gold was at $370, and a similar level to the April 03 low at $322. In addition, 1 mth risk reversals are now sitting in favour of puts, a condition that has often correlated with reversals higher in spot over the last 3 years. In addition, daily oscillators are diverging, oversold, and have turned higher, while weekly oscillators are also oversold. The odds of a recovery are therefore high. Gold stocks are giving powerful signals that a strong 30% rally in Gold stocks is not far away. (JB emphasis)

Ferguson’s comment on the option market is particularly notable because a number of observers have pointed to negative signals being detectable in this arena in December.

JB

Boy, did it create a commotion. A number of savvy traders asked me whether it was a setup because of the high Café circulation. At the time I said perhaps. Based on today’s action I say most certainly, OR this particular STALKER input (from his London silver source, not the gold sources about the Chinese buying, etc.) was just off the wall. Then again, the word to me was they were going to attack in the near future. To be fair maybe they were waiting for a rally such as this to pounce? We shall see.

Regardless, the score for the day is Morgan Stanley 1, Mahendra 1, Stalker silver bullion dealer source 0.

Word to me this morning from a savvy bullion dealer is the hedge funds are all over silver and plan to take it to $8. There are a number of people in our camp who believe silver is going to lead gold on the way up because its fundamentals are so much stronger. One thing for sure…if my information is correct that the Chinese have tied up 75% of this year’s silver production, the price must go bonkers. No way around it. Mahendra called today. He is as bullish on silver as ever.

The silver open interest fell 1936 contracts to 93,408.

The gold open interest fell 1862 contracts to 253,548.

Neither gold or silver left a gap to fill below - a nice technical plus.

How about that copper price! It won’t go down with March finishing the day at $142.50, up 3.7 cents. Oil took off to close more than $1 higher at $47.10. The CRT rocketed up 4.41 to 285.27. So much for the deflation trade. Bonds were clocked for a point and ¼.

The dollar fell .50 to 84.57 and the euro rose .80 to 128.70.

February 10 – Gold $416.90 up $4.40 – Silver $6.94 up 38 cents

Hold That Tiger….And They Did / Silver Soars

Modern man drives a mortgaged car over a bond-financed highway on credit-card gas...Earl Wilson

GO GATA!!!

Nice to have some fun for a change. People who know me (like bro Tim) have to put up with me whistling the Princeton fight song (Hold That Tiger), sort of one I guess, when I am in a fun mood because the markets have surprisingly gone my way. Two times out of three when I blurt out that tune it is a top. Oh well.

One day does not make a market, yet at least we have some sanity back for one trading session. Yet, it was the same drill when gold wanted to explode after going up $4 on the day. THE GOLD CARTEL, led by Deutsche Bank JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, sold and sold to dampen any serious excitement. And, of course, the $6 Rule reigned again as the high for the trading session was up $5.80. In light of what other commodities did and the dollar falling, the recovery move was modest at best.

Silver was another matter. For a couple of weeks MIDAS has touted how explosive silver was. Nothing happened except it drifted off. I reported that the biggest player on the floor, Morgan Stanley, was ravingly bullish. Then I got the goofy comment two days ago VIA my STALKER source how the big physical players in London told him they were going to teach the paper guys on the Comex a lesson. These were the same characters who were maligning the Comex shorts for suppressing the price while demand was so strong in London. As I previously stated, what was sent my way made no sense. So much so I asked my contact to double check the plan of these dealers with a second phone call.

Zitat

Original von Ulfur

eine sehr schöne Nachricht, daß Du noch vor 2 Monaten Kontakt mit Thai hattest.

Die abrupte und absolute Sendepause seit mehreren Monaten war doch bedrückend.

Hallo Ulfur,

kann ich gut verstehen, war auch für mich bedrückend. War daher auch froh über den kurzen Kontakt ...

Gruß
Schwabenpfeil

Zitat

Original von Eldorado

Weiss irgend jemand im Forum was mit Thai Guru los ist ?
Ich finde keine postings mehr von ihm.

Ich weiss er schreibt von Thailand, hoffentlich ist er ok.
Wenn nicht dann suche ich ihn ab Donnerstag naechster Woche selber dort. Vielleicht laueft er mir ueber den Weg innerhalb eines monat.

Alles anzeigen

Hallo Eldo, Hallo hpoth,

vor ca. 2 Monaten hatte ich mal einen kurzen Mailkontakt mit Thai Guru. Ich denke es geht Ihm gut, seine Postingpause hat wohl andere Gründe. Die Arbeit der GATA liegt ihm weiterhin sehr am Herzen.

Er hatte mich seinerzeiten auf einen Spendenaufruf der GATA aufmerksam gemacht, dem ich auch sehr gerne gefolgt bin. Es wäre Ihm sicherlich eine große Freude, wenn sich noch mehr Freunde des Goldes zu einer Unterstützung der GATA durchringen könnten.

Für diejenigen, die sich hierüber näher informieren wollen, der folgende Link:

http://news.goldseek.com/GATA/1102434933.php

Gruß
Schwabenpfeil

As far as I can tell, the journey to South Africa was a winner. GATA received 10 times as much press coverage in two weeks as we have received the last two years combined. mhthomas@gmail.com.

For me personally, it was the most satisfying experience of my life. Yes, all of us would like the gold price to go up so that we can prosper, but of greater significance, is that we all have an opportunity to constructively affect the economy of half a continent. The success of our efforts will determine the fate of millions of people. It is no less than a life and death situation for many poor Africans. They desperately need injections of money to combat disease and crime.

Over and over I was told that many young blacks commit crime and have indiscriminate sex (resulting in an AIDS epidemic) because there is no hope. A soaring gold price would mean many workers all over Southern Africa would have jobs again. Hope would return. Africa could become the natural resource "Boom Continent," not the "Hopeless Continent" as Britain's Economist called it.

When GATA was first formed, I chuckled when Chris Powell said "let's change the world." Amazingly, Chris was right; it is really possible that we can to a certain degree. All that need be done for that to happen is to have Reg Howe's Complaint reach the discovery stage. At that point in time, the Howe/GATA lawyers can ask the Defendants to answer our questions under oath. When that happens, the size of the huge short gold position will become known, the market will realize the GATA camp is right, savvy major investment players will start buying up physical gold, the price will soar, and it will be a brand new day.

BILL MURPHY
CHAIRMAN
GOLD ANTI-TRUST ACTION COMMITTEE

Support GOLDRUSH 21!

1. To the IMF: Is it possible that IMF gold is reaching the physical gold market in any way, shape, form or fashion? Does the IMF have gold on deposit at the Bank for International Settlements? If so, how much? Is any IMF gold deposited at the BIS or IMF "earmarked gold" at the New York Fed entering the physical gold market at this point in time?

2. To the BIS: Are you lending gold on behalf of the IMF in any way?

3. To the bullion banks: According to the statistics of the BIS and the Office of The Controller of The Currency in the U. S., the notional value of gold derivatives exploded on the books of Chase Manhattan Corp., J.P Morgan & Co. Inc., Citigroup, Inc and Deutsche Bank from June 1999 through January 2000, while remaining steady at other bullion banks. How do these Defendants in the Howe/GATA Complaint account for this gold derivative build up, which is quite large in relation to their capital?

4. To Secretary O’Neil at the U.S. Treasury: Various Treasury officials have denied any involvement in the gold market by the Exchange Stabilization Fund. However, beginning in 1996 there is a pattern of discrepancies between the Fed’s gold certificate account and the quarterly U. S. Treasury statements (that include the ESF gold figures) which should be the same. At the end of 1999, the ESF showed a record $41 million, or approximately 30 tonnes, excess over the gold certificate account. Could you please reconcile the discrepancy since the Clinton Administration reported to Congress that it did not engage in any currency interventions from 1998 through March 2000? Can you explain during this period how it is that the ESF reported profits that generally coincided with periods of falling gold prices while its losses generally coincided with rising gold prices?

5. To Bank of England Governor Edward George: Did you make a statement to Nicholas J. Morrell, Chief Executive of Lonmin Pic, following the price rise after the Washington Accord that essentially said the following?:

We looked into the abyss if the gold price rose further. A further rise would have taken down one or several trading houses, which might have taken down all the rest in their wake. Therefore at any price, at any cost, the central banks had to quell the gold price, to manage it. It was very difficult to get the gold price under control but we have now succeeded. The U.S. Fed was very active in getting the gold price down. So was the U.K.

Alan Greenspan of the Fed and Paul O’Neil, new U.S. Treasury Secretary, should be asked whether the U.S. intervened in the gold market in any way following the sharp price rise after the Washington Accord.

6. To J.P. Morgan Chase and Citibank: Has any facet of the U.S Treasury or U.S. Fed guaranteed any gold derivative positions on your books against a loss?

7. To Randall Oliphant, Chief Executive Officer of Barrick Gold: Are you restricted in any way from covering certain derivative positions as a result of any agreements with any bullion banks such as J.P Morgan?

At the end of the 75 minute presentation, they convened and then came back to tell me that they would take the matter very seriously and wanted to know what they felt would be the latest they should be in touch with the U.S Treasury should they decide to do so?

It was a big plus to distribute copies of all the many letters from U.S. Congressmen and Senators that have raised the gold market manipulation issue with the Clinton Administration. Having them with me helped considerably in bolstering GATA's credibility with the people I met with. All GATA supporters should know that your efforts are paying off. GATA Treasurer/Secretary Chris Powell and I thank you all.

From Pretoria back to Johannesburg for an interview with the South African Broadcasting Company for a story they are doing on the GATA trip to their country. The camera was rolling, so we will have to set if the story shows up on their nightly news TV broadcast.

President Zokwana told me that he and other Union officials would study the matter very seriously.

From there my waiting driver sped off to Pretoria, the country's Capitol. There I met with Lambertus Van Zyl, General Manager (Hoofbestuurder) of the International Banking Department and Alan R.H. Colburn (Assistant Hoofbestuurder) of the South African Reserve Bank and 7 staff members/executives of the Department of Minerals and Energy in their Board Room.

The room was something else - large with a huge oval desk, comfortable chairs and a mike for each attendee. Then there were all these screens at the end of the oval to present visual material. The Reserve Bank officials said very little but took copious notes.

I reiterated the same theme as I did with the Mine Union executives except with an additional twist. I told them that they could find out themselves about our claims by asking the right questions to the right people. I suggested that after reading Howe's Complaint, the Gold Derivative Banking Crisis document and James Turk's 'Smoking Gun' that they attempt to quietly get the answers to the following questions:

Obviously, there is no way that the mining union executives could know if GATA's claims are correct, but what I stressed was that the new Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neil, has to make a decision to either remain a Defendant in the case or conduct a gold market inquiry of his own. Of all the Defendants, only the new Republican Treasury Secretary was not party to the charges when Reg Howe filed his Complaint. The Bush Administration must decide whether to continue the fraud or let The Gold Cartel fend for themselves. Like the other Defendants, the Treasury must send a written response to the charges to the judge assigned to the case in Massachusetts Federal District Court by March 15.

GATA believes that the new US Treasury knows the score and must decide what course of action to take. Pressure from aggrieved South African blacks can only be constructive to guiding them in the right direction. As it is, the Republicans only garnered 10% of the black vote in the U.S., the lowest since the days of Barry Goldwater.

If the Republicans could rightly expose what the Clinton Administration was really doing to the Black led African governments and the people of Southern Africa, it could dramatically change perceptions of who the real friends of the black community in Africa really are.

The National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa helped to block the proposed IMF gold sales with their protest. They joined the US Congressional Republican leadership, the Democratic Congressional leadership, the Black Caucus and 36 out of 41 poor gold producing countries in doing so. Only President Clinton, Treasury Secretaries Rubin and Summers, the IMF and the bullion banks were for it. I explained to the mining union that it was not debt relief for the poor they were after. It was the 3000 tonnes of IMF gold they wanted to flood the physical gold market with to keep gold prices low for years to come. When that attempt failed, they called on the British to auction off half of their gold reserves.

Between press interviews during the day, I listened to David Hale, the Keynote Speaker for the conference. It was a very provocative presentation as he related why Zimbabwe is falling apart, will run very short of food in the months to come and that only "political revolution" can save an all out disaster in that imploding country.

David, who was also the Keynote Speaker at the Australian Gold Conference, told me after his speech that he had read GATA's ad and would like to talk to me about it in the near future. He was not unaware of the issue as he is a long time acquaintance of Frank Veneroso, a member of the GATA delegation that met with Speaker of the House of Reprentatives, Denny Hastert, on May 10, 2000.

Reg then took off back to Boston to work on his Complaint.

Friday, gears were shifted, as I had breakfast with Ms. Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, Minister of Ministry of Minerals and Energy, at "The Nelly." Also at the breakfast was Thabo Mafoko of the Department of Minerals and Energy International Relations. The meeting went very well. Thabo conferred with Ms. Ngcuka and before I knew it another meeting was set up in Pretoria for me to meet with senior Reserve Bank officials and other Department of Minerals and Energy staff.

Friday night it was a farewell dinner with Peter George and his charming wife, Allison, and then a lunch on Saturday with another feisty South African firebrand, Margaret Legum, Board Member of the S A New Economics Foundation. Margaret has her economics degree from Cambridge and would like to help anyway she can. Not afraid to take on the establishment, Margaret and her husband were exiled from South Africa for 30 years for fighting against Apartheid.

Back to Johannesburg I went for an early Monday morning meeting with the National Union of Mineworkers. Attending the meeting were Mr. S. Zokwana, President: Mr. G. Mantashe, General Secretary, Mr. A. Palane, Deputy General Secretary and Gino Govender, Co-Ordinator Strategy Unit.

No one is more directly effected by the manipulation of the gold market than the South African miners as 170,000 have been laid off. Each one of these miners supports 11 to 12 others according to Bheki Sibiya, also President of the Black Managment Forum.

Late that morning, Reg and I met with Ian Davidson, a member of Parliament in the Democratic Party. Ian, a former mayor of Johannesburg has a legal background and is a former stockbroker so he quickly grasped what we were saying. We learned later that Ian is the kind of fellow who is not afraid to mix it up in Parliament - as we left our meeting with him he told us he would bring the GATA issue up in Parliament, which was to begin a new session that coming Friday.

Wednesday, Peter George threw a breakfast meeting for Reg and I. One hundred and thirty men, many of them prominent Cape Town citizens, attended. Peter, a staunch Born Again Christian, runs this Christian fellowship breakfast meeting every week, often bringing in guest speakers. It was very well orchestrated, GATA raised some money and we turned a few eyebrows about the real gold market of today.

When we returned to INDABA conference, there was a buzz about the ad. As someone told me, "that is just not done around here; one does not take on the establishment in that kind of way."

Later that day, Reg and I met with Bernard Swanepoel, Harmony Gold CEO, and Ferdi Dippenauer, one of their senior executives. That meeting also went well, with our dialogue to continue in the near future.

The rest of the day was spent networking and socializing. It was good to see Peter Bradford, President and C.E.O. of Golden Star Resources, once again. All is going very well with GSR as Peter was on his way to Ghana to continue to build Golden Star's gold production in that African nation.

Cape Talk radio kicked off Thursday morning. The DJ knew more about what was going on in gold than most gold analysts here in the States. Also joining in was the top money manager in South Africa, who also had attended Peter George's breakfast for us. On the air he stated that he felt that "the Howe/GATA Complaint had a better than 50/50 chance of succeeding."

Both stunned and delighted, Peter and I sped back to Cape Town and I began writing. The input Peter George contributed was invaluable as he and I spent the next two days editing and re-editing. Peter was still calling in word changes at the deadline hour late Tuesday afternoon. More on the ad later.

Reg Howe and I hooked up on Monday and met with Mark Wellesley-Wood, Chairman of Durban Roodeport Deep that afternoon. He was most impressive and both Reg and I could see why Durban Deep has been turned around and is a gold bull's delight. As most of you know, Durban is very leveraged to the gold price will substantial gold reserves and resources to its credit.

Later that evening Reg, Peter, his son Quentin and I had dinner with Brett Kebble at the "Nellie", the Lord Nelson. Brett, CEO of Western Areas, and his father Roger, Chairman of Western Areas, are legends of the South African gold industry and not afraid to stand up for their beliefs. Brett will go down as a hero one day - which will be revealed in time.

The Indaba 2001 Conference kicked off on Tuesday morning with Anglogold's Kelvin Williams one of the early speakers. It did not take him long to make a mocking statement about the "conspiracy crowd," which drew chuckles from the attendees. Later, he told the press that GATA was full of "adult fantasies." I thought to myself, you punch today Kelvin, GATA counter-punches tomorrow - we'll see who gets the last laugh when the "Gold Price Manipulation" ad breaks the next morning.