Ja Eldo, mein Schädel brummt auch, aber ich versuche mich auf andere positive Aspekte zu konzentrieren. Ich hoffe die techn. Gegenreaktion kommt für Dich bald. Dann hast Du kurzfristig genug Volumen. Ich weiß, es ist nicht einfach, aber versuch es nicht zu nah an Dich dran zu lassen. Die Gesundheit ist immerhin das wichtigste. Du verfügst über so viel Wissen - jetzt lernen wir grade wieder dazu - , daß wird Dir noch sehr von Nutzen sein.
Grüße
From Ed Steer:
Another day...and another Comex hammering in gold and silver by the '2 or 3' U.S. bullion banks. I'm beyond pain here...and neither the blue pill or the red pill is working...either individually or collectively. Even the new tinfoil hat that the Mogambo Guru sent me isn't cheering me up.
But there is a silver lining to all this. First, the HUI put in a very impressive day despite the horrendous price drops in both metals. When I see this sort of counterintuitive action (either at the top...like in March, or at the bottom...like about now) in the shares, it's my opinion that this is not the 'smart money' investing...it's the insiders buying...the guys who really know what's going to happen next. Let's see if this turns out to be the case in the next few days.
Secondly, in a couple of e-mails from Ted Butler, he advised me that "sometime in the past week, the Swiss silver ETF added close to 600,000 oz. and the London silver ETF added close to 400,000 oz." In the second e-mail he had this to say..."GLD dropped another 17 tonnes yesterday (542,000 ounces). That's 27 tonnes in last two days, 37 tonnes in last 6 days. 90 tonnes from the top in latter part of July, or 2.9 million ounces ($2.5 billion) and 12.75% of total holdings. There was no liquidation in SLV yesterday, but some liquidation might be reported today especially after yesterday's 18.4 million share volume." I await that SLV number with great interest, because despite the almost 50% haircut silver has had since March, the SLV inventory just keeps climbing higher.
I see that the usual NY commentator had an interesting tidbit yesterday..."These premiums are completely unprecedented in the 11 years of so I have been tracking them. India’s imports of gold in September will be stunning."
In a Bloomberg story yesterday..."The cost of hedging against losses on US treasuries rose to a record on concern the U.S. government faces higher liabilities because of its rescue of mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, credit default swaps show. The bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is weakening the balance sheet of the U.S. and that is causing a deterioration of creditworthiness. The market is anticipating there might be more bailouts." More bailouts??? Really??? Count on it.
The first story today is a follow-up to a story that I brought to you attention in my Saturday morning commentary. It was about Donald Coxe's audio comments about "the biggest political intervention in the financial markets since Roosevelt in 1933." I note an error from
Saturday...he's not with the Bank of Montreal...he's with Harris Investment Management in Chicago. This story was in the Toronto Globe and Mail's Report on Business yesterday and is entitled "The real reason commodities are tumbling". The link is here
The second story is about a debate that occurred yesterday at the Hard Assets Investment Conference in Las Vegas between the non-believers represented by Tim Wood of Resource Investor...and the Grand Poo-bah of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, Inc....Mr. Bill Murphy. The GATA release of the results of that debate is linked here.
As I put the finishing touches on this report, I see that the US$ is now sitting over the 80 cent mark. Maybe it's time to cash in our precious metals and buy the greenback? Not bloody likely! But having said that, despite the pain and the blood in the streets, these are the bottoms that should be bought. I think the HUI gave us a sign yesterday.
See you tomorrow.
Casey Research correspondent-at-large Ed Steer is a keen observer of the financial scene and a board member of GATA.org.
Hallo Edel, hab grad Deinen kritischen Beitrag zu den ETFs gelesen und finde eben heraus , das Uraninvestmentfonds Nufcor auch verleiht. Wozu?????? Und dazu das Bild mit den Bankschließfächern. 
Grüße
http://www.proactiveinvestors.…asset-valuation-2938.html
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Nufcor Uranium climbs on net asset valuation
[Blockierte Grafik: http://www.proactiveinvestors.…ank_350_48c7b69724c93.jpg]
Nufcor
Uranium, the long term investment fund focused on acquiring and holding
uranium, climbed higher this morning after full year results for the
year ended 30 June 2008 reaffirmed the company’s net asset backing.
Highlights
for the year included income of US$4.2 million - from lending out its
uranium stockpiles to third parties - and a loss of $33.4 million –
primarily due to impairment charges made against the value of its UF6
holdings. Net asset value per share came in at 212 pence.
Nufcor
Uranium admitted that its second year of life had been a ‘particularly
difficult’ one, with the spot price of uranium falling from $136/pound
to $57/pound, which hit the net value of its inventory. Nonetheless,
the company said it still believed in the ‘fundamental circumstances’
surrounding the uranium market and its relationship with the nuclear
power industry, which is projected to expand significantly in coming
years and emerging countries, like China and India, commit billions to
new plants to meet demand.
“With regard to demand, global
nuclear reactor growth continues to gain momentum, and certain
countries have indicated an interest in acquiring strategic reserves of
uranium to support nuclear power programmes in the future. On the
supply side, uranium from secondary sources remains a finite supply,
and there continues to be widespread problems in the uranium mining
industry in respect of both existing and new mine sources of uranium.”
Shares in Nufcor Uranium climbed 6% to 202 pence.
Tschonko, da gehts mir ähnlich. Depot -50%, aber nur 20% physisch außerhalb des Depots. Margin wird mir nie in die Tüte kommen. Leider dafür kein Cash mehr zum investieren. Von solchen Kursen hab ich noch nicht Mal bei Vollmond geträumt 
. Zum Glück brauch ich das Geld nicht und kann den Sturm vorüberziehen lassen, aber die Arschlöscher sind noch lange nicht fertig mit der Verpestung der Luft! Aber selbst Arschlöschern geht irgendwann mal die Puste aus.;) Gegenreaktion bekommen wir mit Sicherheit, aber erstmal nur Aufgrund der momentanen massiven überverkauftheit der Werte.
Grüße
Habe gerade gesehen, daß das Casey-Research-Team am 12.09. eine freianschaubare Diskussion zum Thema Crisis & Opportunity online abhält. Nähere Infos unter http://www.caseyresearch.com/c…d=120&ppref=CSR120CC0808A
Grüße
Ich stimme Dir voll und ganz zu Eldo und hoffe, daß wir für unsere Hartnäckigkeit belohnt werden. Lt. der US-Einlagensicherung FDIC gab es im zweiten Quartal 117 "Problembanken". Der Deckungsstock der FDIC liegt Ende Juni unter der gesetzlichen Mindesthöhe. (Quelle Wirtschaftwoche).
Grüße
Hallo Edel & Eldo,
im Kurssprung von 30% seh ich auch nichts besonderes, da es bei ca. 2,4 Mio. gehandelten Aktien zustande kam. Bei 137 Mio. ausstehenden Aktien... Da sieht man mal was uns bei den EM-Juniors bevorsteht, wenns hochgeht. Ich kenn den Zeitpunkt leider nicht, aber wenn es passiert gehts rasant aufwärts. 
Grüße
was ist eigentlich mit unserem Sleeper geworden hab ich mich eben gefragt? Gestern +30% auf....... 0,065 CAD 
Beim letzten Beitrag stand die noch bei 0,25 CAD. Wäre was für den neuen Edel-Thread ;). Was ist zwischendurch passiert?
2 Finanzierungen (04/08 X-Cal Resources Ltd. has completed a private placement of 500,000 common shares at $0.15 per share and 600,000 Units at $0.15 per Unit, each Unit consisting of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant and each whole warrant entitling the holder to purchase an additional common share of X-Cal at a price of $0.24 per share for a period of 24 months und 06/08 X-Cal Resources Ltd. has completed a private placement of 8,062,500 Units at $0.08 per Unit, each Unit consisting of one common share and one common share purchase warrant and each warrant entitling the holder to purchase an additional common share of X-Cal at a price of $0.10 per share for a period of one year.)
Das Ergebnis einer unabhängigen Untersuchung des Sleeper-Projektes steht noch aus. A mineral inventory for the Sleeper Gold Project is pending. The timing of the calculation is in the hands of an independent QP. Results will be reported after they are received and reviewed. http://www.x-cal.com/news_releases/20080620.htm
Sie haben zum 30.06. 137 Mio. Aktien ausgegeben. Das ist mal ein gutes Beispiel für eine Verwässerung ohne Ende. Die MC beträgt 8,9 Mio. CAD. Beobachtet noch jmd. den Wert?
Grüße
Ja, die relative Stärke im Vergleich zu den anderen Aktien ist mir auch auf gefallen. Auf dem Niveau natürlich wurde es auch Zeit 
Rusoro betont immer so die Nähe zur venez. Regierung. Die Freundschaft gibt´s bestimmt nicht umsonst. http://www.rusoro.com/s/News_Releases.asp?ReportID=318117
Grüße
aktueller Kommentar von Louis James (Casey Research):
BottomLine: If you do not have strong confidence in the gold trend we are speculating on, then you shouldn’t be in this game.You’ll end up buying when it looks safe to get in the water – which is when everyone else will be thinking the same thing,and prices will be high.Then the market will fluctuate,as it always does,and you’ll sell along with everyone else who panics, when prices are low.The emotions that drive these decisions are so strong,even people who should know better end up “buying high and selling low”– exactly the opposite of what they intend.
Better to go buy a CD at your bank and hope inflation doesn’t eat your nest egg for lunch before mainstream markets become good bets again. But if you do believe that higher gold prices lie ahead for at least a couple years, the current dip may be your best chance to load up for the Mania Phase to come. We’re backing up the truck.
In summary, Exeter is advancing two outstanding discoveries, both of which have the potential to add enormous value to the company as they continue to evolve over the coming weeks.
@Eldo
mich hats auch sehr überrascht, da zweifelt man schon mal kurz an seinen Überzeugzúngen, aber nur kurz. Hoffe die Zeit reicht bei Dir. Grüße
From Ed Steer:
There wasn't a lot of excitement in either gold or silver on
Wednesday...at least nothing compared to what we've seen in the last
month or so. This selloff we've had since Monday was a huge surprise
for everyone. One would think that we would be at a bottom here, as
there should be very few leveraged tech funds left to be flushed out of
the long side. Their selling is what drives the price down. No doubt,
there is more shorting going on...but all in all, I'd say we're done to
the downside. But I thought the same thing in the middle of
August...and look what happened.
India was closed yesterday, but the premiums indicate that huge imports
are still taking place. The usual NY commentator had this to
say..."Indian demand is particularly important at present, because
Ramadan has started. Commercial activity in Muslim countries slows at
this time.
"Yesterday's (Tuesday) $24.70 Comex slump had remarkably little effect
on open interest. A decline of only 2,670 contracts (8.3 tonnes or
0.69%) is trivial compared with the 2.96% fall in gold itself. A good
deal of short selling must have occurred, or perhaps selling against
purchases from an exogenous seller of physical - possibly both.
"According to MKS this morning (Wednesday), there was ‘huge selling’ on
the London open: gold was driven down $17 by noon UK time. Buying then
emerged and carried through much of the Comex session. At the high,
gold was up $18 intra-day, and closed down only $2.30 on estimated
volume of 131,598...with a switch effect of some 11,000 lots.
"A serious and violent seller is about: but today (Wednesday), buying interest blocked further downside momentum."
I see that Ospraie Management LP is shutting its flagship commodity
hedge fund after it lost almost 40% this year, according to a letter
the firm sent to investors on Tuesday. Ospraie Managment was a stock
fund, with a large portion of its holdings in natural gas companies. It
had little, if any, direct exposure to futures and options either on
the Comex or in the OTC. market. Ford & GM's vehicle sales were
down huge...20% or more across the board. ResCap and GMAC plan to
dismiss 5,000 employees and close all 200 GMAC Mortgage retail offices.
And as I fire this off to my editor, I hear rumblings of big political
problems that have just flared up in the Ukraine. I'll have something
more concrete on this tomorrow.
The first story today is from Korea where the problems of Fannie and
Freddie in the USA may be the cause of an unfolding currency crisis
over there. The story, from The Times in London, is entitled "South Korea heads for black September with won problems". The link is here.
The second item is from my good friend James Turk over at goldmoney.com.
James has some rays of sunshine for all of us in these dark times. It's
accompanied by the usual excellent charts and is entitled "The
'Hamburger Theory'" and the link is here.
Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the
voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the
path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of
terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives
in fear. - Harry S. Truman, 33rd US President (1884-1972)
I see that the U.S. Mint has already stamped out 400,000 US silver
eagles for the month of September. With vanishingly small amounts of
'cash and carry' investment silver (and gold) to be found just about
anywhere on this planet, it's a good bet that silver and gold prices
won't remain this low for very long. The physical off-take is certainly
something of deep concern to the bullion banks...especially in silver.
I just don't see how they can win the physical game in the
end...because the lower prices go, the more people want to buy it...and
the higher the prices go, the more people want to buy it. If the boyz
can figure a way out of this mess without driving prices to the
moon...I'd love to hear what it is.
See you on Friday.
Casey Research correspondent-at-large Ed Steer is a keen observer of the financial scene and a board member of GATA.org.
Kurs steht jetzt bei 2,76 CAD. Nochmal 20% billiger geworden ggü. letztem Eintrag hier. Bei dem Markt verwundert das nicht, aber ist eine absolute Kaufgelegenheit. Grüße
- 5.55 m (18.2 ft) at a grade of 302.4 grams per tonne ("g/t")
gold (8.8 oz/ton) and 6,623 g/t silver (192.1 oz/ton), for
a gold equivalent grade(i) of 412.7 g/t (12.0 oz/ton), from
a down hole depth of 150.45 m (493.6 ft), including
- 1.20 m (3.9 ft) at a grade of 841.4 g/t gold (24.4 oz/ton)
and 13,317 g/t silver (386.2 oz/ton), for a gold equivalent
grade(i) of 1,063 g/t (30.8 oz/ton), from a down hole depth
of 150.75 m (494.6 ft).
http://www.exeterresource.com/…ws/Exeter_news_080904.pdf
Nachtrag zu gestern. Grüße
Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Uranium Resources Inc. is sitting on as much as $7 billion worth of the radioactive mineral and may become a takeover target after the shares plunged 83 percen this year, along with the fuel's price.
The Lewisville, Texas-based company has proven uranium reserves in the state of about 800,000 pounds, plus an estimated 101.4 million pounds of the material in New Mexico, according to a regulatory filing. The deposits could power the world's 438 active nuclear-generating plants for a year.
David Dreman, 72, who oversees $13.7 billion as chairman of Jersey City, New Jersey-based Dreman Value Management LLC, bought 51,060 shares this year, boosting his stake to 4.5 percent. The company's biggest investor, Zesiger Capital Group LLC, also increased holdings, according to regulatory filings. ``Uranium Resources is one of the cheapest uranium stocks out there right now, given its assets,'' said Mark Roach, who runs Dreman's $1.8 billion DWS Dreman Small Cap Value Fund. An increase in nuclear power's appeal as a clean-energy source may raise the company's profile as an acquisition target, he said.
The shares, which reached a record closing price of $14.02 on Nov. 6, closed at $2.18 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading yesterday. They may be worth $20 each, based on past acquisitions of companies with similar reserves, said Peter Homans, a hedge-fund manager with Parkman LP in Boston. The fund owns the shares, he said.
`Meaningful Upside'
Uranium Resources rose $1.02, or 47 percent, to $3.20 at 4:29 p.m. for the biggest gain since Sept. 26, 2003. The stock was the biggest gainer on the Russell 2000 Index today. ``From my perspective, the company has 100 million pounds of proven reserves, which is more than any other American company,'' Homans said. ``The contract price for uranium is somewhere around $70. Multiply that by 100 million and you have a present value of $7 billion. For a stock whose market cap is $100 million, there's meaningful upside.''
Calls and e-mails to Bobby Winters, a managing director at Zesiger in New York, weren't returned. The firm owned 14.2 percent of the shares as of June 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Uranium Resources trades at half the price of Canadian competitors based on the value of its reserves, analyst Paul Stouse at Rice Voelker LLC of Covington, Louisiana, said in an interview.
Saskatoon, Canada-based Cameco Corp. might acquire the company to strengthen its position as the world's biggest uranium miner, Roach said. Cameco doesn't comment on acquisition targets before investors are informed, spokesman Gord Struthers said. ``However, we are looking for ways to expand our production and have said we're in a growth mode,'' he said. ``It's a small industry; we've probably talked with every company out there.''
Unexplored Land
Uranium Resources produced 417,000 pounds of the mineral in 2007 and 196,900 through the first half of this year, the company said. By 2014, new and existing mines in Texas may yield as much as 2 million pounds annually, Chief Executive Officer David Clark, 53, said in a presentation June 4. As much as 9 million pounds may be mined in New Mexico, Clark said. The company also owns 183,000 acres in New Mexico, 70 percent unexplored, Clark said. As much as 588 million pounds of uranium may be found in the state, he said.
``We plan to become a 10-million-pound-a-year producer,'' Clark said in an interview. ``We have some of the largest reserves in the largest reserve area in the country, in the largest uranium-consuming country in the world.''
Uranium Resources has declined 80 percent since the end of June 2007 as the mineral's price slid by about half from a record $138 a pound. Selling by hedge funds and speculators, who had bet prices would rise with oil, accounted for the drop, said analyst Eric Webb of Roswell, Georgia-based Ux Consulting Co.
Mill Purchase
Dropping prices forced the company to abandon an acquisition of a mill in New Mexico after the deal became too expensive, Clark said. Scrapping the plan was a disappointment to some investors because it delayed production in New Mexico, Homans said. The company won't meet a forecast of 400,000 pounds of uranium production this year because of aging properties and difficulties extracting the mineral from the Rosita mine in Texas, Clark said in a conference call with investors Aug. 11.
Uranium Resources sold stock at a discount in a private equity offering in May to raise money for exploration and well repair. The sale angered some investors as it diluted the value of their stakes and didn't help save the mill purchase, Homans said. ``The falling price of uranium has taken its toll,'' Clark said in an interview. ``We don't have the same level of interested investors as we had a year ago, but we have seen a rotation to people interested in the long-term fundamentals of the market and those fundamentals remain strong.''
Uranium Demand
Atomic reactors consume about 165 million pounds of uranium worldwide annually. Only 110 million pounds are produced each year, according to the World Nuclear Association, a London-based industry group. The remaining 55 million pounds come from gradually declining sources, including former weapons material. Those stores are forecast to run out by 2013. The number of reactors may expand to 740 worldwide by 2030 as China and India build new plants and other countries increase their use of atomic energy, the association said.
Primary uranium supplies would have to triple by that date to meet predicted demand, the association said. New producers will be needed or current suppliers will have to add capacity through acquisitions, said Justin Reid, a mining analyst at Cormark Securities Inc. in Toronto.
Navajo Land
Uranium Resources has been unable to extract ore from a section of its 2,200-acre Church Rock property in New Mexico because of a dispute over the authority to issue a mining permit. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ruled last year that the Navajo Nation and not the state has jurisdiction, the company said in a statement. It could begin producing 1 million pounds of uranium a year within the next 18 months if an appeal is successful, the company said. The case will continue if the court sides with the EPA.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver may rule in the next three to six months, Homans said. ``These are just bumps in the road,'' Roach said. ``The company is an asset play and management is doing all of the things it should to build shareholder value. Wait for uranium prices to recover. This will be a stock to own.''
Gleich im ZDF 22.15h
Die Rohstoffkrise
Wie bedroht ist unser Wohlstand?
Der
steigende Preis für Erdöl, aber auch für viele andere Rohstoffe hat in
den vergangenen Monaten eines deutlich gemacht: Die Ressourcen der Erde
sind endlich. Für manche Rohstoffe prognostizieren Experten schon bald
Versorgungsengpässe. Ist ein Ende des Wohlstands unvermeidlich?
Übernahmegerüchte bei Uranium Resources Inc. (URRE) - produzieren in Texas, Kurs +55%. Hoffe es sind nicht nur Gerüchte. Ich hab sie nicht, aber umso mehr Übernahmen stattfinden umso schneller kommt der Sektor endlich ans laufen.
WJB Capital hat kürzlich seine Kunden empfohlen Calls von Cameco zu kaufen, da sie einen Uranpreis von bis zu 148$ erwarten (Quelle: Barron´s) Gründe waren hauptsächlich die steigende Nachfrage.
Grüße
siehe da, es gibt schon einen RML-Thread! Da leg ich dich direkt was rein. Grüße
August 30, 2008 at 14:20:01
Why I'm NOT taking up an offer of a job to clean the lavatories at Gold Reserve's Spokane HQ...
When I first became embroiled in
reporting Venezuela's mining industry in 1996, I already understood
that there was a plethora of shady individuals involved in an
accumulation of political and economic corruption and political favors
given over more than a half century of pseudo-democratic misrule since
the fall of the the Marcos Perez Jimenez dictatorship in January 1958.
Certainly, there was more than an urgent need for President Hugo Chavez
Frias to deal firmly with the worst excesses in the area of mining for
gold and precious stones as soon as he became President in February
1999 ... but it is now more than nine long years since then and the
surface has only just been scratched!
The
complete nationalization of Venezuela's industrial and financial sector
and its mineral and natural resources took place way back in 1976 under
the quasi-dictatorship of corrupt President Carlos Andres Perez (CAP),
though his patriotic (?) allegiances appear more to have been to
Washington D.C. rather than Caracas. After his impeachment in May
1993 and imprisonment for two years in 1994 on $250 million corruption
charges, he is now 'suffering' in financially richer retirement in
Florida with luxury pads close to Central Park, New York, and in the
Dominican Republic ... who says crime doesn't pay?
Corrupt
presidential mandates since CAP's Supreme Court demise have sought to
profit from a pseudo-privatization of key industries ... mostly oil ...
but the massive gold fields in the Guayana region of southeastern
Venezuela were largely abandoned or fought-over through the Venezuelan
courts, or hauled off to international arbitration procedures that
serve mostly to keep a legion of lawyers on the lucrative food-chain
for the longest possible delays.
My rather ruder introduction, some 11 or so years ago, to
USA-Washington State Spokane-based Gold Reserve (GRZ) came out of the
blue when for the first time (but not for the last) I questioned the veracity of a Press Release issued by the Vancouver Stock Exchange listedGold Reserve.
The gold seeker's Press Release concerned their "claim" of a concession
at Las Brisas del Cuyuni bordering on the then-disputed Placer Dome
(PDG) "concession" at Las Cristinas 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Enduring a 40-minute international telephone diatribe of obscenities
from a "GRZ spokesperson" I was told that a journalist has NO right to
question the veracity of Gold Reserve's PR. ???
Quite frankly, the overall tone of the "conversation" only served to
heighten my instinctive misgivings of Gold Reserve's then
"representations" and, as the years piled by, the opinion was further
enforced by what I can only opine as deliberately misleading statements
by GRZ president A. Douglas Belanger and CEO Rockne J. Timm. Sufficient
to say that any GRZ news was treated with the usual suspicions and
mostly at the end of a very long barge pole.
NOW, of course, we are treated to the "news" that the Agapov Group's
Rusoro Mining is alleged by Bellanger to have offered about US$90
million for Gold Reserve's alleged "rights" at the 10 million ounce Las
Brisas gold project. Belleanger claims to have been trying to put an
operation "into production for more than 15 years!"
THAT comes on the heels of a previous and unsupported
claim that Gold Reserve had been in talks with Venezuela's Ministry of
Basic Industries & Mines (Mibam) on a combined Las Brisas and Las
Cristinas joint venture. Quite frankly, one is left in moderate
disbelief as ill-informed but usually savvy North American day traders
squabble over what to believe and how to profit best from market
movements a few cents one way or the other.
Reportedly, Gold Reserve's stock is 71% down this year after
Venezuela's Environment Ministry (MinAmb) rescinded a permit at Las
Brisas in May this year. THENcomes the 'out of the blue' news (like the 'news' of the Las Brisas/Las Cristinas joint venture) that the Russians have outlined "a potential takeover offer" which Belanger alleges to be "worth about $90 million."
In a press release, yesterday, Belanger emphatically states that "Gold Reserve is not for
sale" ... which is rather amusing, and quite rich, coming from a North
American executive who has been running around for at least the past
couple of years with a giant billboard pinned to the back of his jacket
proclaiming that it's a "sell" if the exorbitant price is right!
At this stage Rusoro president George Salamis has quite rightly
declined to comment... And a best bet is that there are no prizes for
guessing why!
Like
so many other points in time during the Belanger/Timm combo's luckless
careers in the jungles of Venezuela, it looks like the PR fest is about
to run out of steam. Without much prospect of EVER getting Las Brisas
off the starting block and with Venezuela's gold (and let's NOT forget the copper!) mining sector finally coming under government regulation for, and on behalf of, the true owners of Las Brisas del Cuyuni (i.e. the Venezuelan people!)
it's a sure bet that, sooner or later, the stock exchange punters
across North America and Europe will wake up to the fact that Gold
Reserve (GRZ) doesn't OWN a centimeter of dirt on the land where it's
outdated and untenable "concession" lies.
Since they're NOT (apparently)
prepared to go into a joint venture with the Venezuelan government; and
since they're NOT prepared to take Rusoro's allegedly proffered $90
million (what for?) and scurry away, what's left?
Which
is why I'm NOT taking them up on their emailed offer, some months back,
of a job at their Spokane HQ, cleaning up the mess they've created all
by themselves...
From Ed Steer (Casey Research correspondent-at-large Ed Steer is a keen observer of the financial scene and a board member of GATA.org.):
It was a huge surprise for most (including yours truly) that the NYMEX was open on Monday to permit "pre-Gustav trading" in oil. I've never heard of the NYMEX opening under these sorts of circumstances...have you? Normally, they are just as likely to close the market in face of this sort of phenomenon. How did that happen...and who arranged it? Maybe someone got special dispensation from the pope.
Anyway, there were those in both the gold and silver markets that took complete advantage of the fact that..."while the cat's away, the mice will play"...and kicked the living snot out of both metals. Volume was non-existent. The price began its decline in London on Monday and kept declining almost without a break until the London p.m. fix on Tuesday. The Tuesday morning sell-offs starting at the Sydney close and the Comex open were noteworthy. Fortunately, most of New York's 'losses' for the day were made up by the end of regular Comex trading. The shares were killed. But you have to look on the bright side. Poor iridium dropped a cool $1,000/oz.
The usual NY gold commentator had plenty to talk about. On Monday he had this to say..."Gold jewelry sales in Abu Dhabi soared 300% in volume and almost 250'% in value in August from a year earlier...’It was the best month the market has seen in almost 30 years and it
compensated for any drops we have seen earlier this year,’ Abu Dhabi Gold and Jewelry Group Chairman Tushar Patni told Reuters.
"Today's (Monday) gold action was highly unusual. Gold rarely does much on US public holidays. After two brisk rally attempts, heavy selling apparently started just after the Indian close (mid-morning UK time) went right through the second fix (AM $832, PM $822.55 – unusually far apart) and continued in the after market: odd, because both the US and Canada were closed today.
"Clearly, there is a powerful seller of bullion around, willing to deal on the fix and apparently not very concerned about realized price – else why sell into a North American vacuum? Some think physical demand the key on a downswing; others think Western Hemisphere speculative(?) sentiment. Judging by these Indian premiums, this is about to be put to the test."
And yesterday... “Reuters published a valuable story today quoting the President of the Bombay Bullion Dealers Association to the effect that Indian gold imports in August were ‘about 100 tonnes’ compared with 22 tonnes in July/08 and 67 tonnes in August last year.
This is an astonishing acceleration, especially as the rupee last year was stronger and world gold in the $620s.
"The Istanbul Gold Exchange published Turkey's August gold imports yesterday too, which were equally astonishing. Imports were 47.185 tonnes, the highest in the 13 years of data the IGE supplies...344.2% above July and 70.8% above August last year. The weighted average $US price, according to the Exchange, was $853.53...down 8.6% from July but 28.3% above August last year.
"These increases far exceed what can easily be explained by price elasticity of demand. In the case of Turkey, only one other 40+ tonne month has been recorded – July last year – and only three 30+ tonnes.
"July last year in Turkey seemed to be influenced by geopolitical tensions. Perhaps the same is true now.
"Another question which occurs is...where is all this physical coming from? Selling right through the PM fix has been a regular feature – this cannot be done without deliverable metal. The ECB group continues not to show involvement. This week's statement of condition indicates that consolidated ‘gold and gold receivables’ fell €31 million...1.63 tonnes at the current book value. This is attributed to a sale by one captive CB (central bank). Last week's was 1.16 tonnes.
"Today's (Monday) extension of Labor Day's serious losses saw very heavy volume: an estimated 191,536 lots by 1 pm, with only a 7,500 switch effect."
Naturally, there was huge liquidation in both gold and silver yesterday as the tech funds pitched more longs/went short and the '4 or less' traders (bullion banks) covered more shorts and/or went long. As of the last COT, the '4 or less' traders in gold and silver held 62% and 61%
respectively of the entire Comex short positions in these two metals. Will Tuesday's numbers be in this week's COT? Even though yesterday was the cutoff for Friday's report, I'm not holding my breath.
In other news, I see that Australian gold output was down 13% in the Q2/08. Harmony Gold had to close a couple of mine shafts after 3 miners died on the weekend. British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, said in a story out of The Guardian that Britain is facing "arguably the worst economic downturn in 60 years" which will be "more profound and long-lasting than people had expected." Of course it's that bad, or worse, in the USA, but they're just better at cooking their books than the Brits...and they’re far
better liars too! According to the Financial Times..."Merrill Lynch's losses in the past 18 months amount to about a quarter of the profits it has made in its 36 years as a listed company." And Integrity Bank of Alpharetta, Georgia was closed on Friday...the 10th bank to
collapse this year. The FDIC says that U.S. banking industry profits plunged by 86% in Q2/08. And lastly, the FDIC also reports the number of banks 'in trouble' has risen from 90 to 117 in the last quarter. It's my bet that it's several multiples of that.
