<...He is less sanguine about gold equities. "If gold cannot move higher, there will be widespread selling, not only in the metal but also in the stocks. A lot of people buy these as a lottery ticket, even though the fundamentals are pathetic. There is no reason to own gold equities unless you think the gold price is going higher."...>
Jay, the Aztecs are getting nervous. They are clutching their talisman fearfully, holding it high against the swirling madness of humanity as the core of capitalism and globalisation folded with the collapse of the New York World Trade Center. But, unexpectedly, the core of capitalism has slipped away like a ghost into cyberspace and a pile of concrete, steel and human remains does not seem to have caused more than a glitch. Markets will be on line on Wall Street and have been around the world.
Now, just when they expect their gold cross held aloft, with incantations, to be confirming their hopes, gold is shown as just another piece of metal dug from the earth. It has no magic.
Incidentally, I am disappointed that the "Financial Collapse of 2001" header has gone - come back and fight you wimps! A financial collapse doesn't mean the Dow dropping a chunk and the Nasdaq techwreck though of course it is a financial collapse for those involved. A financial collapse means just that. The financial system of the world crumbles in the ways so graphically described by Jay earlier this year in 'headlines to be expected' - some of which are not far off track!
But we are already into the last few months and the economies of the USA and world are looking solid. A growth rate reduction is not even a recession, let alone a great financial collapse. There are some countries in actual recession and Japan's Nikkei reached levels first reached on the way up in the 1970s. China is powering ahead, one of the world's economic locomotives, with well over 1 billion people and now the world's biggest cellphone market.
The USA has slowed down and people are NOT buying $12 martinis at the top of the World Trade Center, but the USA is a juggernaut and some boozing Islamic Jihad nasties who like lap dancing [maybe they just went to confirm the evil they were wanting to destroy] aren't going to stop it with 'boxcutters' and a bit of luck.
The best attack on Islamic Jihad is to get a photo of a grinning hijacker in a bar with a lap dancer and publish it in Egypt's, Saudi Arabia's and other Moslem newspapers.
Still waiting for the Great Financial Collapse of 2001 - but not expecting it to happen. Though I have my fingers crossed. The gold price doesn't suggest major panic and collapse.
Mqurice
PS Puter back on line and enjoyed a nice break in the beautiful Bay of Islands, which seemed like a different planet from what was on reality tv. |
