On the UK gold sale:
Interesting comment today from the World Gold Council Chief Executive, ie:
''Gold is generally regarded as the asset of last resort as governments have only drawn on their gold reserves in times dramatic economic or social difficulties. The last sale of gold in France was in 1969 to deal with the financial consequences of the May 1968 uprising; in Portugal, where gold was sold following the 1975 revolution; more recently, India used its gold reserves to borrow US$1 billion to avoid default in 1991; and in the recent financial crisis in Korea gold was dis-hoarded to help the national economy."
The above and more from:
biz.yahoo.com
The UK economy certainly appears to be in trouble. Here are some example stories coming from the BBC lately...
"Company insolvencies in England and Wales rose 9.6% in the first quarter of 1999 on the previous quarter and increased 16.6% compared to the same period a year ago to a seasonally adjusted total of 3,729, a rate of 285 per week."
news2.thdo.bbc.co.uk
Here's another one re. small business in the UK:
"...The survey showed that firms were shedding workers at the fastest rate for seven years, with 41% taking on fewer workers as opposed to 12% who took on more employees."
news2.thdo.bbc.co.uk
Also, the financial costs of Kosovo are high:
"The war in Yugoslavia is going to be expensive -- no one disputes that - possibly as much as $2bn to $3bn per NATO member per year. These are the statistics generals and governments argue about."
news2.thdo.bbc.co.uk
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While the above suggests the sale is reasonable to me, on the other hand I am wondering why they would announce the sale in advance if they were trying to get the highest price? In this light, it seems more like a deliberate attempt to keep POG low than anything else. Smacks of deceipt and manipulation, just like the highly publicized IMF sale.
My bet is a major correction with devastating consequences will occur at some stage when POG finally does rally seriously... causing major sell-offs in other sectors (like hi-tech, financial) ... margin calls, short-covering, etc. Hence the attempts to keep POG low for as long as possible by Slick & his friends. |
