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Pastimes : The Naked Truth - Big Kahuna a Myth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Pitera who wrote (49447)	6/25/1999 1:42:00 PM
From: Terry Whitman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 86076

FWIW- I just went long some NEM. I think a breakout is possible here. Where do you think a good stop loss would be? 17.5? I see Capt. Steubing has been on the job. <g> TW geocities.com

To: John Pitera who wrote (49447)	6/25/1999 2:38:00 PM
From: NickSE	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 86076

More on IMF sales... IMF gold sales debate hots up in U.S. Congress biz.yahoo.com WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - The stage seems set for a bruising battle among U.S. lawmakers as the proposed sale of International Monetary Fund gold to aid poor countries met with more objections on Wednesday. The plan by major industrial nations, which needs Congressional approval, has already brought a raft of objections from U.S. politicians but many in Congress believe it's still too early to predict an outcome. ''Most people don't know that much about it,'' said Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California. ''For most members there will be a steep learning curve but one thing is certain -- it will be deeply scrutinized.'' The Group of Seven major industrial nations agreed this month to put money from the IMF selling its gold reserves into a trust fund, and use the interest income to fund debt relief and a lending program for poor countries. IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus said on Tuesday the IMF would make every effort to ensure the sales did not unsettle the markets. Pelosi and others said the feeling among most lawmakers was of confusion about how exactly the scheme would work. With that it mind, they said, it was too soon to tell exactly how the Congressional debate would be resolved. Congressional Joint Economic Committee Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said on Wednesday the plans would be met with great resistance by U.S. lawmakers. ''The IMF and Treasury should fully explain how much interest would be annually generated for debt relief,'' said Saxton, a New Jersey Republican. ''Once it becomes clear how modest the interest generated by the plan would be, there should be little support for the gold sales.'' The proposal has also met resistance from some lawmakers, concerned that another sharp drop in gold prices would put U.S. gold mining companies and jobs at risk. The U.S. Treasury has presented draft language for the proposed legislation which will likely be debated by the House Banking and Financial Services Committee as well as by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The exchange in Congress could revive memories of a heated debate which lasted more than a year and resulting in an $18 billion funding package for the IMF last October. Jesse Helms, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee came out in opposition to the gold sales on Tuesday warning it could unnerve financial markets and hurt U.S. gold producers. ''We are unalterably persuaded that selling IMF gold reserves would adversely affect the very countries the (Clinton) administration intends to assist and further damage the U.S. domestic gold industry,'' Helms, a North Carolina Republican, and Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, said in a letter to Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers. The proposal will likely bring opposition from many quarters. Some lawmakers appeared to be against all help for IMF programs during last year's IMF funding hearings. During that debate Republican leaders threatened to give only $3.4 billion while others wanted to cut off U.S. funding entirely. Others are concerned that 36 of the 41 nations that would benefit from the IMF's debt relief program were gold producers themselves. Selling the gold, they fear, could depress gold prices and do more damage than the debt relief itself. Ghana, which is targeted for debt relief under the plan, appeared to confirm these fears by saying on Wednesday that the sales could cripple gold producing economies like its own.