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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Jackson who wrote (42247)	10/6/1999 12:40:00 PM
From: Lalit Jain	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 116762

Bars of gold bullion are selling like hotcakes at Scotiabank's metals desk Keith Damsell Financial Post Rana Kazemi has witnessed gold fever in all its sweaty, nail-biting angst. The precious metal's volatile climb to as high as $340.50 (US) an ounce has meant a surge in business for Bank of Nova Scotia's foreign exchange and precious metals desk where Ms. Kazemi is senior operations officer. She said one mature customer, convinced the price of gold would double by year end, cashed in all her mutual funds last week and snapped up $200,000 in bullion. "Her hands were shaking at the counter. She wants it right now, right now," Ms. Kazemi said. "You should see them. They're biting their nails. I feel sorry for them." Gold fever is alive and well at the corner of King and Bay Streets in Toronto. Wallet permitting, customers can stroll into Scotiabank, perhaps Canada's biggest clearing house for gold, and walk out 20 minutes later with bullion in the bag. "We've been very busy," says Ms. Kazemi. "People are buying, buying because they thought gold was going higher. It quiets down and then it gets busy all over again." Gold has been on a tear in recent weeks. On Sept. 21, the Bank of England's second auction of 25 tonnes of gold went better than expected, triggering a price rally. Five days later, Europe's central bankers capped gold sales and lending for the next five years, killing gold-dumping fears that have kept the precious metal depressed. Gold touched $340 (US) before falling to $324.40 (US) yesterday, up $8 (US). Only six weeks ago, gold hit a 20-year low of $252.55 (US). At 40 King St. W., there's nothing like the real thing. Options range from maple leaf-embossed coins containing one-twentieth of an ounce at $48.05 to wafer-sized ten ounce bars for $5,016.60. All that's needed are two pieces of identification. "The cage," a bullet-proof room with double-locked doors that sits in the corner of the lobby, doles out the required ounces. The bank will buy gold, too. A bullion analyzer, a flat grey machine the size of a typewriter, can calculate the purity of coins and bars brought in by prospective sellers. Two years ago, the machine exposed a bogus bar being hawked by a Toronto lawyer. Bigger transactions are more complex. The source of currency must be determined and the vault notified. The vault is a non-descript room with a series of large grey gym lockers. Each locker swings open to reveal fat trays of 400-ounce bars. Security is tight. A 52-tonne door with an elaborate timed lock keeps unwanted visitors at bay. Its exact location in the bank is a closely guarded secret. Secrets are thick among the bank's customers. Several gold bugs declined to talk to the Financial Post about their bullion buying. Fear -- rather than monetary gain -- appears to be gold's greatest sales tool, bank staff say. According to many gold bugs, economic catastrophe is lurking just around the corner. "Some people believe there'll be an economic event in the year 2000 and they want to have gold for protection," said Glenn Brown, analyst at Toronto's Haywood Securities Inc. Scotiabank has more immediate concerns. Bess Fuda, assistant manager of the precious metals desk, gets "an uneasy feeling" when a customer heads out the door with a $200,000 gold bar in his briefcase. "It's not like a cheque that can be replaced," she says, recommending use of a safety deposit box.

To: Bill Jackson who wrote (42247)	10/6/1999 1:53:00 PM
From: IngotWeTrust	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116762

Hi, Bill. Thank you for that URL. I've been following this "Sue and Labor" legal reparations strategy between attorny's and insurance companies for about 3 weeks now. A few comments if I may: 1) This Sue and Labor strategy is based upon an old 1600's maritime law principle as best I understand it. 2) When Ken Salaets and Ron Reece were strutting around on various threads about oh, 2-3 months ago talking about all Prevent Y2K Lawsuits via legislated remedies being voted on in our local "Congress" before one actually passed, ...I knew in my GUT *that* legislation schtick was going tooooo smoothly, and that there was an ace up the sleeve of the legal profession who wasn't putting up much of a struggle. One of Ken's more fun points about the legislation that DID pass is that if it passed, it would restrict the legal fees authorized as collectible in said lawsuits that might slip through to a per hour of $1,000. When I read that from Lobbyist Salaets, I decided then and there that this was going to be a toothless, clawless tiger law and that something else had to be afoot. I mean, let's get real, Bill. When did you ever hear of a bunch of attorney's which are about all we have in Congress willingly vote to limit another attorney's legal fees? That is about the stupidest thing I'd heard in a long time from our silly sacred seers we send up there to "do our bidness" 3) The suits w/briefcases and legal pads attending Y2K seminars acc'd to various presenters, not the least of which was SI's own C.K. Houston, was not diminishing as the ability to sue was supposedly curtailed by said new law passed by Congress and lauded by Clinton. That told me that there was another strategy under construction, which was going to be revealed in the fullness of time. 4) I caught a CNBC snippet re: GTE's Sue and Labor lawsuit filing on CNBC, last Friday after Markets Closed, I believe it was. I don't visit CNBC's website like maybe I should, (mining is far more fun!!!<g>) but maybe the transcript of that soundbyte is available there for your perusal if you are interested. THE THING THAT STARTLED ME in you proferred UK url is this: MICRO-Y2K-SCOFF (OTC: MSFT) is one of the PLAINTIFFS in a Sue and Labor already FILED case!!!! NOW THAT IS RIVETTING INFORMATION, and I have you to thank for bringing it to my attention. In my mind, the published fact that MSFT has filed as a plaintiff in this Y2K lawsuit, has many revealing Y2K reality checks! Some that come to mind are: 1) Y2K is a REEEEEEAL Problem and MSFT is admitting it, at least in court!!!! 1-A) Y2K bug exists, and it is bigggggg 2-B) Y2K bug is extremely expensive to fix 3-C) wants insurance company reimbursement 4-D) initiated legal action prior to Y2K's fatal midnight deadline 5-E) initiated Sue and Labor legal action in the MIDST OF THEIR OWN REMEDIATION AND REPLACEMENT AND TESTING CYCLE!!!! For those of you who wonder how I arrived at that last conclusion, please consider this: 5-E.1) There is NO WAY IN HELL this Sue&Labor action will be settled prior to Y2K deadline 5-E.2) There is NO WAY they have a "final damages/reparations figure" in concrete in this filling, because the Y2K work is NOT COMPLETED 5-E.3) It is a brilliant vaccination "argument" in defending future lawsuits by MSFT's CUSTOMERS. I can hear MSFT lawyers whining now: "But, Your Honor, We Got Hurt, Too, so don't pick on MSFT" 5-E.4) Suing insurance companies is ALWAYS a negotiated settlement. And these negotiations will be ongoing for many decades. Fortunately for MSFT shareholders, Bill is a young man with a lot of years left on him, supposedly, and all of them POST Y2K. Of course, this is an unfortunate aspect from the insurers viewpoint. Thanks again, Bill. Looking forward to all future posts by you. BTW, did you see the little goldmining company website I built for some friends while I was on Y2K relocating hiatus from SI? Click oregontrail.net and drop Pat and Roy a line if you have any thoughts you'd like to share with them on their First Commercial Mining Companyon the Internet cyberventure!!! I'll tell them to expect a friendly e*mail from you, so they'll know who you are when it arrives. Relax, my friend, it will ALL be friendly!<vvbg> O/49r