Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Enigma who wrote (8248)	10/20/1999 12:03:00 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81905

DoubleD... Gold is a USELESS ASSET for the US and the IMF... and now it is the same for the Europeans. Reserves EXIST for the purpose of being used to maintain stability in your national currency. If they can't be expended or bought to accomplish that purpose, they are nothing more than wasted chunks of matter taking up space in a vault. It's tantamount to anyone of us holding a million or billions of dollars in cash, gold, or what have you, but not being able to spend it when we find ourselves in periods of financial distress. What good is gold as a reserve if you can't sell it, lease it, loan it, borrow it, or buy it? That's where we currently stand with the US reserves. And I never stated that the CBs are stupid. It's actually quite the opposite. They can control the POG as they wish, depending on which CBs are acting together. So while you and your goldbug buddies B&M about where the actual POG should be, the reality is that the POG will be wherever the CBs want it to be. Sell the friggin' gold and buy each other's currencies. That's the way it should be done. The strength or weakness of a nation's currency should be based upon a nation's economic and fiscal policies, not upon the rarity of a shiny yellow metal. There is nothing more inherently logical than this fact.

To: Enigma who wrote (8248)	10/20/1999 12:32:00 PM
From: russet	Respond to of 81905

It's rather ironic, that for years, the CB's were said to be idiots for holding on to the gold in vaults which was costing millions in maintenance costs, and losing billions in asset value thanks to the declining price of gold. So then they start to lease the stuff out, to at least cover the cost of storing and insuring the asset, and they get yelled at by other interest groups for a different set of reasons,... lowering the POG. Then they are praised by goldbugs when several European members form what should properly be viewed as a producer cartel. But on the flip side they are spit on by the industry as several poor producers trying to make a buck, are forced to the edge of bankruptcy thanks to their hedging programs. Is it any wonder that the U.S. central bank would keep their distance from this cartel?,... such cartels are illegal in the U.S. What a mess! It certainly looks like these folks are bumbling fools no matter what they do. At least this time they have outlined guidelines for the future. After the initial shock, the industry can settle down and plan for the future, knowing with more certainty, what is going to happen. That will allow the producers to get down to what they do best,.. searching for cheap sources of the metal we all love, reducing their costs, rationalizing the industry like all the other industries, making the mines safe, being good corporate neighbors, and making more profits for their owners/shareholders. I think the European CB cartel announcement of their intentions was long overdue. We want all the CB's to announce their intentions, and provide accurate and adequate disclosure and accounting, to the same standards all North American public corporations must adhere to. Only then can we get on with life, without all this Hannibal Lector, flying saucer, and kill, kill, die, die, mojo stuff. Of course, we must keep Searle's bones. At least they make some sense (gggggggggggggggggggg).