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Non-Tech : Greenspan, Rubin & Co - the Most Irresponsible Team Ever?? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (234)	11/15/1999 12:47:00 PM
From: Cynic 2005	Respond to of 309

Dear Dr. Greenspan, if there were to be an open letter written to you by market consensus, here is how it will read. ---------- Irwin Kellner Rate hike or not Either way, it's OK By Dr. Irwin Kellner, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 10:24 AM ET Nov 9, 1999 Kellner's forecast Commentary section NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Hey there, Mr. Greenspan, you don't scare us. "You've already told us that you plan to inject some $50 billion extra into the financial system to help tide the banks over any cash needs they might have arising from their customers' concerns over Y2K." Dr. Irwin Kellner We're the stock market and we're ready for whatever you and your colleagues decide to dish out, so go ahead and take your best shot. If you decide to raise interest rates next week, that's fine. We can deal with it. And should you think it's unnecessary to boost rates, that's even better. In other words -- whatever you and your band of merry central bankers decide to do on Nov. 16, is OK with the stock market. And, to paraphrase that great economist, "engine" Charlie Wilson, what's good for the stock market is good for America. While economists, Fed watchers and the media are obsessing over whether or not you will hike rates come the 16th, read our lips -- it really doesn't matter what you do. Here's the reason: If you should decide to raise the federal funds rate by a quarter of a point, that would only bring it back to where it was back on Sept. 30 of last year, before you cut it three times, a quarter of a point each time. No big deal. At 5.50 percent, this was not an impediment to rising stock prices; equities had a pretty good year in 1998, you will recall. Besides, you're not going to raise rates again for the rest of this century. Indeed, we're willing to wager that you won't even be thinking about a rate hike until spring in the new millennium -- if then. Care to know why? Because you've already told us that you plan to inject some $50 billion extra into the financial system to help tide the banks over any cash needs they might have arising from their customers' concerns over Y2K. It wouldn't make sense to put money in with one hand and take it out with the other, would it? Y2K concerns Also, the economy will be so distorted by Y2K-related activity, it will be virtually impossible for you to discern the underlying trends. There's so much precautionary inventory building going on now that there's bound to be a slowdown, come first-quarter 2000. Indeed, you won't know until spring whether the economy is roaring ahead or throttling back; a rate hike would be unwise until the Y2K fog lifts. A buy signal So if you do raise rates next week, we're going to assume that will be it for at least four months, if not more. That's a buy signal, if we ever saw one. Of course, should you pass on a rate hike, that's all the more reason to throw caution to the winds and snap up whatever's available. Yes, Mr. Greenspan, we're going to start our New Year's party early no matter what you do on the 16th. It's called exuberance, get used to it. cbs.marketwatch.com

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (234)	11/15/1999 1:42:00 PM
From: Cynic 2005	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 309

Wall Street pundits and CNBS have been trying to brainwash the public that there is no inflation in sight. They hope Greenspan ignores such rummy details like this: biz.yahoo.com ------- Monday November 15, 1:31 pm Eastern Time Note: this article has a followup with more information. NYMEX crude stays at 34-mo. highs, products gain NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) continued to trade midday at 34-month highs, supported by a tighter outlook on winter stocks amid forecasts of colder weather in the U.S. Northeast and Europe. News from OPEC strengthening signals that producers were leaning towards extending output cuts beyond March 2000 also kept the market well-supported, traders said. Sheikh Saud said in Kuwait he had received a letter from Mexican Oil Minister Luis Tellez suporting Kuwait's call to to extend the duration of the curbs, which are aimed at lopping off around five million barrels from world output of about 75 million barerls per day (bpd). Tellez himself said last week Mexico, a non-OPEC producer, would maintain its export cuts until the end of June 2000 if other producers took the same step. Tellez will meet with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela on Wednesday in Riyadh to discuss oil output policy. After hitting a 34-month high at $25.35, NYMEX December crude was trading at $25.30, up 39 cents at 1:05 p.m. (1805 GMT). It has traded as low as $25.00. The day's trade continues last week's bullish turnout, when NYMEX December crude ended at $24.91, the highest settlement since January 1997. The latest leg of the nine-month-old bull run began last week, after the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast calling for tighter inventories this winter and early next year as long as OPEC maintained its output discipline. Meanwhile, December heating oil edged higher, trading at 67.25 cents a gallon, up 1.05 cents, before easing at 67.15, up 0.93 cent. It has dipped as low as 66.40 cents. December gasoline was trading 0.70 cent higher at 70.95 cents a gallon, maintaining its morning range of 60.40/71.30 cents. In London, December Brent crude shot up to $24.93, up 34 cents, its highest level since October 1996, surpassing the previous high of $24.91 set in January 1997. December Brent is expiring at the end of the day. January Brent was up 33 cents at $24.45. NYMEX traders said they were monitoring developments in Venezuela after news early Monday that three of the country's largest oil unions had called for a strike because of a stalement in pay talks with the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela was also. The unions said they would introduce a formal strike petition at the Labor Ministry this week. So far, no date has been set for the strike.