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Pastimes : The Justa & Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Justa Werkenstiff who wrote (11752)	2/6/2000 9:01:00 PM
From: Justa Werkenstiff	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15132

Asia Commodity Movers: Precious Metals Rise After Gains in NY Tokyo, Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Futures contracts for the following commodities are moving in Tokyo. The ticker symbol for the most active contract is given in parentheses. Gold for December 2000 delivery (JGA <Cmdty>) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose as much as 40 yen, or 4.04 percent, to 1,030 yen a gram ($298.58 a troy ounce), its daily trading limit. Gold rose after prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange grained, on speculation mining companies bought back forward contracts they earlier sold to hedge against a fall in prices, a trader said. Canada's Placer Dome Inc., the world's fifth-largest producer, said it will suspend forward sales immediately and reduce its hedging position by at least 2 million ounces, as it expects higher prices. Barrick Gold Corp., the world's fourth- largest producer, said it will announce its plans Monday at 2 p.m. U.S. Eastern time. Gold for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $23.10 to $313 an ounce. (News: NI GOLD) Silver for December 2000 delivery (JIA <Cmdty>) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose as much as 6.0 yen, or 3.39 percent, to 182.80 yen per 10 grams ($52.99 a troy ounce), its daily trading limit price. Individual investors bought the contract on expectations silver will follow the climb by gold prices, a trader said. The contract rose to its highest price since Oct. 14. (News: NI SILVER) Palladium for December 2000 delivery (JMA <Cmdty>) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose as much as 40 yen, or 2.35 percent, to 1,739 yen a gram ($504.11 a troy ounce), posting a record high intraday price for the eighth straight trading day. Individual investors bought on concern about interruption of supplies from Russia and strong demand from Japanese automakers, traders said. Russia, the world's largest producer, is not expected to resume exports soon, the traders said. Palladium is used in catalytic converters that scrub pollutants from auto exhaust, and in cellular phones and other electronic devices. (News: NI PGM) Platinum for December 2000 delivery (JAA) rose as much as 50 yen, or 3.35 percent, to 1,541 yen a gram ($ a troy ounce), its daily trading limit and the highest intraday price since Sep. 11 1998. The contract rose on speculation exports from Russia, the world's second-largest producer after South Africa, will see further delay, a trader said. While the Russian government approved laws to allow shipments, it has yet to issue required export quotas. (News: NI PGM) Feb/06/2000 20:47

To: Justa Werkenstiff who wrote (11752)	2/7/2000 8:57:00 AM
From: Wally Mastroly	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15132

Fed chief: Don't spend surplus: usatoday.com Greenspan says best use is paying off national debt By George Hager, USA TODAY With President Clinton's budget set to kick off a debate over how to spend the ballooning budget surplus, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is warning Congress and the president that every extra dollar they use for spending programs or tax cuts just makes his job harder. And, though Greenspan doesn't say so explicitly, it could make higher interest rates more likely. Concerned that politicians could subvert the Fed's attempts to slow the economy and stave off inflation, Greenspan calls this a "crucial issue" and is aggressively asking Capitol Hill and the White House to devote as much of the surplus as they can to paying down the national debt. "I would fear very much that these huge surpluses would undermine" the hard-won fiscal discipline that helped balance the federal budget in the first place, Greenspan told the Senate Banking Committee at his Jan. 26 confirmation hearing. In a speech Jan. 13, Greenspan said he hoped last fall's spending deal between Congress and the White House -- in which they agreed to $30 billion or more in spending beyond the original budget caps -- was merely "an aberration." This blunt talk is not new for Greenspan, who has long discomfited tax-cutters and spending advocates alike by insisting that the best use of the surplus is debt reduction. That, he says, will put the nation on a sounder footing in the short run and better enable it to pay huge baby boomer retirement costs . But now it comes at a time when the Fed is raising interest rates to cool the economy. While politicians have agreed to set aside a big chunk of the surplus for Social Security, the rest is considered fair game. Fed policymakers worry that spending that money or using it for tax cuts could be like throwing gasoline on the fire of a hot economy. That "is not what we need right now," says Alice Rivlin, former Fed vice chair and onetime Clinton administration budget official. It "forces the Fed to raise interest rates more than it otherwise would." The good news for Greenspan, analysts say, is that the combustible mix of a Democratic president and a GOP Congress trying to do business in an election year is more likely to lead to a stalemate or small changes than to massive spending programs or tax cuts.