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Strategies & Market Trends : MARKET INDEX TECHNICAL ANALYSIS - MITA -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J.T. who wrote (9357)	11/6/2001 12:35:02 PM
From: J.T.	Respond to of 19219

Gold case faces tough questions By Ted Griffith www.CBS.MarketWatch.com Nov. 5, 2001 BOSTON (CBS.MW) -- A lawyer alleging a conspiracy by the federal government and investment banks to artificially depress the price of gold faced skeptical questioning Monday from a federal court judge in Boston. Judge Reginald Lindsay repeatedly asked what evidence there was to support the allegations of price fixing in the gold market. Lindsay also questioned whether high-ranking government officials named in the suit, including Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, could even be sued, given that federal officials have certain immunities from litigation. During the hearing, Lindsay dismissed two of the counts that accused J.P. Morgan of fraud. The judge said he would take the other numerous allegations "under advisement" and make a ruling at some later point. Monday's hearing was on a motion filed by the investment banks and the federal government to dismiss the suit, which was brought late last year by Reginald Howe, a consultant to a group called the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee. Howe, a Massachusetts attorney who represented himself, claims that the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Swiss-based Bank for International Settlements and investment firms conspired to drive down the price of gold. He claims the conspirators want to depress the price of gold because, among other things, higher gold prices would signal a warning of future inflation and call attention to U.S. trade deficits. In addition to Greenspan and Morgan, the defendants include U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill as well as the Bank for International Settlements, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. Judge Lindsay questioned Howe on what specific evidence he had to back up his claims. "You're supposed to have a basis for your complaint that it is more than 'it appears,'" Lindsay told Howe. "A complaint can't go forward on the basis of 'must have been.'" Howe alleges that "waves" of unusual selling in the gold market in recent years support his contention that a far-reaching price-fixing scheme exists. After the hearing, Howe declined to predict whether the judge would allow the case to proceed. "There's no way to know, we'll get the judge's ruling n due course," Howe said. Lindsay set no date for when he will make his ruling on the motion to dismiss. ******************** Best Regards, J.T.