Hi Joel, <<HK mountaintop>> I am actually in Beijing, working with a bunch of Singaporeans on establishing a chain of entities across China with the business scope of medical practice and insurance, in an environment where there are no HMOs, nor regulations specific to HMOs. The effort from inception of concept, engagement of allies, to approval and setup of first clinic, may take up to 18-24 months, involving both man-day based fees, monthly retainers, and of course, the inevitable and popular success fee, in the form of cash or multiple of cash, in equity. The eventual exit will be to sell the result to some US based outfit or to the public market somewhere, anywhere.
I am getting this work kicked off before disappearing into the tropics of Tobago and Trinidad during the season of Chinese Lunar New Year. My one concern and promise for over the holiday season (February 8th to 28th) is that I will deliberately stay clear of CNN, CNBC, Internet, E-mail, Fax and phone.
Tomorrow I travel to Shanghai, and then Jiaxing, then back to HK on Tuesday. I am making my pre-lunar New Year holiday round of greetings and gift giving.
On <<any thoughts on the rise in gold consumption in Japan?>>
I first note this quote from Greenskaput …
globeandmail.ca
QUOTE
U.S. Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan, also testifying on Capitol Hill yesterday, waded into the Enron situation, suggesting that it's part of a new breed of inherently fragile companies built on ideas and reputation, rather than on hard assets.
"Enron, without a considerable amount of physical assets, created a very large market value on its reputation and its conceptual skills," he said. "Reputation is something which, unlike a petrochemical feedstock plant, [can] disappear overnight . . . We are increasingly getting firms which are conceptual, and Enron being a classic case whose value depends on reputation and trust. And if you breach that, that value goes away very rapidly."
At another hearing, Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the U.S. Senate governmental affairs committee, described Enron as "a house of cards built on outrageous greed and deceit."
UNQUOTE
Well, Joel, just for fun, let me ask a question back at you, “switch the noun Enron in the above quotation with any country, asset class or fiat currency’s name (pick one, the more obvious and closer to home the better), would the message be that wrong as a result?”
More specifically on gold, in Japan: folks are cornered, scared, rightly so, but not yet panicked. The hoarding of gold in Japan is just starting, is the right move, will be seen by more as the right move, thus starting the tornado of a self-fulfilling and self-sustaining virtuous cycle of rising prices drawing in more buyers, causing more concern, resulting in higher prices.
We know the routine, read the script, practice with California real estate, Coca Cola, iDotCom, eSlashNet, USD, and now, ready for the next abracadabra with more ancient and less rational history, understood by more, accessible to less. The ingredients of the stew are ready, flame is lit, and the reward, more than we can dare to hope for, is ahead of for the very few.
BTW, as Chinese Lunar New presents to folks that mattered or matters to our efforts in the past or future, respective, I am gifting ¼ to 1 Oz .9999 gold Panda coins. These bullion coins, while minted by China, are not available in China (neither retail nor wholesale). They are devastatingly effective as gifts, lighting up the sparkle in the receivers' eyes and bring smiles to their faces. They in turn will hand the precious gift to their wife, mistress or girlfriends, or just lock it away. Yes, the force is powerful and the magic is strong. Ancient memories are DNA coded, waiting for the unlocking sequence initiated by the freed China gold exchange operation (36 months for retail, I weeks or months for institution/wholesale).
Chugs, Jay |
