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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: long-gone who wrote (85218)	5/7/2002 9:07:15 PM
From: IngotWeTrust	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 116823

Richard, why don't you use the emotionally charged word "manipulation" in reference to the Treasury bond market, the corn market, the rapeseed market, the oil market, the orange juice market, the US Dollar market, the bund, the yen, the natural gas futures.... Just where are these evil forces repealing supply/demand laws...I keep forgetting... g_t

To: long-gone who wrote (85218)	5/8/2002 3:10:30 AM
From: marek_wojna	Respond to of 116823

Richard, If my memory is not falling this German bank was active in gold derivatives.. story: 05/08 02:37 Commerzbank 1st-Qtr Profit Drops as Loan Losses Climb (Update1) By Silje Skogstad Frankfurt, May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Commerzbank AG said first- quarter profit dropped 59 percent after Germany's fourth-biggest lender doubled reserves to cover risky loans. Net income fell to 72 million euros ($66 million), or 13 cents a share, from 176 million euros, or 33 cents, in the year- earlier period, the bank said in a statement. Analysts were expecting Commerzbank to earn 84.1 million euros. ``Even if economic performance picks up in the course of the year, the number of insolvencies in our core market will continue to rise for some time,'' Chief Executive Officer Klaus-Peter Mueller said in a letter to shareholders. Commerzbank set aside 254 million euros in the first quarter to cover potential loan defaults from companies such as bankrupt KirchMedia. To combat falling profit, Mueller has taken steps to reduce costs by taking steps such as slashing 3,400 jobs, or 12 percent of its workforce, and shutting almost 200 branches. Expenses declined 2.2 percent to 1.4 billion euros in the first quarter. Return on equity was 2.2 percent, the bank said, without providing a comparison. It spent 775 euros for ever 1,000 euros of revenue. Commerzbank wants to lower that to 600 euros. Mueller last month said the first quarter marked a ``turnaround'' for Commerzbank after posting a net 200 million euro loss during the second half of last year. The company's return on equity was less than 1 percent in 2001. In the first quarter, pretax profit slumped to 153 million euros from 323 million euros in the year-earlier period. Commerzbank already had said earnings before taxes would about 150 million euros. Fund Business Mueller plans to reorganize Commerzbank's fund-management business, which posted a first-quarter loss of 38 million euros. It's looking for buyers for its Montgomery Asset Management LLC unit in the U.S. and also for London-based Jupiter International Group. Commerzbank said its securities business had a loss of 18 million euros. Fee and commission income declined 6.2 percent to 575 million euros, while profit from trading on its own account was little changed at 313 million euros. Net interest income fell 4 percent to 873 million euros. The bank earned 92 million euros from investments in the first quarter, down from 129 million in the year-ago period.