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Gold/Mining/Energy : An obscure ZIM in Africa traded Down Under -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (19)	6/29/2002 1:21:12 AM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 867

Capital was mistreated by the irrationally exuberant paying far too much for something based totally on their own misjudgement. The chickens have come home to roost. Worldcom's financial gymnastics was not the real problem. I'm not an accountant but I know that a lot of costs can be treated as capital [amortized over a long time] or revenue [an immediate cost in one lump making profits small]. I'm surprised that everyone is so excited by such a boring accounting detail. I think they are really more upset because the market capitalisation of Worldcom has gone from pie in the sky to muck in the gutter. I primarily blame myself for my irrational exuberance in what Globalstar would achieve. My capital was not maltreated by Uncle Al, who tried to get me to see the error of my ways by raising interest rates sharply to defend his money as a suitable investment compared with the shares in orbit around the Nasdaq. The management of the company mistreated my capital by bad decisions, but their decisions were not particularly reprehensible and I don't think in the criminal class or even careless. They really did think they were doing the right things. I checked them out up close and personal. They have lost their own capital too. Mostly, people damage themeselves. But they prefer to find somebody else to blame. So, yes, capital is looking for a safer and more profitable home than the mayhem of the markets in the Nasdaq and the enthusiasm for Dow, S&P and other stocks has dwindled in sympathy. My guess has been, for two years, that the US$ would take a 20% tumble [hence my little stash of Kiwi$ I've held since then]. I didn't expect the wondrous QUALCOMM and CDMA in cyberspace to take such a lashing ... though I suppose I did really, because I sold most of it in the $60s, clearing the decks for more serious battle than I had expected. Where's the best place for my stash now? I'm cruising the carcasses, looking for meaty specimens [or signs of life]. There are some tasty-looking morsels around the place now. But I like to have a good look first. I don't think the USA is treating my capital too badly at all - especially compared with how I KNOW it would be treated nearly everywhere else [including in NZ]. The USA has gaols for the crooks, who actually do go to gaol, [unlike NZ's crooked financial gymnasts - a few did a little bit of time]. Mqurice