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To: Agamemnon who wrote (220823)	2/13/2003 6:48:21 AM
From: Oblomov	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

I thought the Fed's "greatest fear" was the DJIA would go below 9000, or that the Dollar Index would go below 100, or that Worldcom/Enron would go bankrupt, or that gold would go above 330. Is it possible to have more than one "greatest fear"? Or is it possible that the commentators who speak knowingly of the Fed's "greatest fear" are actually clueless?

To: Agamemnon who wrote (220823)	2/13/2003 9:14:28 AM
From: John	Respond to of 436258

This makes good sense and goes a long way in explaining the Gov's unusually bizarre and desperate (yeah, even for them) behavior. They are scared shitless about their diminishing powerbase and weakening stranglehold on the world. Now stand by... Watch as they vehemently turn on their own citizens. Homeland Defense = Gestopo? John

To: Agamemnon who wrote (220823)	2/13/2003 10:27:09 AM
From: John	Respond to of 436258

Thanks for the link. That was a truly brilliant piece. I loved this part the most... "Ever since 1971, when US president Richard Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard (at $35 per ounce) that had been agreed to at the Bretton Woods Conference at the end of World War II, the dollar has been a global monetary instrument that the United States, and only the United States, can produce by fiat. The dollar, now a fiat currency, is at a 16-year trade-weighted high despite record US current-account deficits and the status of the US as the leading debtor nation. The US national debt as of April 4 was $6.021 trillion against a gross domestic product (GDP) of $9 trillion. "World trade is now a game in which the US produces dollars and the rest of the world produces things that dollars can buy. The world's interlinked economies no longer trade to capture a comparative advantage; they compete in exports to capture needed dollars to service dollar-denominated foreign debts and to accumulate dollar reserves to sustain the exchange value of their domestic currencies. To prevent speculative and manipulative attacks on their currencies, the world's central banks must acquire and hold dollar reserves in corresponding amounts to their currencies in circulation. The higher the market pressure to devalue a particular currency, the more dollar reserves its central bank must hold. This creates a built-in support for a strong dollar that in turn forces the world's central banks to acquire and hold more dollar reserves, making it stronger. This phenomenon is known as dollar hegemony, which is created by the geopolitically constructed peculiarity that critical commodities, most notably oil, are denominated in dollars. Everyone accepts dollars because dollars can buy oil. The recycling of petro-dollars is the price the US has extracted from oil-producing countries for US tolerance of the oil-exporting cartel since 1973. "By definition, dollar reserves must be invested in US assets, creating a capital-accounts surplus for the US economy. Even after a year of sharp correction, US stock valuation is still at a 25-year high and trading at a 56 percent premium compared with emerging markets. ". . . The US capital-account surplus in turn finances the US trade deficit. Moreover, any asset, regardless of location, that is denominated in dollars is a US asset in essence. When oil is denominated in dollars through US state action and the dollar is a fiat currency, the US essentially owns the world's oil for free. And the more the US prints greenbacks, the higher the price of US assets will rise. Thus a strong-dollar policy gives the US a double win."

To: Agamemnon who wrote (220823)	2/13/2003 11:03:15 AM
From: Knighty Tin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Ag, Good piece, except that he spells rational "rationale." <g> BTW, don't take any baths around your wife. And when you gonna introduce me to your hot daughter, Electra. I know, it's always morning. <g>

To: Agamemnon who wrote (220823)	2/13/2003 2:35:44 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

IMHO that is not true at all. See today report import prices excluding oil barely budged and export prices rose 0.7% which translates in more profits to US companies. Further present Iraq's regime must be destroyed and this will be the start of less security related expenses. The economic benefits will be similar to the collapse of the USSR. France is opposing because of their economic interests as is Germany and Russia. Russia is afraid of oil prices collapse. France reasons are much more evil and sarcastic. The world does not label the French as whores for nothing!!!! All in all the US is on better footing now with a lower USD IMHO. Today rise in the EUR is another short squeeze, orchestrated by the monkeys at the big banks BWDIK Haim