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Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_urchin who wrote (17276)	2/20/2003 11:04:53 PM
From: ubetcha	Respond to of 81226

Searle is a GATA NUT! A GATA NUT IS HE!!! OK, I guess it is all right as so am I. Terry

To: sea_urchin who wrote (17276)	2/23/2003 5:52:18 AM
From: Chuca Marsh	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81226

On another sounds like, smells like, and feels like...a GATA NUT ...like me LOL:( With, Harvard Comma. ) January 25, 2003 "With Paper Money Confidence is Suspicion Asleep." - Disraeli For almost a generation the world fled to the dollar for safety at the first sign of financial or geo-political uncertainties. The dollar was king and central banks sold off gold reserves, replacing them with dollars as the preferred reserve currency. Growth in Federal Reserve credit produced the mother of all economic booms, which culminated in the roaring 90’s stock market mania centered on technology and the Internet. Savings on the part of Americans became a thing of the past as consumption exploded, financed with soaring debt. With so much wealth being generated in the US economy in the 90s, the world could justify the super strong dollar. However, the bursting of the technology bubble and subsequent blow off of the stock market in early 2000 set the stage for the dollar’s blow off as well. By the time of the terrorists attack on 9/11/01, the dollar’s downturn was already two months old. The US dollar index, a trade weighted geometric average of six foreign currencies against the dollar, has just dipped below 100 which is a three year low. It became apparent many months ago that something was amiss with the American economy when, despite the Fed’s aggressive monetary policy which has taken short-term interest rates to 42 year lows; Wall Street had not turned around. It was predicted by the conventional wisdom back three years ago that Wall Street’s correction would be short lived. In reality Wall Street has just celebrated its third year of consecutive, spectacular losses and is working on number four. When the 90’s tidal wave boom crested, and the tide started back out, left on the beach was a $38 trillion combined public and private debt pyramid and an American society leveraged to the hilt. The debt is the problem plaguing the economy. Since the US economic tidal wave type boom began to recede, the rest of the world’s confidence in the US and the dollar has also receded. After all, in reality the dollar is an irredeemable paper currency created by fiat, the soundness of which depends on the soundness of its issuer. The growing question in the minds of foreign dollar holders is how sound can the dollar be issued by a country with so much debt with an uncertain economy and showing signs of growing overall problems. The world also knows that the dollar has a long recorded history of debasement, with the 1913 dollar (the year of the Federal Reserve act) having lost 98% of its purchasing power. Moreover, dollar interest returns are appreciably below its competitor’s returns thanks to the Fed’s 42-year low manipulated interest rates. Disraeli said with money confidence is suspicion asleep. Suspicion in the dollar has been awakened, and the dollar has begun what could be a long downtrend against the worlds other fiat paper currencies, and what could evolve into a spectacular decline against gold money. Awakened suspicion in paper money doesn’t easily return to sleep. The history of the world’s most infamous paper monies has shown what happens when confidence is lost. The insightful of the world, a distinct minority, have known for a long time that confidence in the dollar would eventually break down because of the debasement. That breakdown has now begun. Wealth looking to be preserved will increasingly gravitate to gold as optimum money, and at the end of the secular gold bull move, there will be a global tidal wave into the metal as the other fiat currencies eventually become suspect. If the world still had unquestioned confidence in the US and its fiat currency, the threat of war with Iraq and the potential geopolitical complications would be producing a run to the dollar seeking safety. The dollar’s decline against other currencies, with a war approaching, and the dollar decline against gold are ominous signs. Gold is in the early stages of a long bull market, which will expand to include appreciation against all paper currencies. Barry J. Downs aivn.net