Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mannie who wrote (18997)	5/9/2003 4:32:23 PM
From: Jim Willie CB	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

hearing strange obscure rumors that USDeptTrez hitting US$ the rumors indicate that the US Dept of Treasury is purposely pushing down the USDollar, in order to punish the Germans and French, who did not support our Iraqi annexation efforts do I hear 51st state? on its face, this sounds ludicrous but I have heard it now in three different places the reasoning goes that a higher EURO currency will inhibit the EuroZone economy by making their export prices higher and thus less competitive this all seems farfetched a dollar pushdown would go against all the efforts in the last desperate two years to keep the dollar afloat, and ahead of that upstart GOLD THING like a jerkweed tossing big rocks at his neighbor's house when his own is 100% glass if the dollar decline were to develop some momentum, we just might get that USDollar monetary crisis I have been muttering about for 16 months oh yeah, it is coming, but in ultra-slow motion any effort by the USGovt morons would only produce a sense of desperation sooner rather than later my best guess: Saudis and Europeans are abandoning the dollar-based securities (e.g. Trez bonds, corp bonds, stocks, maybe real estate to some extent) so the rumor mill grinds out silly stories whereby the USGovt can take credit for the massive damage done since early April, which by the way is a monstrous embarassment to our Bushy Team leaders so take credit, create spin that the lower dollar is good, then go home for dinner and bang the old lady Islamics are now learning their greatest weapon for counter-attack is the dollar and their petrodollars they will turn to Europe for commercial contracts they will turn to EuroBonds for money in the bank / jim

To: Mannie who wrote (18997)	5/9/2003 5:07:01 PM
From: Jim Willie CB	Respond to of 89467

Eric Fry cites new Koran interpretation (no virgins?) - Yesterday, your Paris-based editor noted that deceased Islamic terrorists may not, in fact, be whiling away eternity in the passionate embrace of virgins. Rather, if a controversial new translation of the Koran is correct, successful suicide bombers may receive little more than a complimentary fruit basket upon arrival to the afterlife. - According to the work of a German philologist, standard expressions in the Koran like "big-eyed virgin" may actually read "fruit as white as crystal." Admittedly, a fruit basket is probably better than whatever hell has to offer. Even so, as eternal rewards go, a pristine apple hardly compares to a nubile virgin...If this new translation has any merit, the alleged misinformation perpetrated by the ancient Koran scribes has class-action lawsuit written all over it. ME: to this I say, pretty please how about just one nice juicy cherry in that basket ??? / jim

To: Mannie who wrote (18997)	5/9/2003 5:12:34 PM
From: Jim Willie CB	Respond to of 89467

Eric Fry on the dollar travails, and foreign selling - "Foreign interest in U.S. securities appears to be buckling," notes Morgan Stanley's Rebecca McCaughrin. "Net foreign purchases of U.S. securities plunged to $21.8 billion in February, roughly half the level in January and the lowest level seen since the emergence of a string of corporate accounting scandals early last year...The risk that foreigners are souring on U.S. assets is becoming a more acute concern. While we do not believe that February will set the pace for the remainder of the year, we are dubious that foreigners will step up their investment to the $50 billion per month needed to finance this year's yawning deficit." - The Prudent Bear Fund's Marshall Auerback agrees. "Recently released figures from the U.S. Treasury...demonstrate an increasing propensity by private investors abroad to sell dollar assets including U.S. equities," says Auerback. "The U.S. Treasury...indicates that there was net selling of $4.74bn of Treasuries by the foreign sector [in February], the first net selling since April 2002. More revealing was the actual composition of the flows: Large net Treasury buying from Japan ($5.58bn) and China ($1.80bn)...has been [offset by] selling from the Euro area (-$3.4bn), the U.K. (- $2.9bn) and Canada (-$1.9bn)..." - Even more troubling, says Auerback, is the fact that Arab nations have become large net sellers of U.S. assets. Is it payback time? Are Arab countries, principally Saudi Arabia, exacting a sort of monetary revenge against the United States for meddling in their backyard? It's possible, says Auerback, and it could be very bad news for the dollar...To diversify even a small proportion of this money out of dollars is quite relevant in the context of threats to the external value of the currency. - If stocks are such a great buy right now, why are so many insiders selling? Last week, according to SEC filings, only two corporate insiders purchased more than $1 million worth of their own companies' shares. By contrast, 65 insiders SOLD more than $1 million worth of their stock...Hmmm, seems a bit lopsided. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who topped the list of selling insiders, added a few feathers to his nest by cashing in $410 million worth of Microsoft stock. Such sales are somewhat routine for the mega-billionaire.