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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: russwinter who wrote (436)	8/21/2003 7:43:00 AM
From: orkrious	Respond to of 110194

more on ge's orders Message 19229387 BTW, welcome back. I'm sure you're pleased with CAU? did you have a better performer the last three weeks? <g>

To: russwinter who wrote (436)	8/21/2003 9:14:25 AM
From: Silver Super Bull	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

Welcome back, Russ. This GE Plastics news is very interesting. DB

To: russwinter who wrote (436)	8/21/2003 3:37:07 PM
From: Jim Willie CB	Respond to of 110194

Pierre Lassonde Has Identified The Real Reason For A Continuing Rise In The Price Of Gold. Aug 22, 2003 On the first day of the Diggers’n’Dealers Conference in Kalgoorlie at the beginning of August Pierre Lassonde, one of the brains of the gold industry who built up Franco Nevada and is now at the top of Newmont, tipped gold to hit US$450/ounce within 18 months. While the bulls in the audience all said "right on mate" the bears need to remember that 12 months ago when gold was trading at US$280/ounce, Pierre tipped it to hit US$350/ounce within 18 months.and it did. His second prediction was that China would outstrip India in its demand for gold. This is hugely interesting and very logical given that the industrial economy of China is leading the world. A degree of affluence is bound to be felt by the workers who, before Communism removed that right, traditionally looked to gold as a premier method of saving. Last October , however, the Shanghai Gold Exchange formally opened for business after a gap of 50 years and in March the State Council altered the rules governing both domestic and international participation in the gold fabrication market within China.This has opened the door for the Chinese to buy gold once again and demand is reported to be growing fast as realisation of the new freedom spreads through this vast country. Last year, according to the World Gold Council, Chinese demand per capita was a lowly 0.16 grammes against a world average of 0.7 grammes. This compares with Hong Kong where the offtake was recorded as 2.7 grammes. Working on the basis that these statistics cover the amount of gold owned per head and that platinum rather than gold is the favoured metal for jewellery in Hong Kong and China, it is still perfectly possible that the population of China will have caught up with their more affluent neighbours within the next five years and have 2.7 grammes of gold salted away. Remember that at a gold price of US$360/ounce 2.7 grammes of gold will cost only US$30.4 and that eleven years ago, at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre, no one would have dreamed that China would become this progressive. There are 1,288 million people in China compared with only 8 million in teeming, tiny Hong Kong. If they all buy 2.7 grammes of gold within the next five years it would amount to 109 million ounces or 3,516 tonnes. This is well over the world’s annual production of gold and if the Chinese are to withdraw this amount from circulation over the next five years there is only one direction for the gold price and that is up. The demand / supply ratio has to be the key to its future movement. Pierre Lassonde has put his finger on it and the argument is much more solid than the conspiracy theories spouted by Jim Sinclair and others. They are still wrapped up in their dream that the US will continue to rule the world financially and physically. But things are moving on and the geopolitical axis is moving inexorably from west to east. The guerilla war now being waged against the west in Iraq will blaze away for many a year as the pent-up resentment of the Muslim world against the US and the dollar makes itself felt. It should be remembered that the time may come when the dollar is no longer accepted as payment for oil from the Middle East and gold will be demanded. This brings us full circle to the Malaysian gold dinar which was launched this month. The coins are not envisaged as currency at this stage,but the chairman of the Malaysian Islamic Chamber of Commerce in Kuala Lumpur, Tan Sri Elyas Omar, told an International Convention on the Gold Dinar recently that he believed it could eventually be used as an instrument for international trade. He claimed that the gold dinar in such a role would benefit third world countries."When international trade is stable and export rates stabilise, the third world countries, especially those in the Asean region, could gain from this stability." Tan Sri Elyas Omar went on to claim that it could also help the economic development of third world countries including Islamic countries worldwide. This is the key to the interest now being shown by a number of countries in the idea of an Islamic gold dinar. Many resent their dependence on the dollar and all that it represents in terms of third world debt, US trade protectionism and military aggression.The gold dinar could therefore become a symbol for unity among Islamic countries. Doubtless China will be watching its development with interest. Pressure is building on the Chinese government to abandon its currency peg to the US dollar and float the renminbi with Alan Greenspan adding his voice to the chorus in July. Such advice is self-serving as floating exchange rates tend to be very volatile and destabilising in countries with weak banking sectors and under –developed financial markets. China suffers from both and its inscrutable leaders will also have noticed the mess that the US is in as a result of constantly printing more paper. The possibility therefore has to be considered that China might eventually launch a gold based trading currency. If this was linked to the Islamic gold dinar the power of gold would be back to centre stage as it was before Franklin Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ killed off the gold standard. Maybe these thoughts were also at the back of Pierre Lassonde’s mind when he spoke in Kalgoorlie. minesite.com