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

To: philv who wrote (20901)	5/8/2004 2:48:52 PM
From: philv	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81130

Oil is the single most important commodity, and everything we can buy has a oil price component to it. If oil prices don't soon decline, or if they should keep climbing from here, it is not a stretch to predict massive inflation. The confusion of course is all the talk from the Saudis who are "selflessly" trying hard to keep the price down to below $30/bbl. Of course, they, like all the other countries exporting to the US, don't want to kill the golden goose. The Saudi investments in US corporations and government debt is enormous, and they will do what they can to prop up the system. But strangely, oil prices worldwide are not declining. Perhaps exporting all those manufacturing jobs now to China, especially those relying on high energy consumption such as the steel industry is not such a bad idea after all. Let somebody else fight the high costs, and import oil and raw materials. Obviously these industries can't survive in high cost environments. Besides, the US needs to conserve oil for far more important functions like the military. I have just listened to the second half of Puplava. He has a guest talking mainly about oil, and if his predictions are only one half correct, we are in big kaa kaa. financialsense.com

To: philv who wrote (20901)	5/8/2004 2:51:36 PM
From: sea_urchin	Respond to of 81130

Phil > what do you make of the recent strength of the US dollar? John Snow contentds that the US is happy to let the "market" determine the strength of the dollar, but I believe that, despite the unpayable deficit, the US is far happier with a stronger than a weaker currency. This has political as well as financial reasons eg consumer buying power. Further, I also believe, despite every attempt of speculators and hedge funds to prevent it, countries are happier with stable rather than volatile currencies and central banks usually assist in effecting this, although they never say so. Thus, I believe, in the present situation with an election looming, the present US administration will do whatever it can to effect a strong dollar. Not too strong, because that can be considered deflationary, but strongISH and stable. Certainly not a currency, as gold and other speculators would prefer, which is in free-fall. The principal overt tools which the US is using at present to bring about the above are interest rates, job "creation" numbers and economic "growth" figures all of which can be manipulated in any way the administration feels. I say "overt" because there are other tools, like interference in the markets themselves, which the public is not supposed to see or even know about. Yes, a lot of money is made in volatile markets, as they say, by killing the pigs (ordinary public), who are neither bulls nor bears and who have no business being there in the first place. That's what the game is about. Bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get killed. > John Kerry's silence is deafening, is it not? Despite all the blah about democracy, the US is now effectively a one-party state. Sure, they let the hippies and wierdos march around, make noise and get arrested, but that's all cosmetic. The bottom line is that both W and Kerry are there for big business and will do whatever big business tells them. Likewise, they will bow to the pro-Israel lobby. Neither have scruples, neither are democrats (in the true sense of the word), both have the same vision of "America" and both are there for the ego trip. At least Kerry is not a religious fanatic which is about the biggest thing one can say in his favor.