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

To: sea_urchin who wrote (21278)	6/25/2004 3:50:41 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81101

Why a weak dollar (vs the euro) is good for America: iht.com Excerpt: In fact, 2003 proved to be a record-breaking year for trans-Atlantic profits. The report highlighted that nearly 65 percent of all U.S. foreign direct investment in 2003 went to European countries. U.S. companies continue to rely on Europe for half their total annual foreign profits, while the United States is the most important market in the world in terms of earnings for many European multinationals. The investment has not been all one-sided. The conclusive report reveals that Europe's investment stake in the United States, on a historical cost basis, exceeded $1 trillion in 2002, 20 percent more than America's stake in Europe. Curiously, Europe accounts for nearly three quarters of all foreign investment in the United States. Despite the trans-Atlantic tensions over Iraq, Europe continued to invest in the United States in 2003. European companies directly invested $36.9 billion in the United States that year. Europe is the most important commercial market in the world for corporate America by a wide margin. U.S. companies rely on Europe for half their total annual foreign profits. Similarly, the United States is the most important market in the world in terms of earnings for many European multinationals. Britain is the most important market for corporate America. U.S. assets in Britain - roughly $1.4 trillion in 2001 - were more than 50 percent larger than the entire U.S. asset base in Asia and almost equivalent to the combined overseas affiliate asset base of Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Britain, not China or Mexico, was at the forefront of America's great overseas investment boom of the 1990s, attracting more than 20 percent of total U.S. foreign direct investment. Recent statistics suggest that trade opportunities between the EU and the United States look set to improve over the coming years. Last year was a record year for trans-Atlantic trade flows. Total trans-Atlantic trade in goods grew by 7 percent, to $395 billion. U.S. exports recovered from the two-year downturn in trade and began to improve, while U.S. exports increased by 8.5 percent, to a record $245 billion, in 2003. The link between Europe and the United States is certainly not restricted to trade and foreign investment. Employment ties between both sides are also very significant and the bulk of corporate America's overseas workforce continues to be employed in Europe, despite the lure of low-wage conditions elsewhere. Close to 9.8 million workers were employed by U.S. foreign affiliates in 2001 - 43 percent of whom worked in Europe. Europe is by far the greatest source of America's insourced jobs. European companies employed roughly two-thirds of the 6.4 million U.S. workers on the payrolls of foreign affiliates in 2001. Further links exist in the field of research and development. Sixty percent of U.S. corporate research and development conducted outside the United States is conducted in Europe. Research and development expenditures by U.S. foreign affiliates are greatest in Britain, Germany and France, in that order. European research and development expenditures in the United States are substantial and dwarf those by Asian countries. [...] ________________________________ The stronger the euro, the fatter the bottom line of Corporate America's euro-subsidiaries! Clue: Message 19798229

To: sea_urchin who wrote (21278)	6/25/2004 4:16:36 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81101

Kirkuk, another Sarajevo? Unsavoury alliance How strong is the alliance between Israel and the Kurds? Omayma Abdel-Latif* seeks some answers* weekly.ahram.org.eg Excerpt: Kurds, for their part, believe they know who is behind the leaks that form the basis of such reports. Osman points his finger at Turkish intelligence agencies that want to tarnish the image of the Kurdish people by portraying them as allies of Israel. "I think it is Turkey which maintains the strategic alliance with Israel, despite the Turkish prime minister's recent angry statements against Israel, I still believe that their alliance will survive the current tension because this is what the Turkish army wants," Osman said. On Tuesday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul warned the Kurds against "any attempt to control Kirkuk". Turkey, according to sources close to the government, is concerned about the news of the Israeli role in northern Iraq. Turkish press sources confirmed to the Weekly that the Turkish government had knowledge of an active Israeli role in the region for quite some time now. "The Turkish government had alarming information about the Israeli activities in northern Iraq," said Abdul-Hamid Bilici foreign editor for Zaman newspaper, an Islamist-oriented publication close to government circles. Bilici further explained that part of the reason why the Israeli-Turkish relations were strained recently is due to Israeli involvement in northern Iraq. He also pointed out that the perception within government is that the American occupation of Iraq has helped the Israelis gain easy access to the region. Asked if Gul's warning to the Kurds could signal Turkey's readiness to intervene militarily in Iraq, Bilici refused to rule out the possibility. "There is a possibility that Turkey would intervene, because one of the key Turkish policy principles is that Iraqi oil should not be controlled by one ethnic group but that all Iraqis should share it. Any attempt to change the situation in Kirkuk will be met by a strong Turkish reaction," explained Bilici. Hersh's article came shortly after Arab press published reports of the continuous attempts by Kurds to evacuate Arab residents in Kirkuk. The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported last week about incidents of Arab residents of Kirkuk being driven out of their homes. Kurds say they were reclaiming property they were forced to leave two decades ago by Saddam Hussein's regime. Al-Kafae said that reports of mass deportations were exaggerated. He explained that such cases were isolated incidents. The situation on the ground, however, was not getting any better. This prompted the new Iraqi president to visit the city in order to clam fears after Turkey warned on Tuesday that it retains the right to protect Turkomans in Iraq and that it cannot remain silent in the face of Kurdish attempts to control Kirkuk. Al-Yawar expressed his firm opposition to any change of the ethnic make-up of the city. "Kirkuk is a mini-Iraq," said Al-Yawar, "and the success of the new government will depend on restoring stability to Kirkuk and addressing the ethnic problem." __________________________________