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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (18344)	12/11/2004 11:54:35 AM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Helecopter drop of 14T of money has started. Seriously. That is 14 tons of money not 14 trillion in money. Not here but Iraq. In bales. Where did it go? Supposedly it is now in a Swiss bank. Are we sure? Why didn't we just wire it to Switzerland so we would know where it was? I would appreciate a bale or barrel or money too! When do I get my share? Mish =========================================================== Kurds try to invest 14 tons of cash By Thomas Catan in London Published: December 10 2004 02:00 A Washington-based lobbying firm with strong ties to the US Republican party has been in talks with international banks to facilitate the placing by the Iraqi Kurds of more than half a billion dollars in cash. The money is part of $1.4bn in Iraqi oil revenues paid in cash by the US-led occupation authority to the Kurds in June 2004, just days before it handed power to an interim Iraqi government. Barbour, Griffith & Rogers, a firm founded by two senior aides of President George H.W. Bush and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, is representing the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Washington. Robert Blackwill, until last month White House chief adviser on Iraq, has also joined the firm. Ed Rogers, a founding partner, confirmed the firm was working for the Kurds but said it was not managing any money for them. "Know that BGR has no role in managing investments for the Kurds and the only comment about our role that we can make is what is listed in our foreign agent registration filing," he wrote in an e-mail. People familiar with the matter say that the firm has made inquiries about investing the cash, which is currently held at a Kurdish bank, in Switzerland. However, the efforts have been delayed as banks make checks on the provenance of the cash. The Coalition Provisional Authority had shipped the money to the Kurds in three helicopters filled with shrink-wrapped blocks of $100-dollar notes. The money, which was outside the regular budget, would have weighed 14 tonnes and represented the equivalent of around six months regular financing for the Kurdish regional government. It was part of nearly $1.8bn paid by the CPA to the Kurds outside its regular financing in its final two months of life. The money came from the Development Fund for Iraq, set up by the United Nations following the war for use in rebuilding the country. The Kurds have refused to give UN-mandated auditors access to their records, but say they have not spent any of the money. A spokesman for the Kurdish Regional Government said the payment was part of $4.5bn in funds it claims the UN owes the region as part of the now defunct oil-for-food programme. He declined to confirm or deny the contents of talks with banks. But he said the KRG was actively seeking investment from abroad in projects, including a new airport. No one has alleged that the transactions being mooted are improper. But the lack of transparency has fuelled questions about that payment, as well as billions of dollars handed out by the CPA in the weeks before the handover. Before dissolving on June 28, the CPA spent or earmarked around $20bn from the DFI, which contained the proceeds of Iraqi oil sales, Iraqi government bank accounts frozen in 1991 and money left over from the UN-administered "oil-for-food" programme. The International Advisory and Monitoring Board, a UN-mandated watchdog made up of several international financial institutions, is scheduled to issue its opinion on the CPA's stewardship of Iraqi funds on Monday. The CPA's Inspector General is also preparing to publish a hard-hitting report on the issue. A draft of the report is understood to have angered senior US Pentagon officials and Paul Bremer, the former US administrator of Iraq. news.ft.com =============================================================== When do the helecopter drops start in the US? Mish

To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (18344)	12/13/2004 6:15:44 PM
From: ild	Respond to of 116555

This is the last week for initial public offerings for the year, as Wall Street underwriters typically don't bring new stock issues from Christmas week until the middle of January. Bankers are ending the year with a bang: As many as 20 offerings are coming to market, in what could be the busiest IPO week of the year. Among these, the one for which bankers have the highest expectations is Las Vegas Sands, which plans to sell 23.8 million shares at $20 to $22 after the close of trading Tuesday. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is leading the IPO. The deal will be the first from a U.S. casino operator since October 2002, when Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) sold 32 million shares at $13 each. The stock, which started this year at $28.36, recently has been trading near its all-time high of $64.30. Those who got in on the Wynn deal will undoubtedly flock to Sands, analysts say. Ditto for those who missed out.