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To: John Vosilla who wrote (58975)	4/21/2006 12:06:44 PM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

LME Copper Trades Above $6,700/Ton (tesla claimed he could power the world wirelessly with wardenclyffe - who needs copper wires? hehe) LONDON (Dow Jones)--LME three-month copper breaks through $6,700/ton to trade at $6,740/ton at 1550 GMT, an increase of $444, or 7%, on the previous PM kerb price. "The market seems to be accepting more and more that copper's fundamentals are very strong and supply won't be responding very quickly to higher prices," said Ingrid Sternby, analyst at Barclays Capital in London. Sternby says higher prices are yet to negatively impact copper consumption through "demand destruction" but adds the market remains watchful of this trend. (END) Dow Jones Newswires April 21, 2006 11:53 ET (15:53 GMT) Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 11 53 AM EDT 04-21-06

To: John Vosilla who wrote (58975)	4/21/2006 12:10:45 PM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

Alcoa CEO: Company Preparing For Possible Work Stoppage Aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. (AA) is making preparations in case upcoming talks between the company and union workers break down, Alcoa's chairman and chief executive said Friday. A master labor contract covering Alcoa 9,000 workers is set to expire May 31, and healthcare costs are expected to be a key topic when Alcoa and the United Steelworkers union begin negotiations May 18. "We are preparing to deal with a stoppage if it comes up," said Alcoa Chairman and CEO Alain Belda in remarks Friday during the company's annual shareholders meeting. Belda didn't elaborate on the measures the company was taking to prepare in case of a work stoppage. However, Alcoa has previously said it has been building inventory and training managers to run the plants if necessary. Belda said Friday that the company wasn't at war with its employees, but it is taking the upcoming negotiations seriously. "It's a serious issue," he said of the union talks. "We don't take it lightly." Jim Robinson, lead union negotiator for the United Steelworkers union, told Dow Jones Newswires last week that the mood going into negotiations is "serious." "We are facing big important issues here. Alcoa had record profits, and we think that the people who produce those profits should be treated fairly," Robinson had previously told Dow Jones. Both Alcoa and the union "have the same view of how we should treat people," Belda said. The rising cost of healthcare was an issue for all Americans, not just Alcoa workers, he told shareholders. Alcoa said previously it is already involved in three healthcare coalitions that are "trying to come up with ways to address the health care issue in the U.S." In addition to health care for existing workers at 15 U.S. locations, other issues at the top of the agenda for negotiations include retiree medical benefits, benefits for new hires and Alcoa's practice of contracting-out workers. The talks would directly affect about 20% of Alcoa's U.S. work force. -By Angie Pointer, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4075; angie.pointer@dowjones.com (Alison Guerriere Ciaccio in New York contributed to this story.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires April 21, 2006 11:47 ET (15:47 GMT) Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 11 47 AM EDT 04-21-06

To: John Vosilla who wrote (58975)	4/21/2006 12:11:54 PM
From: shades	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

Mexico Blames Steelworkers For Strike Violence (In poland - prescott bush said if those damn poles didn't demand so much wage and benny's - coal would be cheap at auschwitz - HAHA - time to bring in cheap jewish slave labor) MEXICO CITY (AP)--The Mexican government blamed steelworkers armed with cudgels, stones and other weapons on Friday for the deaths and injuries suffered in a Thursday attempt to break up an illegal strike at a plant in western Mexico. Two miners were reported killed and at least three dozen miners and police were injured in the raid, when hundreds of police officers unsuccessfully tried to evict workers who had seized the facility two weeks ago to protest a change in their union leadership. "This could have been avoided, if the union had obeyed the law," said presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar, referring to a labor board's decision declaring the stoppage illegal. "The law says the workers should have turned over the plant," Aguilar said, suggesting that supporters of ousted union leader Napoleon Gomez Urrutia were to blame for the clash. The government is investigating Gomez Urrutia, whose whereabouts are unknown, for the alleged misappropriation of $55 million paid last year by copper miner Grupo Mexico SA into a trust for workers. "The defense of corrupt leaders, and the old-style blackmail of Mexican politics, have no place in a democracy," Aguilar said. "The law must be enforced, always." Earlier, federal officials said Gomez Urrutia cannot head the union and endorsed a replacement elected by dissident members of the national mineworkers' union, Elias Morales, prompting the Sicartsa strike. In a statement, Morales said the current union leadership regretted the deaths and injuries, called for an investigation and offered to negotiate indemnification payments for the victims' families from the company. But Morales also said, "Let's not try to deceive public opinion; the truth is that the current situation in the Mineworkers Union is due to the previous leadership's fraudulent handling of US$55 million." The clash at the Sicartsa steel plant in the Pacific port city of Lazaro Cardenas, about 210 miles southwest of Mexico City, saw police fire tear gas in an attempt to evict workers. The confrontation spilled into surrounding streets. Strikers reportedly fought back by firing ball bearings at police with slingshots and tossing gasoline bombs. Lazaro Cardenas city spokesman Daniel Vargas said the two workers died of gun shot wounds and at least 36 were injured. Workers remained in control of the plant despite the clash, he said. The steel facility employs about 2,100 unionized workers but it was unclear how many of those were occupying the plant when police stormed it. The plant is owned by Grupo Villacero, whose Finance director, Ignacio Trevino, said that even though the company viewed the work stoppage and plant takeover as illegal, company officials had not asked police to step in. The Sicartsa plant is one of the main facilities of Grupo Villacero, producing 5,000 metric tons of liquid steel a day valued at $3 million. It is one of Mexico's major steel exporters with clients in the U.S. and elsewhere. (END) Dow Jones Newswires April 21, 2006 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT) Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 12 00 PM EDT 04-21-06

To: John Vosilla who wrote (58975)	4/21/2006 12:12:32 PM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

UK's Brown Urges OPEC To Increase Oil Output (waaa! Wahhh! mommy give me some oil - boo hoo) WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown on Friday called on oil-producing countries to sign up to an increase in output when they meet at the beginning of June. Speaking in Washington ahead of a meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized countries' finance ministers later Friday, Brown told journalists that raising the supply of oil would be a major topic at the gathering. The chancellor said that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries should take steps to ease upward pressure on global oil prices. "When OPEC meets on June 1 it must look at its production quotas," Brown said. "It must look at how we can secure increases in output and in refining." Brown acknowledged it would be "difficult" for many oil-producing nations to increase production, as they are already operating close to capacity. But he repeated his call for more to be done to increase oil supply capacity. "There is no doubt there is still a major refining capacity problem that has got to be dealt with," Brown said. He also said G7 finance ministers were likely to use their meeting to call once again for increased transparency about global oil reserves. "The dialogue between oil producers and consumers has got to be stepped up," the chancellor said. "It is still not good enough that we do not know the reserves that are available. We need to have far greater transparency and openness." Brown said that he would be meeting later with the finance ministers from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to discuss oil production issues further. He made no comment on the potential negative effects of high global energy prices on his budget forecasts for the U.K. economy given in March, saying these wouldn't be updated until the Pre-Budget Report in the autumn. By Andrew Peaple, Dow Jones Newswires;+44 7739 721693;andrew.peaple@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires April 21, 2006 11:50 ET (15:50 GMT) Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 11 50 AM EDT 04-21-06 Japan Tanigaki Concerned Over Soaring Oil Prices - Kyodo . (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires April 21, 2006 11:48 ET (15:48 GMT) Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 11 48 AM EDT 04-21-06

To: John Vosilla who wrote (58975)	4/21/2006 12:13:50 PM
From: shades	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

LATIN BEAT: Chile Offers Lesson In Managing Bonzana . By Eduardo Kaplan A Dow Jones Newswires Column NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Chile's financial officials proved this week that dealing with abundance can be a welcome if delicate task. In the midst of a global boom in copper prices, Chile, the world's largest copper producer, announced measures to prevent the windfall from destabilizing the country's economic performance. Higher copper prices have a direct correlation on the country's currency, and while a stronger Chilean peso also reflects confidence in the economy and helps the purchasing power of local consumers, it implies higher prices for Chilean exports, a main driver of Latin America's overall best performing economy. It's the kind of headache economic officials anywhere would love to face: A seemingly endless appetite for a commodity brings surplus dollar-denominated revenues. One of the most important challenges in the region will be to achieve a balanced response to "the likelihood of further upward pressures on exchange rates if the global environment remains supportive of continued strong external performance by Latin America," said the International Monetary Fund in its latest World Economic Outlook this week. This is a problematic luxury that other commodity and oil producing nations in the region are also facing, but Chile is the first to take concrete steps to address the windfall. "We have good news, and that is the high price of copper, but the challenge is in the good management of this boom," Chile's Finance Minister Andres Velasco said Thursday. The official made these remarks as he announced plans to revamp the country's copper fund, which the government uses to manage state revenues. The model is broadly similar to one adopted by Norway when it created its own government oil fund, designed to manage the country's oil wealth and help pay for future pension obligations for generations to come. While the details of the new plan will be published in early May, Velasco said the government would shift some of the windfall from copper sales to the fund's reserves overseas, a move that could help drain dollar reserves out of the country, weakening the peso as the stock of U.S. currency is reduced. Copper prices soared to $3 per pound this week as demand from China continues unabated. Chile sells about 37% of the world's production, netting 18% of its annual $40 billion in export revenues. But the copper bonanza means a heavy toll for the rest of the country's exporters. For a nation of 15 million people that has relied on trade to successfully improve its economy, remaining competitive is essential. As the prices of copper has risen, so has the peso. According to a report by Barclay's capital, the currency has appreciated by 16% in real terms during the past two years. This has resulted in higher prices for other Chilean exports, prompting protests from the country's agricultural and industrial exporters. Thursday's announcement should allay some of the concerns, and the local market responded favorably, with the peso losing 1% against the dollar to close at CLP518.20. The measures "will make it tough for USD-CLP to move below 500," wrote Greg Anderson, currency analyst of ABN Amro after the moves were announced. (Eduardo Kaplan is managing editor for bond, currency and Latin America news at Dow Jones Newswires.) -By Eduardo Kaplan, Dow Jones Newswires; 201 938 2161; Eduardo.Kaplan@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires April 21, 2006 12:06 ET (16:06 GMT) Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 12 06 PM EDT 04-21-06

To: John Vosilla who wrote (58975)	4/21/2006 12:15:20 PM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

US Tsy Asks Dealers About Long-End Yield Curve Conditions . WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday asked bond dealers about market conditions at the long end of the Treasurys yield curve, following the recent reintroduction of 30-year bond auctions. "Please comment on conditions at the long end of the Treasury curve," Treasury asks in an agenda for meetings with dealers April 27-28, ahead of Treasury's quarterly refunding announcement on May 3. "How do you see supply in the long end matching up with the market demand for nominal and real duration?," the agenda asks. In February, the Treasury held its first 30-year bond auction since 2001, selling $14 billion worth in the first tranche of its planned auction of a total of $20 billion-$30 billion this calendar year. The second 30-year bond auction of 2006 is expected in August. Bond market analysts had expected strong underlying demand for the bond, reflecting the desire of pension managers and others for long-term assets to match long-term liabilities. (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires April 21, 2006 12:09 ET (16:09 GMT) Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 12 09 PM EDT 04-21-06

To: John Vosilla who wrote (58975)	4/21/2006 3:39:08 PM
From: bond_bubble	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

I dont see long term rates falling because the dollar will be supported with higher interest rates (A gold standard would not have demanded higher interest rates in the recession but a fiat currency does). Copper, oil, rent prices falling - Absolutely. But only after credit bust is well entrenched. At that stage, who needs copper, oil anyway? who is going to buy anything - unless people can eat copper and oil instead of food? Housing contruction cost? Are you kidding me? Look around. how many houses are there? Do you still need new houses? And that too at higher cost? declining wages? - That is going to be obvious when the recession hits. Negative CPI - Ofcourse not. when did US have negative CPI since Fed was opened for business? Even in 1929, there was only 15% negative CPI for 2 years and that was probably because of house price falling 80% and CPI at that time was based on house prices. The rest of deflation era had positive CPI (you can check BLS). we have avoided negative CPI by incorporating rents in CPI. There is no way we are going to have negative CPI. BTw, how many years did Japan have negative CPI since 1990s? You will be surprised that it was mostly positive inspite of the hedonics trying to push it negative so that BoJ can keep the printing presses running.... Financial institutions going under: You have excess capacity here. Suppose, there is hyperinflation, you will need even more fin. capacity. My guess is: excess capacity will be washed out. This is my investment strategy...