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Non-Tech : The Woodshed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SwampDogg who wrote (41983)	11/30/2006 9:52:50 PM
From: A Horse With No Name	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 60929

swamp thanks. i dont know why people are not realizing that the general mkts specially the dow is in a bull market. have you seen the 10 year candle chart on the dow. its breathtaking. actually it looks a lot like goog.

To: SwampDogg who wrote (41983)	11/30/2006 10:38:45 PM
From: TheSlowLane	Respond to of 60929

BHP Billiton gets gold fever as prices soar to record highs James Regan Reuters BRISBANE — BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest miner of industrial minerals, said yesterday it might boost its exposure to the red-hot gold sector. Gold prices have rocketed this year to their highest in 26 years as a new wave of speculative investors put fresh polish on one of the world’s oldest commodities. BHP Billiton CE Chip Goodyear said the company was underexposed to bullion and would look at buying a gold mine if the right one came along. “It is interesting they are mentioning gold, it is something they haven’t focused on in the past,” said Mark Pervan, a senior analyst at Daiwa Securities. “I think the fact that gold prices have moved into a much higher trading level probably has increased the attraction.” Only a fraction of BHP Billiton’s $10,45bn in profit last year came from gold, which it extracts from ore much richer in copper, zinc, lead and other industrial staples. “Relative to our size, we are not a significant producer. “Our view would be that if we found a gold opportunity, could we develop it? I think the answer to that is yes,” said Goodyear. In Australia, the world’s third-largest producer of gold and where BHP Billiton is headquartered, the price of shares in top gold miner Newcrest Mining has increased 5,5% this week, with close rival Lihir Gold up almost 6%. Both companies have long been tipped by analysts as takeover targets. Speculation has emerged recently that BHP Billiton may be setting its sights on US miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold, where Goodyear once served as chief financial officer. “There is consolidation going on in the industry and we keep an eye on everything that’s moving,” Goodyear said. He later told reporters that the era of the single commodity mining house was under threat as big firms seek to protect against downturns in any one particular sector. In the most recent example, Brazilian iron ore miner Companhia Vale do Rio Doce agreed to pay more than $17bn for Canadian nickel and copper giant Inco. “Commodity prices will go up and down but when they will do that I don’t know,” he said. BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus said that delivering growth, possibly via acquisitions, was a much higher priority than returning cash to shareholders. He said new share buybacks were not a top priority for BHP, which announced a $3bn buyback in August. businessday.co.za