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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (46031)	1/30/2009 9:54:29 PM
From: carranza2	2 Recommendations Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 217789

Jesse, whom I have grown to respect enormously because he has the proper deference for the unknown unknowns: US Dollar Long Term Chart with Commitments of Traders The divergence of gold from traditional relationships with the euro, dollar and oil suggest that it is becoming an alternative reserve currency, primarily at the expense of the euro. The last thing the real economy needs right now is a stronger Dollar. Other nations are already weakening their currencies competitively. It will be interesting to see how gold reacts in this type of environment with the fiat currencies being manipulated lower in sympathy with one another. Oil will not recover in price while the House of Saud has our back. But at some point even they will concede to market forces, or some exogenous event, and then we will have the appearance of inflation. This may not occur until late 2009 or early 2010 when we expect the economy to begin to show signs of recoverery, at least relatively speaking. Until then the resurgence of gold is almost entirely a monetary phenomenon. We believe that the stimulus is too backend loaded and unimaginative to affect anything sooner. Adding liquidity to the banks is as useful as filling the tank of a car wrapped around a telephone pole. Who are the banks going to lend to? And increased spending on health care, with the highest and least efficient per capita cost in the world, is like giving the driver of that car a bottle of vodka to ease their pain. The consumer is insolvent, and until the median wage turns around will not be inclined to borrow for consumption again, as they should not. The nation must shake off the legacy of the Greenspan era and the economic cargo cult of the Chicago School. It could be a long, hot summer

To: TobagoJack who wrote (46031)	2/1/2009 7:10:19 AM
From: prometheus1976	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217789

", Property is currently listed with xxxxxxxxx's at $2.2 mm." Is that in US dollars or Hong Kong dollars? What would it rent for? regards,P1976

To: TobagoJack who wrote (46031)	2/2/2009 2:59:21 AM
From: energyplay	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217789

I expect your pal will be making piles of money again in just a few years. He is at least able to take some action, and see reality. Two years from now, I expect most of the financial community will not understand what exactly happened, and many will be too scared to take more than nominal risks.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (46031)	2/21/2009 12:20:28 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217789

Diamonds are tanking. De Beers to Borrow $500 Million as Demand Declines (Update4) Email \| Print \| A A A By Ron Derby Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- De Beers, the world’s largest diamond company, plans to borrow $500 million from Anglo American Plc and other shareholders to “withstand any shocks” after gem demand fell more than 50 percent. The loan is “prudent” in the current economic environment, said Finance Director Stuart Brown on a conference call from London today. Jewelry sales are plunging as the global slowdown forces even the wealthiest consumers to curb spending on luxury goods. New York-based Tiffany & Co., the world’s second-largest luxury- jewelry retailer, said last month holiday sales declined 21 percent. Switzerland’s Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, the maker of Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry, said in January it saw “no cause for optimism” amid the “toughest” market conditions in 20 years. The loan “is indicative of the problem in the diamond industry at the moment,” Brock Salier, a mining analyst at Ambrian Partners Ltd. in London, said in an interview. “If you are unable to sell production, it leaves you with a cash hole,’ said Salier, who estimates diamond prices fell at least 50 percent in “recent” months and demand declined even more. De Beers, which is based in Johannesburg, said Jan. 20 it would cut the amount of rough gems, or diamonds that aren’t cut or polished, offered to clients by about 50 percent until April. Anglo, based in London owns 45 percent of De Beers. The Oppenheimer family owns 40 percent and Botswana the rest. ‘Challenging’ Conditions “De Beers might not need a further cash injection” following the loan, Anglo’s Chief Financial Officer Rene Medori said in a conference call today. Trading conditions are expected to be “challenging” throughout 2009, Gareth Penny, De Beers’s managing director, said on the diamond company’s own conference call. De Beers may defer or delay projects to ensure a “sustainable business” this year, he said. “We’ll continue to closely monitor demand from customers.” Potential job cuts are still being discussed with labor unions, he added. Diamond demand may pick up in the fourth quarter of 2010, and that will only happen “if we are lucky,” Chaim Even-Zohar, principal at industry consultant Tacy Ltd., said in a telephone interview Feb. 18. There is a “problem of oversupply” in the diamond market, he said. Sales Gain De Beers said today sales rose to $6.89 billion in 2008 from $6.84 billion a year earlier, after an increase in average diamond prices. Net Income was $90 million, compared with a loss of $521 million, it said in an e-mailed statement. De Beers produced 48.1 million carats, compared with 51.1 million carats in 2007. Production in Botswana fell to 32.3 million carats, from 33.6 million, and Namibian output slipped to 2.1 million carats, from 2.2 million carats. South African output fell to 12 million carats, from 15 million carats. Canadian production was 1.6 million carats, up from 81,000 carats. The U.S. accounts for about half of diamond purchases. Global retail demand may drop 15 percent between last November and October this year, according to Even-Zohar. He forecast a 22 percent decline in North America and a plunge of as much as 63 percent in rough-diamond demand.