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To: 2MAR$ who wrote (96694)	11/22/2012 3:08:46 PM
From: average joe	Respond to of 217545

We are involved in a small way with a Dawson City area placer. There is gold there but the economics don't make a lot of sense when you pencil in extraction costs. This has not stopped a few people from getting in over their heads personally keeping it going. I talked to one of the geos on the project and he explained it by saying they have "gold fever" and can't stop until they are rich or broke. The history of Dawson City shows that for every $10 that went in only $1 came out in treasure. Placer mining is not much different than buying a lottery ticket even if you know the ropes. en.wikipedia.org Good-Bye, Little Cabin by Robert Service O dear little cabin, I’ve loved you so long, And now I must bid you good-bye! I’ve filled you with laughter, I’ve thrilled you with song, And sometimes I’ve wished I could cry. Your walls they have witnessed a weariful fight, And rung to a won Waterloo: But oh, in my triumph I’m dreary to-night — Good-bye, little cabin, to you! Your roof is bewhiskered, your floor is a-slant, Your walls seem to sag and to swing; I’m trying to find just your faults, but I can’t — You poor, tired, heart-broken old thing! I’ve seen when you’ve been the best friend that I had, Your light like a gem on the snow; You’re sort of a part of me — Gee! but I’m sad; I hate, little cabin, to go. Below your cracked window red raspberries climb; A hornet’s nest hangs from a beam; Your rafters are scribbled with adage and rhyme, And dimmed with tobacco and dream. “Each day has its laugh”, and “Don’t worry, just work”,. Such mottoes reproachfully shine. Old calendars dangle — what memories lurk About you, dear cabin of mine! I hear the world-call and the clang of the fight; I hear the hoarse cry of my kind; Yet well do I know, as I quit you to-night, It’s Youth that I’m leaving behind. And often I’ll think of you, empty and black, Moose antlers nailed over your door: Oh, if I should perish my ghost will come back To dwell in you, cabin, once more! How cold, still and lonely, how weary you seem! A last wistful look and I’ll go. Oh, will you remember the lad with his dream! The lad that you comforted so. The shadows enfold you, it’s drawing to-night; The evening star needles the sky: And huh! but it’s stinging and stabbing my sight — God bless you, old cabin, good-bye!

To: 2MAR$ who wrote (96694)	11/23/2012 11:05:35 PM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217545

US cash piles built on more than anxiety. Why are US companies sitting on so much cash rather than spending it? By Sarah Gordon Why are US companies sitting on so much cash rather than spending it? Given the number of corporate bigwigs President Barack Obama has consulted in recent days – from Honeywell’s David Cote to Apple’s Tim Cook – the oft-mooted explanation of anxiety over the looming “fiscal cliff”, not to mention the still shaky global economy, seems credible But a closer look at the numbers tells a rather different story. It’s not clear, for a start, that companies are cutting back much on spending. True, business investment fell slightly in the third quarter. And the latest Business Roundtable Survey of US chief executives – which gathered views from 138 of the country’s leading company heads – found them to be gloomier about the economic outlook. But it also found that, although nearly a fifth of CEOs expected their US capital expenditure to fall in the next six months, over half expected it be unchanged, and 30 per cent expected it to rise. Meanwhile, a National Federation of Independent Business survey in October found that small businesses were actually spending more, and planned to continue doing so over the next six months. It is true that some large US corporates have announced they will be cutting back on capex. But these decisions tend to be for quite sector-specific reasons. Faced with record low natural gas prices, some natural resources companies are scaling back ambitious spending plans. But that has little to do with policy uncertainty, and more to do with the effects of the US shale gas boom. Moreover, the idea that US companies are sitting on unusually large “war chests” of cash does not stand up to closer scrutiny. Gross cash balances are indeed high – $3.2tn at the 1,500 largest US listed companies, according to Morgan Stanley – but net cash balances are negative. And leverage, outside the banks, is roughly the same as at the start of the financial crisis. Net debt to equity, says BNP Paribas, is barely lower than it was in 2007. The biggest 1,500 companies had $1.62tn of net debt in March 2012, almost the same absolute amount as in March 2006. This is not cause for concern – companies have refinanced their debt at lower interest rates, as well as extending its maturity. The proportion of companies with current assets greater than their short-term debt, says Morgan Stanley, is over 98 per cent, very high by historical standards. But the data certainly don’t suggest that companies are unusually flush with cash. The $3tn in gross cash holdings is also notably skewed to certain sectors. Nearly $1tn – a third – is held by technology companies, with healthcare and industrials accounting for just over another third between them. Companies like Apple have always been stingy about spending the cash they generate. Apple has recently relented a little – vowing to return some of its $120bn-plus cash pile to investors in dividends and buybacks. But tech companies – for whom memories of the dotcom boom-to-bust are still fresh – have good reason to prefer a comfortable cash cushion. Finally, Morgan Stanley estimates, well over half the $3tn is held overseas, by companies unwilling to stump up the tax penalty – up to 35 per cent – they would incur if they brought it home. Which suggests that, if President Obama really wants to boost investment, a profit repatriation tax holiday would be a good start. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.