re <<I am usually in bed by 8:30 -9:00 and then up and about by anytime between 4:00-5:30 depending on what was on my mind.
One coffee and I am good to go.
One night a week, like yesterday, (Today is a Holiday in Kenya) I stay late if I go out. Then wake up 7:30.>>
Message 28598088
2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum Message Board - Msg: 28598088hello elmat, observations
(1) I am usually a early-to-bed sort, on bed at 7:30pm, playing w/ the kids or reading, in bed by 8:30 reading or dvd-ing, and asleep by anytime between 9:15-9:30, and then up and about by anytime between 3:30-5:30 depending on what was on my mind and what may require quality-time early start.
(i) these days i am up early, except today where i am in a very civilized hotel in the (bei-jing) northern capital of the middle kingdom, and not (dong-jin) eastern capital (tokyo) of the near-middle kingdom, or the (xi) western capital (xian) of terra cotta soldiers, or the (nan) southern capital (nanjing)
(ii) the new sovereigns here kept me up until past midnight last night wishing to engage with what i have, they need, and many others also wish to get, some even as far away as london, israel, alps, and such
(iii) no, we are not selling the gold mine / mill, not yet, but i-banking / merchant-banking a too-big-to-swallow-on-own rare xxxx metal & gold project which has a relatively short 90-days fuse, and the burning of the fuse costs precious money
(iv) so far and w/i 2-weeks of exploring, the bidding heat has evolved to substantially better terms than we were internally planning for and deservingly so
(v) while i am learning much about rare xxxx metal which constitutes about 2/3 of the asset we are m-banking, the gold alone justifies the economics of the project because our prospective off-loading price, far above our cost but materially below the economic value (npv) of the project and about 1/2 of the monies already spent so far by the seller
(vi) the underground mine, like a winding highway going deep to the ore face, is complete and first class, and the processing mill is 80% complete
(2) all counter-parties are wishing to engage w/ us the boyz for more gold projects, and we are signing for a second gold project w/i this week - it is a much better and bigger deal than our first by perhaps 10x, but is 30% cheaper.
(i) i am finding the dirty and grimy mining world actually very civilized, almost refined, involving better hotels, super food, fine ... well, never mind, that matches or actually maybe exceeds the big-real-estate coliseum, large m&a casino, and probably quite close to the entertainment world's bigger than life stage
(ii) i am not not objecting to the mining world, but only wondering, "where have i been all my $#@!$%)(*& life?"
(3) i do not know why we are so lucky but like to think we are blessed and exceptional - you know, like the way the americans think of themselves, but of course we trust we shall not make the mistake the americans are most likely well in the process of making, i.e. believing in our own bs ;0)
truth may be that the aussie mining arena has been crushed by the 'china hard-landing' rumor and a lot of local boyz got oxygen flow (otherwise known as capital) cut off mid-stride.
(4) more on the second gold project as and when we have the situation well w/i hand, and maybe more on the rare xxxx metal & gold project should it actually transact
all the projects we did and are doing has publicly-listed counter-parties, and so i am being more circumspect than usual.
(5) am getting insight into the resource buying world of china, the people and the money, the ways and means, and would seem that there is not enough of australia and canada and even the usa to engulf and devoir because the numbers and actioning are just outrageous thanks to bernanke whom we must salute as we did deng xiao ping, and as we must now hail xi jinping.
(6) final observation: re china hard landing, we must wait another 25 years to sound the so far less-tan-necessary alarm.
as earlier and repeatedly tee-ed, i reiterate, china's once-in-800-years systemic reform has evolved nicely from cheap labour enablement to cheap capital acceleration, and now should transition to inexpensive intellectual capital enhancement and super-charged with once in 1000 years domestic orientation growth.
yes, there are some dangers and pitfalls, but actually less such than at any time since 1800, 1850, 1900, 1950, and 2000.
cheers, tj
p.s. in the mean time, a story ft.com
Latin America catches the gold bug
Central bank reserve managers are a conservative bunch: once they fix on a certain policy it can take a long time to change course.
They also tend to move in herds, with new ideas catching on by region.
In 2009, for example, China announced it had been buying gold and India purchased 200 tonnes from the International Monetary Fund. Since then Thailand, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have all bought significant quantities for the first time in years, making Asian central banks the main driver of “official sector” purchasing.
Now the gold bug appears to be catching in Latin America.
The trendsetter was Mexico, which last year snapped up close to 100 tonnes in a couple of months. More recently Brazil, holder of the region’s largest international reserves, has joined the party. In September and October, according to IMF data, the central bank bought 18.9 tonnes.
“We bought some gold,” Alexandre Tombini, central bank governor, confirmed to journalists recently in Brasília.
Yet Brazil appears to have much further to go: gold still accounts for just 0.8 per cent of its reserves of $379bn, the world’s eighth-largest. Of the 20 largest holders of international reserves, it has more gold than only Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Indeed, Mr Tombini acknowledged as much, saying that the central bank was “looking into this issue [of reserve diversification] on a current basis”.
The shift by Mexico and now Brazil could prompt some of their neighbours to reconsider gold as well.
A wave of gold-buying among Latin American central banks is likely to be of less significance to the market than the trend in Asia has been, simply because a larger proportion of the world’s reserves are held by Asian countries.
Nonetheless, consistent buying by central banks – often through the Bank for International Settlements – is one of the main factors propping up the gold market. New buyers from Latin America could help maintain the current pace of roughly 500 tonnes a year – equivalent to the jewellery consumption of Europe and North America combined.
A few have already begun to dip their toes in. Paraguay bought 7.5 tonnes in July, while Argentina added seven tonnes last year and Colombia purchased 2.3 tonnes.
But others have – so far – remained on the sidelines. Peru, holder of the third-largest international reserves in the region at $61bn, has not bought the yellow metal since 2001. And Chile, with reserves of $40bn, holds less than one tonne of gold.
Pisco sours, anyone?
The Commodities Note is a daily online commentary on the industry from the Financial Times |
