Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PaulM who wrote (12640)	6/5/1998 4:59:00 PM
From: Ahda	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116816

Well Mot just announced yesterday they were reducing 15,000 and T reduced by 20,000 very attractive package however. With earnings tight i think we are apt to see more in the way of staff reductions.

To: PaulM who wrote (12640)	6/5/1998 5:27:00 PM
From: Crimson Ghost	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116816

Paul: Lots of Americans live to work. But the smart ones work to live.

To: PaulM who wrote (12640)	6/6/1998 2:52:00 AM
From: Alex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116816

Merrill Lynch says it's time to put gold bulls out to pasture Business Reporter For the next two months gold is likely to trade between $315 and $290, says Merrill Lynch. "We think gold bulls will find the European Central Bank (ECB) compromise agreement on the head of the bank a disappointment," says the firm. "Indeed, in our opinion, it is probably the worst of all possible worlds for the bulls. "The bullying tactics of France to insist upon the appointment of Jean-Claude Trichet, governor of the Bank of France, as the second president of the ECB after Duisenberg steps down voluntarily' after only four years out of the eight-year term will ensure a very hostile reception to any French ideas on virtually anything financial." Merrill Lynch notes that the opposition Social Democrat party in Germany has already denounced the compromise as a breach of the Maastricht treaty, which guarantees an eight-year non-renewable mandate. The firm believes that gold is a "one-issue" market, that of the ECB's attitude toward the metal. "The bulls we speak to seem to be convinced that the arrival of the ECB on the scene will herald a strong price rally with $320 to even $330 basis spot being seen. They argue that no more gold sales will be allowed by the ECB for some years to come and that lending to the bullion market will be strictly controlled." At $300, the ECB will have total reserves of $54,4 billion. Though Merrill Lynch agrees that the formation of the ECB might give, and even create, the impression that the gold market will be sterilised for all time, "the reality is, we think, quite different". It says that without the traditional tools of interest-rate control and exchange-rate adjustment, national governments will have to change the way they respond to fluctuations in their economies. "There will have to be new thinking on taxation, more deregulation in labour markets and greater wage flexibility. National governments will only be left with fiscal powers, that is tax-and-spend powers. "The individual governments, we predict, will be increasingly keen to raise revenue wherever they can find it. And one great revenue source will be the gold sitting in vaults of the national central banks." That gold, says the firm, could be lent to the market and earn a good return. Or money could be raised by swaps, which are effectively collateralised gold loans. Revenue could also be produced by granting options and by outright sales. "The bottom line is that the gold will not lie idle in the vaults." Meanwhile, the bulls continue to ignore the fact that physical demand in Asia and the Middle East has fallen away sharply and that Indian demand is beginning to slow as well, Merrill Lynch observes. It points out that in Japan, gold imports fell by 49,7 percent in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year. Hong Kong has been selling gold to Europe. Many expect the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in the next 12 months to curb inflation and Merrill Lynch stresses that high interest rates are bad for gold. "Higher interest rates mean a higher contango rate and the gold market is currently awash with gold to lend. More and more gold producers, in our opinion, will take advantage of this to do fresh forward selling. Indeed, they would be very foolish not to." All Material c copyright Independent Newspapers 1998. inc.co.za