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To: long-gone who wrote (13897)	6/28/1998 7:41:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116779

I have always maintained that a social unrest in Russia (a disaster for EMU plans to say the list is around the corner (98-99?).. IMF praises Russia, but tycoon slams govt 03:38 p.m Jun 28, 1998 Eastern By Gareth Jones MOSCOW (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund backed the Russian government on Sunday over its refusal to devalue the ruble but said Moscow alone could take the tough decisions needed to tackle a financial crisis. ''The ball is now in your (Russia's) court,'' Martin Gilman, the IMF's permanent representative in Moscow, told reporters after talks resumed on new international credits to help restore investors' confidence in Russia. Moscow is seeking an estimated $10 billion to $15 billion in extra funding, which will soon be needed to help shore up currency reserves and meet short-term debt obligations amid a crisis of confidence on its fledgling financial markets. Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, is set this week to discuss a government package of anti-crisis measures, which include painful spending cuts and tax reforms. An influential tycoon, Boris Berezovsky, said he did not believe the inexperienced government could get Russia out of the crisis and demanded that all political groups, regional leaders and the media pull together to help out. ''I think this government takes quite logical decisions but is not in a position to carry them out,'' Berezovsky, whose influence is thought to stretch into the Kremlin, told the TV6 television channel in an interview. ''It is becoming clear how the solution of this crisis must be found -- through the consolidation of power ... It is a question of consolidation of the broadest forces, including business.'' Keeping up the pressure on deputies ahead of the Duma debate, Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov said he believed it would swiftly approve the package. ''I am sure that the State Duma will show wisdom because we are not talking here of support for this or that regime but of finding a way out of the financial crisis for the whole country,'' he told Ekho Moskvy radio. He reiterated the determination of the government, in power for barely two months, to resist pressure from some businessmen and economists to devalue the ruble. ''The central bank and the government have supported the ruble and we will support the ruble, especially if the State Duma approves the package of laws introduced by the government.'' Nemtsov later said in a television interview Russia would soon face payments of $60 billion to $70 billion in short-term debt obligations. The debt payments are one of the prime causes of concern for investors and President Boris Yeltsin, whose main achievements in six years of wrenching market reforms -- a steady exchange rate and relatively low inflation -- are under threat. He and the government fear that devaluation of the rublewould mark a return to the hyperinflation of the early 1990s, wiping out Russians' savings and stoking social unrest. The IMF said it backed this ''strong ruble'' policy. ''We certainly agree with the analysis of the central bank of Russia that a devaluation of the ruble is neither appropriate nor necessary,'' Gilman said. Chronic tax dodging has widened Russia's budgetary deficit and exacerbated a payments crisis that results in millions of state sector workers going months on end without pay. Scores of miners, teachers and scientists are picketing the government's White House headquarters in central Moscow to protest against wage delays and to demand Yeltsin's resignation. Alexander Lebed, a likely future contender for Russia's presidency, issued a warning about political problems also building up in the turbulent Caucasus region. Lebed, a retired general who two years ago brokered a truce ending a war in Russia's breakaway Chechnya region, said that ignoring the area would also carry a big economic price. ''If (the tensions in the North Caucasus) blow up into full-scale conflicts, the economy of Russia will not weather such an explosion,'' Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. ''This could lead to a devaluation of the ruble and would mean social agitation and civil war,'' he said. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.

To: long-gone who wrote (13897)	6/28/1998 8:03:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116779

Plea for Kremlin funds to avert Mir disaster By Alan Philps in Moscow telegraph.co.uk RUSSIAN space experts believe that the Mir space station is in danger of crashing to Earth on an uncontrolled trajectory which could rain tons of debris on populated areas. Space officials had planned to guide the 140-ton orbiting station down to the Pacific Ocean at the end of next year. But Russia's financial crisis has dried up funds and designers now cannot be sure of bringing the station down in a safe place. They sent an appeal to Sergei Kiriyenko, the Prime Minister, at the weekend warning him that they need funds to keep the station manned and on course. They said: "Without a crew, if there is any fault on board, Mir could enter the Earth's atmosphere at the wrong place and heavy parts of the station could fall on populated areas and cause mass destruction." Mir, which is 12 years old, relies on the boosters of visiting space craft to keep it in the correct orbit and eventually to direct it to a watery grave. But the Energiya corporation, which owns Mir, has received no funding this year.

To: long-gone who wrote (13897)	6/28/1998 11:10:00 PM
From: Ironyman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116779

To All, I have yet to hear how much gold will back the new Euro dollar,,,,Why would they not announce this amount?,,,Should it be 12 or less% who the hell would want it? ....This is very strange? As for for that Green person,,,,Why doesn't he just raise the gold lend rate just a little? My feel is that if thePOG was at 325,,,they could keep this " Dog and Pony Show " going for a while longer. Now, All I forsee is bad news and ol' Gore doesn't stand a chance. OH,,,And the SEC is going to have a shake,,,,,Felderhoff

To: long-gone who wrote (13897)	6/29/1998 1:13:00 AM
From: paul ross	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116779

From James Flanagan's writings and his May 98 Past, Present, and Futures newsletter. James does a lot of interesting work with Gann time cycles. >>> Gann discovered that the future is a repetition of the past based upon a natural order. "Everything moves in cycles as a result of the natural law of action and reaction. By a study of the past I have discovered what cycles repeat in the future. In order to be accurate in forecasting the future you must know the major cycles." These Master Time Factor cycles, as you will see, are not like traditional periodic cycles. Gann discovered that the numbered years of each decade (1991 = "1", 1992 = "2", 1993 = "3") exhibited characteristics and attributes which repeated from one decade to the next. In other words, 1997 would demonstrate a similar price pattern to 1907 (90-year cycle, 1937 (60-year cycle), 1947 (50-year cycle) and so on. Gann specified that the 60 year cycle bore properties which rendered it more weighty than the others. In the decade of the 1990's, the comparable decade would be the 1930's. Gann referred to this as the 60 year "Great Cycle". "This is the greatest and most important cycle of all which repeats every 60 years or at the end of the third 20 year cycle". The inflation from 1971 to 1980 was almost identical to the inflation from 1911 to 1920. The deflation from 1980 to 1993 has been almost identical to the deflation from 1920 to 1933. This 60-year cycle is one of the cyclic driving forces that will culminate in 1999 and the one you must be aware of for the next 2 years.<<<< >>>> We have just celebrated the 30-year anniversary of the start of gold trading on the London Metals Exchange. Prior to 1968,the price had been fixed at $35.00 an ounce since 1933. On January 9, 1968, the first modest fluctuations in price began. The fact that our low was made on January 13,1998, confirms that this is a critical cycle for us to watch. As you can see in the weekly chart (not shown), these were the preliminary stages which preceded the start of a long-term bull market which would ultimately culminate in the advance to $850 an ounce in January 1980. Returning to the chart, you can see that the final low during this 30-year cycle was not made until January 1, 1970. The final low in the silver was not made until November 3, 1971. The implication is that after the current advances are complete (the April 98 high), gold and silver will decline to new generational lows approximately 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 years from now. It would be off these lows that the next huge inflationary bull market in the precious metals will take place. Over the short term...as you can see from the weekly London gold chart, price established an intermediate top on May 21, 1968, corrected until July 17, 1968, then resumed the advance to the final top on March 10, 1969.<<< >>> Both the 30 and 60-year cycles are projecting the start of a major inflationary advance within the next 2 years<<<

To: long-gone who wrote (13897)	7/1/1998 8:27:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116779

SAfrican gold, oil stocks to gain as rand dives 11:22 a.m. Jul 01, 1998 Eastern By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG, July 1 (Reuters) - South African mining and chemicals shares are likely to be among a handful of stocks that will benefit from the rands slump to record lows versus the dollar, analysts said on Wednesday. ''Looking for winners, you have to look at sectors that earn their money in foreign exchange but have costs in rand, preferably with a high labour content,'' said David Shapiro, director at Societe Generale Frankel Pollak. ''That would be mining companies, especially gold and platinum.'' South African gold shares like Anglos led the beleagured bourse on a cautious upturn on Wednesday, with the gold index almost six percent higher. The All Share index rose 0.75 percent, but is more than 18 percent below its year high amid a jump in interest rates and an 18 percent slide in the rand since May. Shapiro cautioned that the advantages provided by the weaker rand could be cancelled out if Japan fails to lead Southeast Asia out of the doldrums, a scenario which would drive commodity prices even lower. Analysts said export-oriented sectors in general stood to win, provided they were not heavily saddled with debt. This would include Safsol and other shares in the chemicals and oils sector, which saw its index nudge up 1.7 percent to 1,525.4 on Wednesday -- still well below a year high of 2,301.2. The flip side is that importers will take it on the chin. ''Big importers are obviously losers,'' said another analyst, who asked not to be named. ''All consumer-related companies dependent on the domestic market will also be hurt,'' he said, noting that high rates will dissuade people from borrowing. He added that banking and insurance stocks did not look the best buys at the moment. The bourse's financial index, including First Rand, was down 2.36 percent on Wednesday. A mountain of bad debts looms over banks' balance sheets after they were forced to hike their prime rates by four percentage points in just a few weeks. But Shapiro said banking stocks looked like good buys at current levels. Other losers include property and building stocks like Amaprop, which have seen high rates take a big chunk out of their share prices. The property stock index is 26 percent below its year high. ''Stock prices in the property sector will obviously be negatively affected (by higher rates),'' said Erwin Rode of Rode & Associates, a group of independent property economists. Hotels stocks like Dalys and other listed companies involved in tourism should benefit, as foreign visitors gleefully exchange their dollars and pounds for increasing amounts of rand. But the country's reputation for violent crime is preventing the industry -- which has outpaced most other sectors of the economy -- from realising its potential. ''No matter how cheap a place is, nobody wants to risk their life visiting it,'' said Shapiro. ''I'm sure that Albania and Kosovo are cheap.'' ((--Johannesburg newsroom, +27 11 482 1003, newsroom+reuters.co.za)) Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.