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

To: James R. Barrett who wrote (14672)	7/19/1998 12:59:00 PM
From: PaulM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116762

(Commodity) Markets Fear Slowing U.S. Growth afr.com.au About oil, aluminum, copper as inflation hedges, doesn't it seem the deflationary writing is on the the wall anyway? Gold has traditionally diverged from the rest of the crb during serious deflations because it remains a liquid saving/trading vehicle that doesn't default. Like cash. It is rare enough in relation to other things that it can serve as a store of value, whereas you'd need too much copper, oil or aluminum to store an equivalent amount of wealth. Gold has many essential uses--perhaps many more than the other metals you suggested--except that its priced (even now) at many hundreds (perhaps thousands?) of times their price by weight. Gold has never traded at its industrial oprice because of its use in jewelery and the unique monetary properties noted above. The only possibility of inflation that I can see--which I wouldn't rule out at all--is that the dollar becomes subject to a currency (or bond) crisis like the ones we've been seeing in lesser economies. If we see a dollar devaluation, it by extension means all the world's reserves are devalued as well.

To: James R. Barrett who wrote (14672)	7/19/1998 1:43:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116762

>>Comparing gold to oil or copper is like comparing caviar to bread.>> James, what a great comparison! Caviar, which of course is in danger of diappearing and just as rare as gold appreciated 1000% in just 2 years, and many times that much in the past ten.. Beyond that none of the commodities you listed have a short on them equivalent to 8,000 tons of gold. None of them, and more so oil would do you any good if Global Slowdown will continue.... The only reason POG is down (unlike oil) is a raging Bull Market fueled by strong dollar...Do you seriously believe that in inflationary enviroment (commodities up) Dollar would retain it's strength?

To: James R. Barrett who wrote (14672)	7/19/1998 10:48:00 PM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116762

Jim, RE: need for gold are you married? Do you have a daughter? Jewelry is a very important [need] to many people. In India, it is a basic part of the culture. Here is a concept everyone should get their mind around. Why money works. (This is not the how it works concerning the Fed, the banks, the whole mess) the is the Why it works. Currency only works so long as there is a faith in the issuing government,bank, or other entity. Checks are a form of currency. In the 80's in West Texas, prior to a few banks failing there were a few well informed business that would not accept checks drawn on some banks. Some of these business would instead gladly "barter" for silver,gold, Marks, Swiss Francs, I even saw a home sold for Yen. The value of the US dollar is also set this same way today via faith, trust, & and barter. If (when) the trust,faith, or power wane..... Gold is (at some level) just another currency. Let me refer you to the quote for Ayn Rand: "Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is men's protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims. Watch for the day when it becomes, marked: 'Account overdrawn.' catalog.com These words James, show the need for gold better than any others in all of all time. rh