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To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (15296)	8/4/1998 7:10:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116789

Do not know about Warren, but couple of Samurai might...:) Japan traders doubt forex intervention imminent 02:50 a.m. Aug 04, 1998 Eastern By Tamawa Kadoya TOKYO, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Markets are sceptical if monetary authorities will intervene to buy yen soon, since the currency has yet to reach a point where its weakness would trigger a global market meltdown, analysts and currency traders say. Another decisive factor in whether an intervention would work is whether the United States would join in the effort to stem the yen's slide, they said. ''I don't expect intervention to occur for a while...sole intervention by the Bank of Japan will not have much impact, and the U.S. will likely want to see the details of Japan's (economic stimulus) efforts,'' a dealer at a U.S. bank said. But chances of a yen-buying intervention may increase after Japan produces concrete plans to fix its ailing economy, traders said. ''Intervention by the Bank of Japan cannot be completely ruled out after Prime Minister (Keizo) Obuchi delivers his policy speech (to parliament on Friday),'' the dealer added. On Tuesday, Obuchi's new cabinet ministers went on a verbal offensive to protect the yen. Clarifying earlier comments which had prompted the dollar to gain almost five yen since last week, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said he never intended to indicate he was ruling out market interventions. ''It is unavoidable to correct market distortions in order to promote the orderly (workings of) the market economy,'' Miyazawa told a regular news conference. In an inaugural news conference last week after Obuchi's new cabinet was announced, Miyazawa had said the yen and stock prices should basically be left to the markets, although he said at the time that interventions were acceptable in ''extreme cases,'' such as the Japan-U.S. joint yen-buying operation on June 17. ''My statements may have been insufficient or sent the wrong message,'' Miyazawa told the news conference. ''It was not my intention to say that interventions are unnecessary.'' Trade Minister Kaoru Yosano and Economic Planning Agency chief Taichi Sakaiya also joined the chorus on conducting intervention when needed. But the dollar's nearly two yen tumble from an earlier high of above 146 yen on Tuesday stemmed largely from position adjustments rather than a genuine fear of intervention, dealers said. A Japanese city bank dealer said: ''The basic undertone is still bullish, but the dollar has been overbought recently. It was about time to see some corrective sales.'' But others warned that the MOF's stance should not be taken lightly. ''I think the market is underestimating the possibility of intervention...I wouldn't be surprised if it occurred anytime soon,'' said Takao Sakoh, senior adviser in the foreign exchange department at UBS AG. ''The MOF has said it will take decisive action if the yen becomes excessively weak,'' he added. Sakoh added that Obuchi ''has no choice'' but to implement stimulative steps to bolster the economy, and with the U.S. economy clearly peaking out, he expects the dollar to come down to near 130 yen ''around autumn.'' Meanwhile, traders do not see the United States taking part in a joint intervention effort as authorities would not want to see the dollar weakening at a time when Wall Street remains vulnerable. ''Further dollar weakness in the face of weak stocks would put a negative spin on things, so the U.S. is unlikely to agree on intervention,'' a bank dealer said. No threats of a devaluation of China's yuan have yet been made by Chinese officials, despite the fact that both the Hang Seng index and Chinese stocks on the Hong Kong stock exchange have suffered in recent days, said Tim Moloney, a currency strategist at Deutsche Bank. ''In terms of shaping perceptions of the risks of intervention, comments of U.S. and Chinese officials will be the most crucial,'' he said. ((Tokyo Treasury Desk +81-3 3432 8027

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (15296)	8/4/1998 7:43:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116789

Gold firm on stock market, oil edges higher 06:09 p.m Aug 04, 1998 Eastern NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Gold and oil prices closed higher on Tuesday on bargain-hunting demand from investors spurred in part by plummeting stock market prices and fresh jitters about tensions with Iraq. In other markets, grain prices mostly pushed lower, continuing to reflect good growing weather in the United States and the most bearish supply and demand outlook in years. Traders said some investor demand for hard assets like gold, silver and oil was rekindled by Wall Streets freefall. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 299 points at 8,487, a five-month low. Some investors found gold a cheap haven for capital fleeing stocks. Gold for December delivery at the COMEX ended $4.60 higher at $292.50 an ounce. ''Gold showed a good ability to bounce from levels close to its marginal cost of production, with only a little help from a weaker U.S. dollar,'' said Dinsa Mehta, managing director for global commodities for Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. ''With the stock market correcting and gold near 18-year lows, getting into gold is a relatively low-risk trade now,'' he said. September silver ended up 9.3 cents at $5.453 an ounce, after slipping back from two-month highs in the past week. In a report issued after the market closed, COMEX warehouse stocks of physical silver were unchanged at 79,136,133 ounces after setting a record low last week. Investor and fabricator demand has kept silver values strong by comparison to gold. Oil prices also edged higher as the collapse of talks between Iraq and the United Nations threatened another showdown over weapons inspections. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil for September delivery closed 5 cents higher at $13.75 a barrel. Products rose in tandem, with September gasoline up 0.41 cent at 42.29 cents a gallon and September heating oil up 0.43 cent at 36.24 cents a gallon. Despite recent pledges and signs by oil producers that the world oil supply glut would be addressed, crude oil prices have fallen back toward the lowest levels in a decade on doubts about the promises and the weaker demand this year from Asia. Producers best hope of a price turnaround now seems to lie with potential disruptions to Iraqi supplies after chief United Nations weapons inspector Richard Butler called off his latest set of disarmament talks in Baghdad. Butlers exit followed three hours of fruitless discussion Monday with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz. ''I was disappointed that Mr. Aziz was not prepared to accept my suggestion of a further accelerated work programme,'' Butler said. A White House spokesman said all options, including a military one, remained ''absolutely'' open on dealing with Iraq but cautioned against jumping to conclusions. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who brokered an end to the previous arms standoff in February, said he hoped the breakdown in talks was ''only a hiccup.'' While the gains in oil and precious metals buoyed commodity indexes, grain prices closed weak as the threat to Midwest crops posed by a heat wave in the southern United States appears to have faded and the Corn Belt saw more beneficial rains. Soybeans for September delivery closed 8-3/4 cents a bushel lower at $5.64-1/2, a new three-year low. September corn closed unchanged at $2.13-1/2 a bushel after bouncing off a new three-year low, and September wheat closed 3-1/2 cents lower at $2.47-1/4 a bushel after seeing the lowest price in 7-1/2 years. Comfortable with large crops in many exporting nations, grain importers continue to search for the best possible price. Jordan cancelled a tender for 150,000 metric tons of wheat on Tuesday, citing high prices. ''We should be getting fairly close, but were not at those levels yet,'' said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities in Des Moines, Iowa. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (15296)	8/4/1998 7:54:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116789

Does it make sense? Below are two excerpts from the SAME article! New York, Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks suffered their worst decline since the Oct. 27 rout that shut down trading, as investors gave up hope for a quick recovery in corporate earnings while Asia's economies slump. Gold stocks rallied as gold for December delivery gained $4.60 to $292.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division. The yen's climb against the dollar sparked optimism that Asia, the world's biggest gold-consuming region, would rebound along with Japan. bloomberg.com@@fes23wcA@ONt9OXY/news2.cgi?T=news2_ft_topww.ht&s=569488992