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Gold/Mining/Energy : Bearcat (BEA-C) & Stampede (STF-C) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim P who wrote (1374)	8/29/1998 9:27:00 PM
From: Bearcatbob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2306

My last buy was BKP. I am thinking of more. In this market the financial strength issue is a bigger concern for me. Besides, I have so much of the juniors that if it goes I am in for some real fun - even if it is in C$. (See Post Below) Bob THEY'RE ALL WRONG CANADA'S MEDIOCRE TROIKA BLEW IT By DIANE FRANCIS -- The Financial Post Canada is in the middle of a full-blown currency crisis and the Canadian dollar is probably headed for 55 cents US or lower. The situation here and, incidentally, in Mexico, is so serious that this coming week the U.S. is probably going to have to lower interest rates to avoid a meltdown in New York. Ottawa must also undertake drastic measures before it is forced to. There must be an across-the-board tax cut of 10% while balancing the budget. This necessary shift will require the amputation of large portions of the federal bureaucracy and entitlements. Despite the dangerous situation, our woolly-headed prime minister was quoted this week as saying: "When you look at the Canadian situation, we have all the fundamentals right. All of them." He's wrong. Our equally ignorant finance minister, Paul Martin, has flip-flopped around -- blaming Asia, then commodity prices and Russia. He's wrong. Still others blame currency speculators for picking on Canada. They're wrong. Speculators, Asia and Russia have not created the continuous 45-degree slide in the Canadian dollar vs. the U.S. dollar that began the night before Rene Levesque was elected the first time. "There are no short positions and speculators pushing down the Canadian dollar," said a seasoned trading pro who asked to remain anonymous. "The governments and their agencies like Ontario Hydro or the Export Development Corp. or Ottawa have to make huge interest payments in U.S. dollars and they are pushing it down continuously." This means, by the way, things will worsen because foreign lenders will be disinclined to lend Canadian entities money unless payable in U.S. dollars. Now Canada is reaping what its troika of economic mediocrities - Pierre Trudeau, Brian Mulroney and Jean Chretien - have sown. All three squandered away the civil rights of anglophones in Quebec to appease secessionists, then squandered this country's economic wealth buying votes. They pandered to, and financed with tax dollars, every wonky special interest group, premier, corporate lobbyist and union leader with vocal chords. These prime ministers have been mostly preoccupied with the Quebec situation, thus allowing our country to be held hostage to a bunch of fraudsters who have yet to prove there is a mandate to secede. Chretien may be the worst culprit because -- during a time of prosperity, low inflation and interest rates, and a tax revenue windfall -- he has managed to hike the national debt by a staggering $144 billion or 40%. This represents an average of $2.4 billion in new debt each and every month since 1993. The government of Brian Mulroney was worse, adding $2.8 billion a month to the national debt. And Trudeau started the whole thing by inheriting a country that was virtually debt-free, then taxing and spending in order to remain in office 17 years. It's tragic to me, as an immigrant, to see how the wonderful cards Canada was dealt have been so badly played. Canada had it all. Wonderful people. Great resources. But a succession of lawyers who ran for public office are ruining our lives. Here's what they have done: * If a Canadian investor had put $1,000 in the TSE 20 years ago and it performed the average rate of return, it would be worth $9,900. That same $1,000 invested in the Standard & Poor's in U.S. dollars would be worth $21,000 US. * Since 1992, the average Canadian paycheque has lost 13% of its value, in U.S. dollars. Since 1976, it's lost nearly 40%. * Good, strong Canadian companies are trading seriously below book value, which means they will have difficulty financing themselves in future or will be bought by foreigners. The situation is salvageable, but only by discarding old attitudes, old policies and old politicians.