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

To: marcos who wrote (22212)	10/24/1998 1:52:00 PM
From: Giraffe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116756

Battered bulls preen as Fed is their friend again By Huw Jones NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Battered bulls have a new spring in their step thanks to recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and will work next week to convince the bears that a stunning rebound from the summer carnage is for real. ''If our reading of Fed policy is right, we feel increasingly confident that a low in stock prices has been seen,'' said Peter Canelo, stock market strategist at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. That does not mean stocks are headed almost straight up again. There may be more profit-taking before another big move up, probably after the Fed's next rate cut, analysts said. The storm clouds from Asia, Russia and Latin America that have darkened the outlook for the U.S. economy have lifted a bit since the Fed, the nation's central bank, surprised everyone by cutting short-term rates again last week, its second such move in less than three weeks. The cut galvanized investors to put cash back to work, especially the hitherto shunned smaller stocks. ''The small caps are outperforming the big caps and that is a sign of confidence and speculation coming back to the market,'' said Robert Dickey at Dain Rauscher. In the week ended Oct. 21 which included the Fed's latest cut, $9.3 billion flowed into stock funds compared with a $3.1 billion outflow the pior week, said TrimTabs.com, a research firm. Many analysts expect more rate cuts ahead. ''Even after two rate reductions, we think the Fed will continue to lower the funds rate, probably to 4.5 percent by year-end,'' Morgan Stanley's Canelo said. The fed funds rate, which banks charge each other for overnight loans, is 5 percent. Arun Kumar, senior stock strategist at Lehman Bros., expects the Fed will cut again when policy-makers meet next month. Regarding the market, he said: ''I don't think we are off to the races yet, though I think the worst is behind us.'' The Dow Jones industrial average fell 80.85 to 8,452.29 Friday, snapping a seven-session winning streak that brought it to 8,533, well above its summer low of 7,400 and just 8.6 percent below its record of 9,337.97 set in July. For the week the 30-share index rose 35.53. Bulls have also been revived by Japan finally passing a bill to shore up its banks, and Congress agreeing on a budget that included $18 billion for the cash-strapped International Monetary Fund to help fragile economies such as Brazil's. Investors look to Brazil next week when the government unveils a sweeping austerity plan to qualify for an expected $30 billion IMF-led package to bolster its economy. If Brazil is forced to devalue its currency, as some fear, it would send other Latin American countries reeling and damage a key trading partner of the United States. Evidence the U.S. economy is slowing, which would give the Fed more reason to cut rates again, may be forthcoming next week. The government reports on gross domestic product for the third quarter on Friday. Other key data include Tuesday's consumer confidence index for October and Thursday's closely watched employment cost index for the third quarter. Investors are more hopeful since most of the nation's biggest companies have reported third-quarter earnings, with most, especially closely watched technology companies, in line or just above analysts' scaled-back earnings forecasts. ''Now that we have a more practical view on earnings and with interest rates down, we are on our way to 9,000 in the Dow by the end of the year,'' said Stuart Freeman, chief stock strategist at A.G. Edwards & Sons.

To: marcos who wrote (22212)	10/24/1998 2:32:00 PM
From: Zardoz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116756

Looking at the Barrick hedge information you provide. Gold could drop another $50-$75 /Oz But should easily see a decrease of $25 in the next few weeks.