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

To: lorne who wrote (22489)	11/1/1998 8:07:00 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116762

All, there was much discussion about the anti-gold add in forbes from Commerzbank. Here is where to find it: commerzbank.com We must know our enemies better than our friends. rh

To: lorne who wrote (22489)	11/2/1998 2:47:00 PM
From: Alex	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116762

SAY THE 'I' WORD - NOW, TAKE YOUR PROFITS AND RUN By JOHN CRUDELE ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMPEACHMENT. If you are an investor buying into the recent rally on Wall Street that was inspired by Alan Greenspan's emergency interest rate cut, you should say the word impeachment to yourself often over the next two days. That's because tomorrow's Congressional elections - no matter what the outcome - are going to lead to one of the most disturbing periods ever for investors. More disturbing than even the meltdown of a host of foreign economies. More disruptive than the savings-and-loan crisis. More puzzling than the economic effects of the Gulf War. Presidential impeachments don't happen often. In fact, they occur so infrequently that people don't know what to expect. Congress doesn't know how to handle the possible removal of a president from office. Voters don't even know what the procedure entails. And - most important for this column - Wall Street doesn't have a clue as to how all of this will affect stock prices. 032 . 0000.00But keep saying the word: impeachment. The most disruptive process that could happen in our system of government is about to happen. Investors are making a big mistake in underestimating what is about to happen. Independent counsel Ken Starr has tried to give the country a heads-up on the next step, but because of legal prohibitions he's been unable to be very forthcoming. But several weeks ago Starr did answer a letter from the House Judiciary Committee asking whether new charges might be forwarded to Congress that constitute impeachable offenses. Because of strict prohibitions against leaking grand-jury material and guidelines about what shouldn't 032 . 0000.00be said right before an election, Starr was vague. But it was clear to anyone who knows what is going on that the maybe that Starr sent as an answer to Congress was really a yes. So why is this such a big week for investors? Because after tomorrow's election, there will be nothing to keep Starr from delivering the rest of his charges to Congress. As I've said before, the independent counsel will probably deliver the rest of the material in a second report, to be followed by a all-encompassing report sometime in the future to the three-judge panel that put him in business. But Starr could also simply send the new stuff as an addendum to the report on Monica Lewinsky that opened the impeachment hearings. The Lewinsky issue was a convenient, but I think foolish, way to get Congress to start thinking about impeachment. Because Starr's resources had been diverted to the Lewinsky matter for more than nine months, the other parts of the inves032 . 0000.00tigations hadn't been completed in time for delivery to Congress before the election. Can tomorrow's election save the President? Political pundits who know better than I do expect the Republicans to pick up seats in both the House and Senate to add to their majority. If the Democrats miraculously manage to add significantly to their seats, then the impeachment inquiry might be slowed. But the crimes Starr has uncovered but hasn't yet referred to Congress will shock the Democrats as much as the Republicans. So, no matter what the makeup of Congress is, the impeachment process will move forward. The October rally that was caused by Alan Greenspan's surprise interest-rate cut makes the situation worse. Had some of the biggest name stocks in the market stayed down 20 percent or more, there probably would have been enough bargain hunters around to support the prices at the same time the impeachment 032 . 0000.00process started having an impact. But now that the Dow Jones industrial average and a few other parts of the market, have retraced about half of their losses, the market has become very vulnerable once again. Add to that the real reason behind the last rate cut - namely that banks and companies around the world are experiencing enormous pressure on their profits and their assets - and stock prices are now more ripe for a very large correction than at any time this year. Worse, Greenspan has already delivered two rate cuts in quick succession. If he needs another because of the impeachment process, the impact will be lessened. The world financial crisis alone is enough to quake Wall Street. Put that with the fact that there is a historic impeachment process - say the word, impeachment - about ready to heat up like Wall Street can't even imagine, and you'll understand why you want to take whatever profits you've made in October and go on vacation. nypostonline.com