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To: CIMA who wrote (22648)	11/5/1998 5:35:00 PM
From: Giraffe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116753

Investors digging those gold stocks By Emily Church, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 4:44 PM ET Nov 5, 1998 NewsWatch NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Investors rushed into U.S. gold stocks Thursday for a second day, showing even greater enthusiasm than they seemed to show for the actual yellow metal. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold and Silver ($XAU) rose 4.9 percent on Thursday on the heels of an 8.3 percent climb Wednesday. As for the price of the metal, December gold rose $3.10 to $294.80 an ounce on the Commodities Exchange division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Still, the price of gold is close to its lowest point in almost 20 years. Speculation about merger and acquisition activity and 'hedge fund buying' swirled through the gold community. Gold companies, seeking to reduce their costs for producing gold, have been in a consolidation mode for the past several years. Investors in gold stocks are also taking encouragement from gold's recent ability to stay above $289 an ounce, said Merrill Lynch analyst David Christensen. The rally in the stocks has been powerful, with stocks like Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) climbing 1 11/16 to 24 11/16 Thursday, up from its 52-week low of 13 1/4 in late August. Still, Newmont has slumped from 62 in the last couple of years, Christensen said. "The gold price declined to a point where a major portion of this industry is either unprofitable or break-even," he said. Signs that gold is holding support and isn't setting new lows despite the bearish fundamentals in Asia, "has an immediate impact on the bottom line." Among the gold and silver stocks: Barrick Gold Corp (ABX) rose 1 1/2 to 23 1/2; Battle Mountain Gold (BMG) rose 5/16 to 5 15/16; Placer Dome, Inc. (PDG) rose 1 to 17 5/8 and Hecla Mining Co. (HL) rose 1/4 to 4 13/16. Homestake Mining shares rose 1/8 to 12 3/4. Other metals of the non-ferrous variety also gained as investors speculated the world's suffering economies in Asia and Latin America are poised to rebound : Aluminum Co. of America (AA) rose 11/16 to 80 and Reynolds Metals (RLM) was up 1 7/16 to 59 15/16. Some investors are likely looking out 12 months ahead and are buying into the metals group, which they think will do well coming out of a recession. They're taking heart from recent U.S. auto sales reports, for example. Signs that the economy is slowing might take the wind out the stocks' sails, Christensen said.

To: CIMA who wrote (22648)	11/5/1998 6:34:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116753

US trade gap may hit US$240b on falling exports to Asia HE US trade deficit could swell to as much as US$240 billion (S$388.8 billion) this year, shattering a decade-old record, as the nation's exports to Asia slide, US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said. Ms Barshefsky said the deficit is largely being driven by declining US exports, rather than a burst of imports to this country. "The overall import surge that many people had expected has not happened," she said. She briefed reporters ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit, saying it will discuss ways to alleviate poverty in Asia as the recessions sweeping the region expand the jobless ranks. And she predicted the leaders will reject Malaysia's bid for support for currency controls. She reserved her harshest criticism for Japan. "The biggest challenge we face is what I would call the problem of Japan. Thus far, Japan has played a destructive role on Apec, and we are encouraging it to play a constructive role, which I think it can do." Plans by Apec leaders to open nine industries to more imports may be thwarted by Japan's reluctance to cut tariffs on forest and fishery products, Ms Barshefsky said, echoing comments by her deputy, Richard Fisher. The troubles in Asia are hurting demand for US exports. Its exports to the Association of South-east Asian Nations fell 17 per cent in the first seven months of this year, according to US-Asean Business Council. As a result, the US global trade deficit through August is already just shy of last year's total US$110.21 billion -- and the widest since it was US$115.9 billion in 1988, the government says. The highest full-year US trade deficit on record was the US$153.3 billion posted in 1987. The deficit may widen to US$300 billion next year, Ms Barshefsky said. -- Bloomberg business-times.asia1.com.sg