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

To: long-gone who wrote (23777)	12/3/1998 10:05:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116764

Silver up, Russia-up, China, Gold down-the guy needs a shrink IMO... Silver Prices Predicted to Improve Thursday, 3 December 1998 S P O K A N E , W A S H . (AP) SILVER PRICES could more than double in the next year, but gold will likely stay low, financial experts told the Northwest Mining Association convention on Thursday. Precious metals prices have been hurt by the same economic forces that hammered the Asian and Russian economies, but things are looking up, some experts contend. "We are at the bottom of a depressing run," said Douglas Silver, an analyst for Balfour Holdings. "Things are changing." He pointed to the recent merger of Mobil and Exxon, indicating business confidence, plus low unemployment in the United States, lack of inflation and good retail sales so far for the Christmas season. Mining companies require large investments, and a strong U.S. economy will provide money for investors, Silver said. Silver said the price of silver, which is around $4.60 per ounce, is too low given the worldwide supply and demand. Silver approached $7 an ounce earlier this year. "It's going to double or triple in the next 24 months," Silver said. That echoed predictions by other analysts. But gold prices of around $290 per ounce are likely to keep dropping, Silver predicted. Mining companies should resist the urge to increase production, and instead look for new large deposits, he said. Copper prices will also remain low, and major producers must cut production, Silver said. While predicting that Russia and Japan will solve their economic woes, Silver said Latin America is saturated with mining companies. Mining investment in Africa is dangerous because of local political disputes, he said. "I don't believe in China and I don't see a future for it," Silver added. Doug Hurst, a mining consultant from Nelson, British Columbia, is predicting that 1999 will be a strong year for mining companies. But analyst Mark Anderson of Behre Dolbear & Co. is more pessimistic. Copper prices remain under 70 cents per ounce, while it costs 90 cents per ounce to produce, he said. "We don't see big increases in copper next year," Anderson said. "Next year we will see a high of 73 cents. There's too much stuff around." He advised copper companies to stop mining and wait for prices to improve. Michael Dudas, an analyst for Bear Stearns in New York City, predicted an improving world economy should improve the market for metals. The Federal Reserve's reduction of interest rates helped the market, and he predicted additional interest rate cuts in the next six months. That should free up money for investors to place in gold companies, Dudas said. Dudas also pointed to Stillwater Mining Co. of Montana as "the only true growth story among precious metals shares at present." Stillwater is producing palladium for $150 per ounce, while the metal is selling for $225 per ounce, Dudas said. A new management team plans to triple the company's production from its ore deposit in southern Montana by 2002, Dudas said. It is the world's only significant producer of platinum and palladium outside South Africa and Russia, he said.

To: long-gone who wrote (23777)	12/3/1998 10:18:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

One more time "Never believe a rumor until it is oficially denied" World Bank Denies Criticism of IMF Thursday, 3 December 1998 W A S H I N G T O N (AP) WORLD BANK President James Wolfensohn denied published reports Thursday that the bank had criticized handling of the Asian financial crisis by its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund. "There has never been any doubt on our part that the International Monetary Fund has carried out this most difficult task with strength and judgment," Wolfensohn said in a statement. "We support them and are grateful for the irreplaceable role that they play." He added that the World Bank is too busy with its mandate of working to alleviate the consequences of the crisis - millions in Asia forced into poverty and massive unemployment - to second-guess the IMF's decisions. However, economists from the two multilateral institutions will sometimes debate specific issues privately, he said. Wolfensohn was responding to reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post that said the World Bank's annual Global Economic Prospects report, released Wednesday, amounted to blaming the IMF for making Asia's financial crisis worse. "This interpretation is false," Wolfensohn said. The report warned there was a "substantial risk" of a world recession next year but said the most likely outcome would be sluggish growth. Without identifying the IMF by name, the report criticized the high interest rate policy the fund recommended to Asian nations in 1997 when the financial crisis erupted. The IMF said these rates were needed to prop up the region's crippled currencies. But Joseph Stiglitz, the bank's chief economist, said that didn't work and just drove Asia deeper into recession. The IMF's two main economists, Stanley Fischer and Michael Mussa, have disputed this view. The Times quoted unidentified bank officials as saying the IMF's name was left out of the report as a conciliatory gesture because of these disagreements. Located across the street from one another in Washington, the IMF and the World Bank were founded in 1944. The IMF focuses mainly on economic and monetary policy, while the bank deals with projects in developing countries to help the poor fight poverty and disease.