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Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Murphy who wrote (2950)	1/8/1999 12:17:00 AM
From: ForYourEyesOnly	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82217

Is PEI covering its shorts?? I think you'll like the following article..... Glad to hear you like Magic Carpet Ride.....we need to get an upbeat mood going here...... Let me know when the Mardi Gras starts! THC NY Precious Metals Review: Gold, silver up on option expiry By Melanie Lovatt, Bridge News New York--Jan 7--COMEX gold and silver futures made strong gains today as market players shuffled positions ahead of Friday's COMEX option expirations. Feb gold settled up $3.90 at $292.40 per ounce after hitting a 3-week high of $292.80 late in the session. Mar silver settled up 7.5c at $5.24 per ounce after extending Wednesday's strong gains to make a 3-month high of $5.35 in NYMEX Access trade early this morning. * * * The jump in silver was the catalyst for the overall precious metals rally, said traders. Many attributed the rise to the activities of Westport, Conn. based John W. Henry and Co. While some suggested that the CTA was taking on speculative long positions, another trader said that the move was simply short-covering as silver moved above some technical levels. John W. Henry officials refused to comment on the firm's activities. Some players also suggested that Princeton Economics International was also covering shorts, although chairman Martin Armstrong could not be reached for comment. In addition, traders said that some players were covering positions ahead of Friday's COMEX Feb silver option expiration. One trader noted that some players were either short calls or long puts at $5 and $5.25 strike prices. Traders said that after its roughly 30c, or 6%, runup over the last 3 days, Mar silver would probably now start to edge lower. "It's a nice runup, but it's going to pullback--it could go back to $5.12, but then I think we'd be able to see another climb, perhaps back as far as $5.40." Gold's rise, while made partly on the back of silver, was also due to covering ahead of Friday's COMEX Feb gold option expiration. Some traders noted that a weaker dollar had also prompted some buying. "It's all been spec buying," a trader said. Another suggested it would have a tough time climbing up from the $291-292 because rallies to this level seem to be accompanied by heavy producer selling. In the news today, the European Central Bank said at its monthly meeting that the 15% quota set for gold holdings as a part of total monetary reserves was for the initial transfer from national central banks only. "The 15% was not a structural decision...It has no consequence on the structure of reserves in the future nor does it have any consequence on the total percentage of gold holdings of the ECB system including gold on national central banks' balance sheets," ECB vice-president Christian Noyer said. ECB President Wim Duisenberg added that the 15% gold reserves quota would be left unchanged for the "longer foreseeable future." Meanwhile, platinum was pulled higher by strength in gold and silver, while palladium parted company with the others, as March settled down $8.45 at $310.50 per ounce. Traders said that one of the dealers had been taking profits on behalf of a fund that had gone long a couple of weeks ago before palladi um's big price runup which culminated in a contract high of $340 on Jan 4. "Once the fund has finished selling, it will probably go up again," said one trader, noting that many are expecting Russian palladium to see a repeat this year of the big delays seen with 1998 and 1997 shipments. PRICES --Feb gold (GCG9) at $292.4, up $3.9; RANGE: 292.8-288.4 --Mar silver (SIH9) at $5.240, up 7.5c; RANGE: 5.35-5.15 --Apr platinum (PLJ9) at $362.2, up $4.1; RANGE: 362.5-358.1 --Mar palladium (PAH9) at $310.50, dn $8.45; RANGE: 316.0-309.0 SPOT PRECIOUS METALS PRICES: Late New York London Late Tokyo Gold (KRCGL) 290.20-290.70 289.75-290.25 288.20-288.70 Silver (KRCSL) 5.245-5.20 5.32-5.35 5.15-5.18 Platinum (KRCPL) 358.50-362.00 357.50-359.50 356.50-358.50 Palladium (KRCPA) 321.00-330.00 315.00-320.00 315.00-320.00 End