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To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (27242)	1/29/1999 1:29:00 AM
From: Alex	Respond to of 116764

Secret Bond Deals Help Japanese Banks Hide Loses Laundered Losses: make money on Japanese governments, lose on other bonds Japanese financial institutions are carrying out unorthodox and secretive securities trades to hide recent losses in Japanese government bond markets. In particular, some banks have been pretending to "sell" JGBs at artificially high prices to large Tokyo brokers, in exchange for other, low quality bonds "bought" at artificially low [should read "high" not "low"--Orlin] prices. The deal allows investors to conceal losses temporarily because although JGB losses need to be regularly reported under Japanese accounting rules, losses on other securities, such as local government bonds, do not. The brokers conducting these deals for their clients insist they are not illegal because the Japanese Securities Dealers' Association, the industry body, changed its trading regulations last month, abolishing the rule that all bond trades need to be conducted within 2 per cent of the market price. However, officials at the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Japan admit that the rule change could encourage banks to conduct a form of tobashi, the traditional Japanese practice of shuffling losses between accounts. Western banks also believe the unorthodox trades would breach global compliance standards. As a result, several have refused to conduct them, even though they have been under huge pressure from Japanese clients. William Campbell, head of research at JP Morgan, says: "This [change in the rule] is very, very disappointing - it is a big step back." The JSDA denies that December's rule change was intended to conceal losses. "I do not think the rule change led to an increase in tobashi. It may have allowed those engaged in the practice to do it on a larger scale," says an official. Many Japanese banks and life assurance companies are struggling to meet capital adequacy and solvency standards at the end of the fiscal year in March. The state of their bond portfolios has recently become critical, since many suffered large losses when 10-year JGB yields more than doubled to 2 per cent in December. The biggest losses are believed to have occurred on 10-year JGBs issued with a 0.9 per cent coupon in the autumn. However, large Japanese brokers are now "buying" these JGBs from investors at around the par price of 100, even though the actual market price has fallen to around 88. In exchange, the brokers are "selling" cheap bonds, such as municipal bonds, at inflated prices. The practice has reduced the "spread" between JGBs and municipal bonds from around 20 basis points to 10 basis points since December. One senior official at a large brokerage house said: "It may be legal but it feels as though we're helping these companies doctor their books - it doesn't feel right." The Financial Times, Jan. 27, 1999

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (27242)	1/29/1999 8:44:00 AM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116764

OT realgoods.com <<What's a good used mower going for? What's a decent rebuilt car alternator going for? What's a decent deepcycle battery going for? What's a decent inverter going for?>> inverters & solar PV cells here, if I did not have the generator I'd go that way. Also, for food, why not checl out your local Nobel Sysco, many great dried food service items. How about a 20 lb bag of instant milk and a 20 lb box of dried legumes - also a great "instant" bag of refried beans - 3 lb bags - add hot water. These instant refried beans can also be had (in smaller boxes) from your neighborhood grocer in the natral food area.

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (27242)	1/29/1999 4:30:00 PM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

Ole, we've just caught us a ringer!!!!! Just how did this "Donald" know my heavy loser was ECO? I did not mention it. My number of shares and my buy in position are known to no one on this thread (or on S.I. until now). ding-ding-ding. How many more ringers will the bell of truth toll over? <<You cannot compare a securities market to a commodities market, especially as you insist on bringing up the idea of "manipulation". Securities are instruments that are tightly controlled, with settlement through DTC (although you can cut out DTC, the exchanges and NASDAQ and the brokers, but few people do it). For better or for worse, ownership of publicly traded stocks is public information. Contrast that with gold. You and I can easily trade gold amongst ourselves. There are no legal barriers, that I'm aware of, to ECO selling its gold directly to a jewelry manufacturer, a central bank, or a private bullion investor. (Although I think I heard somewhere that in the US, gold may only be transported via USPS. There's some weird rules out there.) These calls for transparency in the gold market are not rational. You have no right to know how much gold I'm hoarding. And any push to get me to disclose how much gold I own makes the market LESS free, not more so.>>