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

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (33131)	5/4/1999 2:58:00 PM
From: Enigma	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116756

The work is fine and often interesting - it just comes with an attitude - rarely admits to any human fallibility, in spite of being often wrong - so if I attack this too bad - he leads with his chin IMO. d

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (33131)	5/5/1999 7:10:00 AM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116756

Barrick's Munk snipes at central banks, hedge funds By Paul Simao TORONTO, May 4 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO - news). Chairman Peter Munk blasted central banks and hedge funds on Tuesday for undermining the value of gold, but conceded the precious metal had lost some of its allure as a safe-haven investment. Central bank sales of gold, particularly in Europe and Australia, have been cited as the trigger for bullion's dramatic fall from a 1997 high near $363 an ounce to a recent historical low of $270.75 an ounce. Looming sales by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Switzerland's central bank have added to growing fears that gold prices have entered a long-term decline with little upside in the near future. The IMF has proposed selling part of its 103-million-ounce gold stockpile to fund debt relief for the world's poorest nations. U.S. President Bill Clinton has voiced approval of the idea as have other key Western nations. Switzerland moved closer last month to selling 1,300 tonnes of gold - around half the Swiss National Bank's gold reserves - after voters approved the severing of the Swiss franc's peg to gold. Munk condemned the world's central banks for fostering ''enormous negativism'' by effectively exchanging hundreds of tons of gold in favor of interest-bearing U.S. dollar-denominated securities. ''I believe that the IMF and the Swiss central bank decisions of the last year have accelerated that feeling of negativism,'' Munk confided to shareholders at Barrick's annual meeting in Toronto. Munk later told reporters that hedge funds out ''to make a buck'' had exaggerated rumors and a general lack of information in the gold industry to profit from the downward spiral in bullion prices. One of the most active gold promoters on the international stage, the fedora-wearing, Hungarian-born Munk rarely passes up an opportunity to buttonhole central bankers and world leaders in support of his favorite commodity. But even a gold bug like Munk conceded that gold's glory days -- it shot up to its peak of $850 an ounce in 1980 in step with rampant inflation, oil shocks and worldwide political tensions -- were likely over. Gold, traditionally the investment of choice in times of political or financial crisis, snapped through a series of record lows last year despite rising financial turmoil in Asia and other emerging markets. The precious metal staged a short-lived rally late in 1997 after Asian currencies were sharply devalued, but it was a momentary reprieve as investors soon deserted bullion in favor of the US dollar and dollar-denominated securities. Gold has traded in a narrow range since then. It touched $285.30 an ounce on Tuesday. ''When people talk about the demise of gold, they are absolutely right. Gold is no more the favorite investment vehicle of people who think they are in danger,'' Munk said. Munk predicted gold's future lay among the ''tens of millions'' of new consumers in Africa and Asia who combined newfound wealth with a desire to safeguard their fortunes against a rising tide of political and financial uncertainty.(cont) biz.yahoo.com