Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : The Naked Truth - Big Kahuna a Myth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alias Shrugged who wrote (39776)	5/9/1999 10:31:00 AM
From: Lucretius	Respond to of 86076

there are none, IMO, Mike. The only purpose was to knock gold prices down.... let me show you was scaring the kiddies.... if gold had closed above 291.. a bull would have begun technically and gold shares were forcasting just that... bankers and bullion dealers can read charts too -g- the-privateer.com Japan gives us a sell signal..... maybe now they'll let the yen go... Sunday May 9, 3:03 am Eastern Time FOCUS-Japan's Sakakibara turns sanguine on US By Tatsuo Ito TOKYO, May 9 (Reuters) - Japan's top financial diplomat Eisuke Sakakibara has changed his views on the U.S. stock market and economy, predicting that high-flying U.S. share prices can be sustained over the next six to 12 months. ''Six months ago we thought the U.S. stock market would fall, but it has been unexpectedly strong,'' he said on a Television Asahi interview programme on Sunday. ''The strength will continue for the next six to 12 months. I think the U.S. stock market is unlikely to fall much from the current levels,'' said Sakakibara, who is Japan's vice finance minister for international affairs. Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average is at a record high, some 2,000 points higher than six months ago when Sakakibara had said that there were signs of a bubble forming. Sakakibara said that the Brazilian currency crisis and the collapse of U.S. hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) last fall clouded the prospect of growth in the U.S. economy. But he said the situation has improved due to appropriate policy steps such as cuts in the key overnight rate between September and November. Since then, U.S. economic growth has taken off and reached an annualised six percent growth rate in the fourth quarter of 1998 and an estimated annualised 4.5 percent in the first quarter of 1999. ''You can be optimistic about the U.S. economy compared with six months ago,'' Sakakibara said. He also quoted Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan as saying at the meeting of Group of Seven (G7) nations in April in Washington that Wall Street has benefited from technology innovation in telecommunications. Sakakibara added that even if the U.S. economy falters, the United States has various policy options on the back of its fiscal surplus, including tax cuts and further reductions in U.S. interest rates. He said Asian economic and currency crisis that broke out in July 1997 was mostly over, with share prices in the region returning to pre-crisis levels. Except for Indonesia, Asian nations could achieve growth in 1999 with South Korea likely to post two percent growth, he said. For Japan's economy, public fund injections worth about 7.5 trillion yen ($62.5 billion) into 15 major banks at the end of March has ended the nation's financial crisis and boosted the Tokyo stock market, Sakakibara said. ''The financial markets are clearly signalling that Japan's crisis is over,'' he added. Economic Planning Agency chief Taichi Sakaiya said on an NHK television programme on Sunday that the Japanese economy has an 80 percent chance of growing this year. He said the economy is heading in a good direction due to various steps taken by the government since last year, but employment remains a key issue for the economy. He said the nation's jobless rate, which hit a record high of 4.8 percent in March, is highly likely to climb further as a result of corporate restructuring. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: Alias Shrugged who wrote (39776)	5/9/1999 11:04:00 AM
From: Lucretius	Respond to of 86076

Mike, more support for my thesis. i think the Brits are in deep DO DO: April 27, 1999 (Telegraph) - UK Puts Heat on IMF To Sell Gold Reserves "BRITAIN is pressuring the International Monetary Fund to sell $3 billion worth of its gold reserves - double the figure initially suggested...Treasury sources said Mr Brown is convinced of the need for gold sales to fund the debt reduction programmes and believes 10m ounces is the minimum that should be sold ----------------------------------------------- Excerpted from "The Guardian", Thursday April 23 1998 - Dan Atkinson Speculators and dealers who have borrowed British gold reserves worth as much as 300 million British Pounds Sterling may be unable to repay the Bank of England, industry sources warned last night... One senior industry source warned that some of the nation's gold was now in jewellery form, hanging around the necks of overseas consumers, and could not be reclaimed in a crisis... ...the price has moved up 12% since January and was rising again yesterday. Now speculators... might have to buy more expensive bullion bars elsewhere to cover their debts. Were significant numbers unable to do so the resulting turmoil could threaten London's pivotal position in the international gold market... One source warned that some bullion banks might be particularly vulnerable, as they were in the position of borrowing short-term from the Bank to lend longer-term to speculators, jewellery manufacturers and others. He added that all involved in borrowing from central banks had behaved as if the price would drop forever and that the loans could always be repaid in cheaper gold. It is not known what proportion of Britain's 573 tonnes of gold is on loan, but the international average is about 10% of reserves.