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Fed.14day RP + 5.00B [drain -12.00B sofar
7day on deck [9.00B]
Slosh Report http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
Fed.14day RP + 5.00B [drain -12.00B sofar
7day on deck [9.00B]
Slosh Report http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
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Nice Ray, ya'nailed it..Booyaa!
ZEEV FRIENDS,
Just received a call from one of Zeev's colleagues who asked if he sent me an email if I would post it which I surely said it would be done. With a heavy heart and a tears in my eyes here is his email:
Would you be so kind as to post the following message on the boards:
Dr. Hed's heart stopped suddenly on March 11. The Hed family thanks
everyone for their kind messages.
The Hed family address is
12 Wagon Trail
Nashua, NH 03062
Thank you and best regards....
Dr. Richard Pavelle
President
Invent Resources, Inc.
Posted by golf nut.
Germany Plans No Gold Sales in 2008-2009
By Jon A. Nones
11 Mar 2008 at 03:57 PM GMT-04:00
St. LOUIS (ResourceInvestor.com) -- Germany's Bundesbank indicated on Tuesday it will continue to horde its vast gold reserves in the next year of the Central Bank Gold Agreement (CBGA), the fifth agreement year beginning in September. The decision was widely anticipated, but could prove to support gold sentiment in the market in the longer term.
Bundesbank is the second-largest holder of gold behind the U.S. Federal Reserve and owns about 3,417.4 tonnes of gold worth more than $100 billion. The bank has sold no substantial amounts of gold since the enactment of this Central Bank Gold Agreement, which limits sales to 500 tonnes per year.
The Bundesbank can sell 120 tonnes of gold a year but continues to pass its quota to other institutions. In October 2007, the bank said it would only sell 8 tonnes of gold to the German finance ministry to mint coins in the fourth year of the deal.
The Bundesbank and the Ministry of Finance have been at odds with one another for some time over selling German gold. The bank has refused to sell its reserves, not wanting to hand the German government a budget windfall. In February 2006, the Bundesbank blocked the German government’s hopes to sell gold to fund research and development projects.
Last year, Spain made up some of the slack, selling 165 tonnes, but indicated it would not sell any more large amounts in the near term. Other major sellers last year included Switzerland with sales of 125 tonnes, France with 99 tonnes and the European Central Bank (ECB) with 60 tonnes. None have indicated whether they will take up the slack this agreement year or next.
The third agreement year concluded with total gold sales of 475.75 tonnes, still short of the 500-tonne annual limit. So far in the fourth year of the agreement, central banks have sold about 190 tonnes with about six and half months remaining.
Germany Plans No Gold Sales in 2008-2009
By Jon A. Nones
11 Mar 2008 at 03:57 PM GMT-04:00
St. LOUIS (ResourceInvestor.com) -- Germany's Bundesbank indicated on Tuesday it will continue to horde its vast gold reserves in the next year of the Central Bank Gold Agreement (CBGA), the fifth agreement year beginning in September. The decision was widely anticipated, but could prove to support gold sentiment in the market in the longer term.
Bundesbank is the second-largest holder of gold behind the U.S. Federal Reserve and owns about 3,417.4 tonnes of gold worth more than $100 billion. The bank has sold no substantial amounts of gold since the enactment of this Central Bank Gold Agreement, which limits sales to 500 tonnes per year.
The Bundesbank can sell 120 tonnes of gold a year but continues to pass its quota to other institutions. In October 2007, the bank said it would only sell 8 tonnes of gold to the German finance ministry to mint coins in the fourth year of the deal.
The Bundesbank and the Ministry of Finance have been at odds with one another for some time over selling German gold. The bank has refused to sell its reserves, not wanting to hand the German government a budget windfall. In February 2006, the Bundesbank blocked the German government’s hopes to sell gold to fund research and development projects.
Last year, Spain made up some of the slack, selling 165 tonnes, but indicated it would not sell any more large amounts in the near term. Other major sellers last year included Switzerland with sales of 125 tonnes, France with 99 tonnes and the European Central Bank (ECB) with 60 tonnes. None have indicated whether they will take up the slack this agreement year or next.
The third agreement year concluded with total gold sales of 475.75 tonnes, still short of the 500-tonne annual limit. So far in the fourth year of the agreement, central banks have sold about 190 tonnes with about six and half months remaining.
Coeur Announces Proposed Offering of $150 Million of Convertible Senior Notes
Wednesday March 12, 7:27 am ET
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation (NYSE:CDE - News) (TSX:CDM - News) (ASX:CXC - News) announced today that it intends to offer $150 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior unsecured notes under an effective shelf registration statement on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080312/20080312005573.html?.v=1
Coeur Announces Proposed Offering of $150 Million of Convertible Senior Notes
Wednesday March 12, 7:27 am ET
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation (NYSE:CDE - News) (TSX:CDM - News) (ASX:CXC - News) announced today that it intends to offer $150 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior unsecured notes under an effective shelf registration statement on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080312/20080312005573.html?.v=1
Ben's rally now a Spitzer rally ?,
l have Dr. appt after lunch.
W@G2 QQQQ 03/12/08 for a 03/14/08 close
43.75 bob3
43.60 rayrohn
43.50 Farooq
43.41 frenchee
43.00 dr_sean
42.88 blasher
40.05 SmallCapFundNYC
On Tuesday, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their largest one day percent gain since 2003 on the announcement of a coordinated central bank effort to increase liquidity in the financial markets. The major indices finished the day sharply higher, near their best levels of the session, thanks to broad-based buying interest.
The Federal Reserve announced a new Term Securities Lending Facility (TSFL). The Fed will lend up to $200 billion of Treasury securities to primary dealers secured for a term of 28 days, rather than overnight. The borrowers will be able to pledge a variety of collateral ranging from federal agency debt to private AAA rated residential mortgage backed securities (MBS). The auctions will take place on a weekly basis.
Basically, this plan stands to improve liquidity by allowing more thinly traded securities to be used as collateral to borrow highly traded Treasury securities.
The Fed also announced it is increasing its swap lines with the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank to $30 billion and $6 billion, respectively. This equates to an increase of $12 billion.
This is a coordinated effort with other central banks, which announced measures of their own. Participating central banks include the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank.
The news gave a substantial lift to the financial sector (+7.4%), which posted its largest one day percent gain since 2000. The thrifts and mortgages group (+12.8%) saw the steepest rise, as traders bet the ability to use mortgage backed securities stands to benefit the group the most. Of the sector's 92 members, only Moody's (MCO 35.19, -0.31) finished the day in the red. Beaten down names Washington Mutual (WM 11.88, +1.84), SLM Corp (SLM 19.71, +3.02) and Freddie Mac (FRE 20.16, +2.77) posted the largest percent gains of 18%, 18% and 16%, respectively.
Nine of the ten sectors trended higher, but that does not clearly demonstrate how broad-based the buying interest was on Tuesday. Of the 147 industry groups, only four posted a loss.
Eight sectors posted a gain of more than 2%. Materials surged 6.0%, energy gained 4.6% and industrials advanced 3.7%.
There were some negative items, however, as healthcare (-0.2%) finished the day with a slight loss. The managed healthcare group shed 17.4% after WellPoint (WLP 47.26, -18.66) said it expects its full year 2008 income to be in the range of $5.76 to $6.01 per share, which fell well short of the $6.41 consensus. The company cited higher than expected medical costs, and a lower than expected fully insured environment as reasons for the earnings cut. As a result, Aetna (AET 42.65, -3.86), UnitedHealth Group (UNH 38.24, -6.83) and Humana (HUM 47.38, -15.32) all posted hefty losses.
Texas Instruments (TXN 28.76, -0.89) was the only S&P 500 tech stock that traded lower, due to the company's lower than expected earnings guidance. Tech shrugged off the bearish news, managing to advance 3.6%.
News of the Fed's plan prompted traders to cut their bets how much the FOMC will decide to cut rates on March 18. This helped give a boost to the Dollar Index (+0.4%) and caused a sell-off in Treasuries.DJ30 +416.66 NASDAQ +86.42 NQ100 +4.1% R2K +4.6% SP400 +3.3% SP500 +47.28 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 767/2165/2.45 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 535/2647/1.95 bln
TY /
Fed.(3) 28day + 15.00B
This repo operation has 1 collateral tranche.
Fed.(3) 28day + 15.00B
This repo operation has 1 collateral tranche.
sold the pump, just watching now. /
Fed.(1)2) 7day RP + 9.00B [net Drain -1.00B
Fed.(2) 1day RP + 4.50B
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
Fed.(1)2) 7day RP + 9.00B [net Drain -1.00B
Fed.(2) 1day RP + 4.50B
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
Goldcorp sees gold above $1,000 for some time
Mon Mar 10, 11:30 AM
http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/10032008/6/finance-goldcorp-sees-gold-above-1-000-time.html
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldcorp Inc expects the price of gold to top $1,000 an ounce and remain there for some time, a development that would allow the company to improve its operating margins further, its chief executive said on Monday.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldcorp Inc expects the price of gold to top $1,000 an ounce and remain there for some time, a development that would allow the company to improve its operating margins further, its chief executive said on Monday.
In a wide-ranging interview at the Reuters Mining Summit, Kevin McArthur, who is also president of the Canadian gold producer, said he did not expect the company to make large acquisitions in the near future, but instead focus on its promising brownfield expansions.
For example, McArthur said of Goldcorp's flagship Red Lake mine in the Canadian province of Ontario: "We're finding exciting drill holes there. We expect to operate there for decades to come."
(For summit blog: http://summitnotebook.reuters.com/)
(Reporting by Robert Melnbardis; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Goldcorp sees gold above $1,000 for some time
Mon Mar 10, 11:30 AM
http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/10032008/6/finance-goldcorp-sees-gold-above-1-000-time.html
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldcorp Inc expects the price of gold to top $1,000 an ounce and remain there for some time, a development that would allow the company to improve its operating margins further, its chief executive said on Monday.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldcorp Inc expects the price of gold to top $1,000 an ounce and remain there for some time, a development that would allow the company to improve its operating margins further, its chief executive said on Monday.
In a wide-ranging interview at the Reuters Mining Summit, Kevin McArthur, who is also president of the Canadian gold producer, said he did not expect the company to make large acquisitions in the near future, but instead focus on its promising brownfield expansions.
For example, McArthur said of Goldcorp's flagship Red Lake mine in the Canadian province of Ontario: "We're finding exciting drill holes there. We expect to operate there for decades to come."
(For summit blog: http://summitnotebook.reuters.com/)
(Reporting by Robert Melnbardis; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Gov. Spitzer involved in prostitution ring. LOL
u can't make this stuff up.
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Times is reporting that Gov. Eliot Spitzer has told senior advisers that he had been involved in a prostitution ring.
Spitzer is scheduled to make an announcement Monday afternoon. Spitzer officials wouldn't immediately comment on the story. Spitzer, 48, is married and has three daughters.
Details about the prostitution ring were not immediately clear.
But last week, federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed conspiracy charges against four people accusing them of running a prostitution ring that charged wealthy clients in Europe and the U.S. thousands of dollars for prostitutes.
The Web site of the Emperors Club VIP displays photographs of the prostitutes' bodies, with their faces hidden, along with hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest. The most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.
Spitzer has built his political legacy on rooting out corruption, including several headline-making battles with Wall Street while serving as attorney general. He stormed into the governor's office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no-nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation's worst governments.
Time magazine had named him "Crusader of the Year" when he was attorney general and the tabloids proclaimed him "Eliot Ness."
But his stint as governor has been marred by several problems, including an unpopular plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and a plot by his aides to smear Spitzer's main Republican nemesis.
Spitzer had been expected to testify to the state Public Integrity Commission he had created to answer for his role in the scandal, in which his aides are accused of misusing state police to compile travel records to embarrass Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno.
Spitzer had served two terms as attorney general where he pursued criminal and civil cases and cracked down on misconduct and conflicts of interests on Wall Street and in corporate America. He had previously been a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, handling organized crime and white-collar crime cases.
His cases as state attorney general included a few criminal prosecutions of prostitution rings and into tourism involving prostitutes.
In 2004, he was part of an investigation of an escort service in New York City that resulted in the arrest of 18 people on charges of promoting prostitution and related charges.
---
Associated Press Writer Mike Gormley contributed to this report from Albany, N.Y.
Just W@G, bring rates down so impact
on the re-sets mortgage should be less.
while typing this Louise Yamada said buy any pullback in gold.
mortgage backed securities.
#msg-27425587
Fed announced 2newSteps toAddCash toBankingSystem 03/07
The Federal Reserve on Friday announced two new steps to add cash to the banking system. The Fed said the measures were needed to address "heightened liquidity pressures in term funding markets." The Fed said it was in close contact with foreign central banks concerning liquidity conditions in markets.
In the first measure, the Fed said it would increase the size of the two Term Auction Facility auctions to $50 billion each or a total of $100 billion. This is a total increase of $40 billion.
Secondly, the Fed said it will initiate a series of term repurchase transactions that are expected to cumulate to $100 billion. These transactions will be conducted as 28-day term repos in which primary dealers may elect to deliver as collateral agency mortgage backed securities if they so choose.
The Fed said it would consider increasing both the repos and the TAF if conditions warrant.
by WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) --
Fed. 28day + 15.00B This repo operation has 1 collateral tranche, not in total...yet#msg-27425587
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
Fed. 28day + 15.00B This repo operation has 1 collateral tranche, not in total...yet#msg-27425587
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
Fed. 1day RP + 5.50B [net Add +1.75B
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
Fed. 1day RP + 5.50B [net Add +1.75B
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
W@G1 QQQQ 03/10/08 for a 03/12/08 close
43.43 blasher
43.14 Farooq
40.54 frenchee
40.25 bob3
Got Gold Report - COMEX Commercial Gold, Silver Traders Duck and Cover
By Gene Arensberg
09 Mar 2008 at 03:51 PM GMT-04:00
ATLANTA (ResourceInvestor.com) -- Probably the most interesting news in this report is that as gold and silver advanced in the two weeks since the last Got Gold Report, commercial traders on the COMEX gold and silver futures bourse were reducing their collective net short exposure. That’s contrary to their normal habit of taking on more short positions into rising prices and it’s evidence of some modest recent short covering.
For the moment those large, well-funded players who normally profit from a falling commodity price seem content to get out of the way of the gold and silver express. For now at least they do. If there ever was a gold or a silver “cabal” or “cartel” intent on manipulation or suppression of metals prices measured in U.S. dollars, then lately, with silver now up over 90% from its August turning lows and gold up about 50%, they haven’t been “caballing” or “cartelling” very well, have they. Resource investors will find more about the commercial net short positioning reductions in the COT Changes and Silver COT sections below.
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=41077
Got Gold Report - COMEX Commercial Gold, Silver Traders Duck and Cover
By Gene Arensberg
09 Mar 2008 at 03:51 PM GMT-04:00
ATLANTA (ResourceInvestor.com) -- Probably the most interesting news in this report is that as gold and silver advanced in the two weeks since the last Got Gold Report, commercial traders on the COMEX gold and silver futures bourse were reducing their collective net short exposure. That’s contrary to their normal habit of taking on more short positions into rising prices and it’s evidence of some modest recent short covering.
For the moment those large, well-funded players who normally profit from a falling commodity price seem content to get out of the way of the gold and silver express. For now at least they do. If there ever was a gold or a silver “cabal” or “cartel” intent on manipulation or suppression of metals prices measured in U.S. dollars, then lately, with silver now up over 90% from its August turning lows and gold up about 50%, they haven’t been “caballing” or “cartelling” very well, have they. Resource investors will find more about the commercial net short positioning reductions in the COT Changes and Silver COT sections below.
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=41077
Futures (2) + World Indices
http://www.cme.com/dta/del/globex.html
http://money.cnn.com/data/premarket/
World Indices (2) Mini Charts
Updates every 60sec ~ Watch the dates!!
http://www.wwfn.com/commentary/oscharts.html
http://www.allstocks.com/markets/World_Charts/Asian_Stock_Markets/asian_stock_markets.html
'Cockroaches are coming out of the closet'
The Gold Report caught up with Ian McAvity, editor of Deliberations On World Markets, a technical newsletter now in its 35th year, covering precious metals, currencies and global equity markets. McAvity doesn't pull any punches about his view of the economy: "there’s a new cockroach coming out into the daylight every week.
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/topstory/newsdetails.php?id=6048&cont=2
Excerpts, long read:
The ETFs were using Central Fund’s premium as a marketing tool. The difference is we converted Central Fund into a specialized bullion holding company to become the first stock exchange tradable bullion proxy. We did that in 1983. The ETFs came along 20 years later.
Central Gold Trust is a lot smaller; it’s about $160 to $170 million now, and it tends to carry a smaller premium. It is invested only in gold, so it has a little less volatility. I like to point out that it also has less liquidity, which on down days in the gold market could be quite attractive, in the context where you put a bushel basket under the specialist, under the market, and hope to catch some on a down day. Because if you look at the intra-day ranges, there are buying opportunities from time to time. But I’d never buy them on an up day in the gold market.
==============
IM: I’m not a stock picker per se, but in terms of the major gold stocks over the last several months, I’ve been pointing out that the gold stock that all the gold bugs hate is in fact the strongest of them all – and that’s Barrick. Barrick has been outperforming.
And on the other side of the coin, it’s looking increasingly prescient that Wayne Murdy, Pierre Lassonde and Seymour Schulich all left Newmont over the last year and a half, because Newmont is acting not well at all. I’ve seen some analysis that basically says they won’t really be turning around for a minimum of 18 months, maybe longer. And because of their size, they’ve also got, in a sense, geopolitical risk problems around the world. They’re getting beaten up a little bit in Indonesia right now. They were beaten badly in Uzbekistan. If you get the gold price up to $1,500 or so and have a couple of elections in South America, they may have problems there. So, whereas I once was rather partial to Newmont, I’m not any more.
======
Goldcorp is such a different entity now. I loved the old Goldcorp before Wheaton, when it was the Red Lake deposit basically, because that was the greatest deposit. Rob did a spectacular job. Wheaton I was never terribly partial to. It expanded the thing tremendously. Then subsequently the deal with Glamis has completely changed the company. I’m not a big fan only because I’m yearning for the past; I know a lot of people who have a great deal of respect for it. The recent sale of Silver Wheaton probably makes some sense. But in essence, it becomes more of a development company because I think that most of that money is going into expanding the mine in Mexico.
But largely by process of elimination, Goldcorp is going to be one of the leading stocks. The industry’s consolidated to such an extent that you haven’t got much selection.
=================
am still concerned by the fact that it hasn’t managed to get above its 2006 high. It has made higher highs lately, so relative to the South Africans, it looks good. The chart isn’t anywhere near as good as Kinross or Agnico-Eagle.
TGR: Or Barrick
IM: Or Barrick. Well, Barrick’s the number one gold stock. The sad part is that Barrick isn’t included in the S&P 500. None of the gold stocks except for Newmont are in the S&P 500. So all the index money flows support Newmont and nobody else. But, yeah, basically Barrick, Kinross, Agnico are the healthiest. Buenaventura’s got a good-looking chart, but I’m not as comfortable with South America.
The other one that is getting a lot of attention is Yamana, but it makes me a little bit nervous; in part, the president of Yamana keeps doing interviews in which he talks about Ian Telfer and the evolution of Wheaton and using the shares to acquire other projects and stuff. It seems like he wants to be a “deal junkie,” and I am not big on companies issuing a whole bunch of shares for mergers and acquisitions, because when they do the mergers, there’s a lot of stock that typically comes out. So I don’t share the general enthusiasm for Yamana. The chart did break out, but it’s been pretty heavy relative to the others over the last month or so. And basically just stay clear of South Africa.
TGR: A little power problem there. Multiple power problems.
IM: Power problems, tax problems, and royalty problems. Very few people made much of it, but having been to South Africa back in the ’70s and having had long ties to it, it was extraordinary to me, absolutely amazing to see Anglo American sell off control of AngloGold Ashanti. They basically pieced it off by shifting their focus really toward iron ore in Australia. And boy, that says something about the South African gold mining industry. I suspect that Ernest and Harry Oppenheimer would be spinning in their graves.
'Cockroaches are coming out of the closet'
The Gold Report caught up with Ian McAvity, editor of Deliberations On World Markets, a technical newsletter now in its 35th year, covering precious metals, currencies and global equity markets. McAvity doesn't pull any punches about his view of the economy: "there’s a new cockroach coming out into the daylight every week.
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/topstory/newsdetails.php?id=6048&cont=2
Excerpts, long read:
The ETFs were using Central Fund’s premium as a marketing tool. The difference is we converted Central Fund into a specialized bullion holding company to become the first stock exchange tradable bullion proxy. We did that in 1983. The ETFs came along 20 years later.
Central Gold Trust is a lot smaller; it’s about $160 to $170 million now, and it tends to carry a smaller premium. It is invested only in gold, so it has a little less volatility. I like to point out that it also has less liquidity, which on down days in the gold market could be quite attractive, in the context where you put a bushel basket under the specialist, under the market, and hope to catch some on a down day. Because if you look at the intra-day ranges, there are buying opportunities from time to time. But I’d never buy them on an up day in the gold market.
==============
IM: I’m not a stock picker per se, but in terms of the major gold stocks over the last several months, I’ve been pointing out that the gold stock that all the gold bugs hate is in fact the strongest of them all – and that’s Barrick. Barrick has been outperforming.
And on the other side of the coin, it’s looking increasingly prescient that Wayne Murdy, Pierre Lassonde and Seymour Schulich all left Newmont over the last year and a half, because Newmont is acting not well at all. I’ve seen some analysis that basically says they won’t really be turning around for a minimum of 18 months, maybe longer. And because of their size, they’ve also got, in a sense, geopolitical risk problems around the world. They’re getting beaten up a little bit in Indonesia right now. They were beaten badly in Uzbekistan. If you get the gold price up to $1,500 or so and have a couple of elections in South America, they may have problems there. So, whereas I once was rather partial to Newmont, I’m not any more.
======
Goldcorp is such a different entity now. I loved the old Goldcorp before Wheaton, when it was the Red Lake deposit basically, because that was the greatest deposit. Rob did a spectacular job. Wheaton I was never terribly partial to. It expanded the thing tremendously. Then subsequently the deal with Glamis has completely changed the company. I’m not a big fan only because I’m yearning for the past; I know a lot of people who have a great deal of respect for it. The recent sale of Silver Wheaton probably makes some sense. But in essence, it becomes more of a development company because I think that most of that money is going into expanding the mine in Mexico.
But largely by process of elimination, Goldcorp is going to be one of the leading stocks. The industry’s consolidated to such an extent that you haven’t got much selection.
=================
am still concerned by the fact that it hasn’t managed to get above its 2006 high. It has made higher highs lately, so relative to the South Africans, it looks good. The chart isn’t anywhere near as good as Kinross or Agnico-Eagle.
TGR: Or Barrick
IM: Or Barrick. Well, Barrick’s the number one gold stock. The sad part is that Barrick isn’t included in the S&P 500. None of the gold stocks except for Newmont are in the S&P 500. So all the index money flows support Newmont and nobody else. But, yeah, basically Barrick, Kinross, Agnico are the healthiest. Buenaventura’s got a good-looking chart, but I’m not as comfortable with South America.
The other one that is getting a lot of attention is Yamana, but it makes me a little bit nervous; in part, the president of Yamana keeps doing interviews in which he talks about Ian Telfer and the evolution of Wheaton and using the shares to acquire other projects and stuff. It seems like he wants to be a “deal junkie,” and I am not big on companies issuing a whole bunch of shares for mergers and acquisitions, because when they do the mergers, there’s a lot of stock that typically comes out. So I don’t share the general enthusiasm for Yamana. The chart did break out, but it’s been pretty heavy relative to the others over the last month or so. And basically just stay clear of South Africa.
TGR: A little power problem there. Multiple power problems.
IM: Power problems, tax problems, and royalty problems. Very few people made much of it, but having been to South Africa back in the ’70s and having had long ties to it, it was extraordinary to me, absolutely amazing to see Anglo American sell off control of AngloGold Ashanti. They basically pieced it off by shifting their focus really toward iron ore in Australia. And boy, that says something about the South African gold mining industry. I suspect that Ernest and Harry Oppenheimer would be spinning in their graves.
FBI Investigating Countrywide
Sunday March 9, 7:04 am ET
Reports: Countrywide Financial Corp. Under Federal Investigation for Securities Fraud
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Federal authorities are investigating Countrywide Financial Corp. for securities fraud, according to media reports.
The FBI is in the early stages of an inquiry into whether company officials misrepresented its financial position and the quality of its mortgage loans, The Wall Street Journal first reported Saturday, citing law enforcement officials and finance executives with knowledge of the development.
The Justice Department is also involved in the investigation into the nation's largest mortgage lender, said the New York Times, which also cited anonymous sources who said they were not authorized to discuss ongoing criminal matters.
"We are not aware of any such investigation," Countrywide spokeswoman Susan Martin told the Times.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko declined to confirm for the Times that an investigation had been opened.
Investigators are looking at evidence that may suggest that company executives knew their mortgage securities would see many more defaults than predicted in its public documents, one source told the Journal.
The inquiry is part of a larger probe involving as many as 15 companies and comes in the midst of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Bank of America Corp. is in the process of acquiring California-based Countrywide for about $4 billion in stock. Bank of America agreed to the acquisition in January, and the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. A spokesman for Bank of America declined to comment.
Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo was one of three mortgage industry executives brought before a Congressional committee Friday to defend their exorbitant pay at a time the industry was reeling.
Congressional figures showed that Countrywide lost $1.2 billion in the third quarter of 2007 and another $422 million in the fourth quarter. The company's stock fell 80 percent between February and the end of the year.
During the same period, Mozilo received a $1.9 million salary, $20 million in stock awards contingent upon performance and sold $121 million in stock.
FBI Investigating Countrywide
Sunday March 9, 7:04 am ET
Reports: Countrywide Financial Corp. Under Federal Investigation for Securities Fraud
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Federal authorities are investigating Countrywide Financial Corp. for securities fraud, according to media reports.
The FBI is in the early stages of an inquiry into whether company officials misrepresented its financial position and the quality of its mortgage loans, The Wall Street Journal first reported Saturday, citing law enforcement officials and finance executives with knowledge of the development.
The Justice Department is also involved in the investigation into the nation's largest mortgage lender, said the New York Times, which also cited anonymous sources who said they were not authorized to discuss ongoing criminal matters.
"We are not aware of any such investigation," Countrywide spokeswoman Susan Martin told the Times.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko declined to confirm for the Times that an investigation had been opened.
Investigators are looking at evidence that may suggest that company executives knew their mortgage securities would see many more defaults than predicted in its public documents, one source told the Journal.
The inquiry is part of a larger probe involving as many as 15 companies and comes in the midst of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Bank of America Corp. is in the process of acquiring California-based Countrywide for about $4 billion in stock. Bank of America agreed to the acquisition in January, and the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. A spokesman for Bank of America declined to comment.
Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo was one of three mortgage industry executives brought before a Congressional committee Friday to defend their exorbitant pay at a time the industry was reeling.
Congressional figures showed that Countrywide lost $1.2 billion in the third quarter of 2007 and another $422 million in the fourth quarter. The company's stock fell 80 percent between February and the end of the year.
During the same period, Mozilo received a $1.9 million salary, $20 million in stock awards contingent upon performance and sold $121 million in stock.
Fleck: Next shoe to drop Prime mortgages
By Bill Fleckenstein
Contrarian Chronicles
3/10/2008 12:01 AM ET
The credit crunch is cutting a broad swath across the economy, and it's hard to know how far it will go. That's because for years, the housing bubble was the heart of the economy.
Several years ago, I sketched out a thesis called "The Next Time Down." Its onset took a bit longer than I had expected (like about three years) due to the lunacy in the credit markets. However, "the next time down" is essentially the situation in which we now find ourselves.
According to a friend I've dubbed the "Lord of the Dark Matter," credit is rapidly being withdrawn across a broad spectrum -- especially for the major brokers, giants like Goldman Sachs (GS, news, msgs) and Citigroup (C, news, msgs), which have served as enormous financial intermediaries. This is now raising the costs for nearly all credit-oriented hedge funds. And, my friend said, the pace of massive de-leveraging could accelerate further. That in all likelihood would feed on itself.
Lift a rock, find more schlock
I believe the next area of the credit sector to implode will likely be Alt-A -- loans granted to people who didn't want to document their income, also known as liar loans -- which will help illuminate the fact that our mortgage problems were never just subprime. Rather, they sprang from one big credit bubble, thanks to which mortgages were handed out to anyone who could fog a mirror. Most people took on more than they should have. (Some are now walking away from their obligations, a development recently highlighted in the media.)
In time, it will be clear that prime mortgages are also vulnerable.
"You can almost draw (the credit unwind) out in a diagram," said a managing director at the Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, N.J. "With home prices going down, consumers cut back on spending. If consumers cut back on spending, the economy weakens further. If the economy weakens further, fewer people are able to afford mortgages, so home foreclosures increase."
Meanwhile, the problems in the municipal market have been well-chronicled in the media. And, since the plain-vanilla money funds have already flirted with trouble, I wouldn't be shocked to see liquidity or credit issues in that arena, also.
Fannie Mae's new trick
Knowing the complete scope of this credit disaster is impossible because of the absurdly pliable accounting treatment accorded to financial institutions.
Case in point: Fannie Mae (FNM, news, msgs). Before excerpting one of the relevant passages from the company's latest quarterly financial report, let me cut to the chase with this explanation from a friend: "They take a delinquent mortgage loan and replace the delinquent part with an unsecured loan in order to circumvent the buybacks and mark-to-market consequences." That is the reality.
Here is how Fannie goes at lengths to sugarcoat it:
"We recently introduced a new HomeSaver Advance initiative, which is a loss mitigation tool that we began implementing in the first quarter of 2008. HomeSaver Advance provides qualified borrowers with an unsecured personal loan in an amount equal to all past due payments relating to their mortgage loan, allowing borrowers to cure their payment defaults under mortgage loans without requiring modification of their mortgage loans. By permitting qualified borrowers to cure their payment defaults without requiring that we purchase the loans from the MBS (mortgage-backed security) trusts in order to modify the loans, this loss mitigation tool may reduce the number of delinquent mortgage loans that we purchase from MBS trusts in the future and the fair value losses we record in connection with those purchases."
Obfuscation cannot change the big picture. The housing bubble -- which bailed out the equity bubble -- was in essence the economy. Now that we don't have the housing ATM or the jobs it created, the economy will continue to weaken.
Bullion as antidote to bungling
Now to quote a recent Bloomberg headline that I thought was perfect and long overdue: "Gold beats financial assets on global distrust of central banks." That is why folks need to own gold. You can't trust central banks to preserve your purchasing power. It's taken quite a while to reach this point, but now we're here, and I think it's going to be extraordinarily difficult to get the genie back in the bottle.
When gold was $850 an ounce 28 years ago, then-Fed Chairman Paul Volcker was bent on breaking the back of inflation. His focus on controlling the supply of money created double-digit interest rates. Now the Fed is pursuing the opposite path. I have no idea how high the metals can go. But I think folks will need to own them for quite some time to come.
Streets paved with gold potholes
That is not to say there won't be shakeouts along the way. There will be. The next time we see a shakeout, folks who initially didn't understand the case for gold (and silver) -- which is that it's an insurance policy against Fed money printing -- will be able to start building positions.
For those readers who already have positions that have grown beyond what might constitute "insurance," a bit of active management may be in order. That is not to say that you're supposed to lighten up on a large position. Rather, you just need to have a plan for what you're going to do.
In the shameless self-promotion department, I would just say that in order to prepare for what lies ahead, folks need to understand the path that brought us here, which is one reason why I wrote "Greenspan's Bubbles."
Set out a chair for laissez faire
Finally, in light of all the government bailout attempts, I would just add my own suggestion: Let the government get out of the way, enforce the rules that exist, and let the markets decide who should get a mortgage and at what rate.
To think the government can fix the problem is similar to the Fed thinking that easy money can solve all problems -- when, to repeat, easy money is what brought us to this sorry state in the first place.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/ContrarianChronicles/NextShoeToDropPrimeMortgages.aspx
Fleck: Next shoe to drop Prime mortgages
By Bill Fleckenstein
Contrarian Chronicles
3/10/2008 12:01 AM ET
The credit crunch is cutting a broad swath across the economy, and it's hard to know how far it will go. That's because for years, the housing bubble was the heart of the economy.
Several years ago, I sketched out a thesis called "The Next Time Down." Its onset took a bit longer than I had expected (like about three years) due to the lunacy in the credit markets. However, "the next time down" is essentially the situation in which we now find ourselves.
According to a friend I've dubbed the "Lord of the Dark Matter," credit is rapidly being withdrawn across a broad spectrum -- especially for the major brokers, giants like Goldman Sachs (GS, news, msgs) and Citigroup (C, news, msgs), which have served as enormous financial intermediaries. This is now raising the costs for nearly all credit-oriented hedge funds. And, my friend said, the pace of massive de-leveraging could accelerate further. That in all likelihood would feed on itself.
Lift a rock, find more schlock
I believe the next area of the credit sector to implode will likely be Alt-A -- loans granted to people who didn't want to document their income, also known as liar loans -- which will help illuminate the fact that our mortgage problems were never just subprime. Rather, they sprang from one big credit bubble, thanks to which mortgages were handed out to anyone who could fog a mirror. Most people took on more than they should have. (Some are now walking away from their obligations, a development recently highlighted in the media.)
In time, it will be clear that prime mortgages are also vulnerable.
"You can almost draw (the credit unwind) out in a diagram," said a managing director at the Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, N.J. "With home prices going down, consumers cut back on spending. If consumers cut back on spending, the economy weakens further. If the economy weakens further, fewer people are able to afford mortgages, so home foreclosures increase."
Meanwhile, the problems in the municipal market have been well-chronicled in the media. And, since the plain-vanilla money funds have already flirted with trouble, I wouldn't be shocked to see liquidity or credit issues in that arena, also.
Fannie Mae's new trick
Knowing the complete scope of this credit disaster is impossible because of the absurdly pliable accounting treatment accorded to financial institutions.
Case in point: Fannie Mae (FNM, news, msgs). Before excerpting one of the relevant passages from the company's latest quarterly financial report, let me cut to the chase with this explanation from a friend: "They take a delinquent mortgage loan and replace the delinquent part with an unsecured loan in order to circumvent the buybacks and mark-to-market consequences." That is the reality.
Here is how Fannie goes at lengths to sugarcoat it:
"We recently introduced a new HomeSaver Advance initiative, which is a loss mitigation tool that we began implementing in the first quarter of 2008. HomeSaver Advance provides qualified borrowers with an unsecured personal loan in an amount equal to all past due payments relating to their mortgage loan, allowing borrowers to cure their payment defaults under mortgage loans without requiring modification of their mortgage loans. By permitting qualified borrowers to cure their payment defaults without requiring that we purchase the loans from the MBS (mortgage-backed security) trusts in order to modify the loans, this loss mitigation tool may reduce the number of delinquent mortgage loans that we purchase from MBS trusts in the future and the fair value losses we record in connection with those purchases."
Obfuscation cannot change the big picture. The housing bubble -- which bailed out the equity bubble -- was in essence the economy. Now that we don't have the housing ATM or the jobs it created, the economy will continue to weaken.
Bullion as antidote to bungling
Now to quote a recent Bloomberg headline that I thought was perfect and long overdue: "Gold beats financial assets on global distrust of central banks." That is why folks need to own gold. You can't trust central banks to preserve your purchasing power. It's taken quite a while to reach this point, but now we're here, and I think it's going to be extraordinarily difficult to get the genie back in the bottle.
When gold was $850 an ounce 28 years ago, then-Fed Chairman Paul Volcker was bent on breaking the back of inflation. His focus on controlling the supply of money created double-digit interest rates. Now the Fed is pursuing the opposite path. I have no idea how high the metals can go. But I think folks will need to own them for quite some time to come.
Streets paved with gold potholes
That is not to say there won't be shakeouts along the way. There will be. The next time we see a shakeout, folks who initially didn't understand the case for gold (and silver) -- which is that it's an insurance policy against Fed money printing -- will be able to start building positions.
For those readers who already have positions that have grown beyond what might constitute "insurance," a bit of active management may be in order. That is not to say that you're supposed to lighten up on a large position. Rather, you just need to have a plan for what you're going to do.
In the shameless self-promotion department, I would just say that in order to prepare for what lies ahead, folks need to understand the path that brought us here, which is one reason why I wrote "Greenspan's Bubbles."
Set out a chair for laissez faire
Finally, in light of all the government bailout attempts, I would just add my own suggestion: Let the government get out of the way, enforce the rules that exist, and let the markets decide who should get a mortgage and at what rate.
To think the government can fix the problem is similar to the Fed thinking that easy money can solve all problems -- when, to repeat, easy money is what brought us to this sorry state in the first place.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/ContrarianChronicles/NextShoeToDropPrimeMortgages.aspx
Fed. Ops: 47.75B Matures this week.
Mon: 2.75B 3day
28day + 15.00B This repo operation has 1 collateral tranche, not in total...yet#msg-27425587
Tue: 7.00B 7day
Thu: 17.00B 14day
>>> 9.00B 7Day
Float: 62.00B after Monday
=================================================
Temp Ops:
Perm Ops:
=================================================
Public Debt:
Limit ~ $9,815 T
3/06 ~~ $9,395 T ~~ Substantial Increase
=========================================================
The Slosh Report:
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
Edit, all the above is subject to change but they seem open to keep this mess afloat as noted by chichi2 put/call study.