1/17/2004

Markets
GOLD AND CURRENCIES WILL MAKE THINGS INTERESTING

The dollar rally could be a fake. Gold: I doubt that the gold slide is over ($406.30 in Asia last nite; high was $426 just a week ago). Question about gold is basically, "What good is it?". Look at gold as a reserve currency, a commodity that can always be used to buy something no matter what. The standard gold "hustle" usually goes, "Back in the twenties you could give a grocer a $20 gold piece and fill your station wagon with groceries; today you can give the grocer a Gold Eagle and still fill the car with groceries." As the dollar has fallen and the EC risen people looked at EU economies and got sick. Their unemployment hovers around the 10% mark and there us no growth. Consequently gold became a currency that retained value, actually increased in value more than the EC. All were measured against the dollar. The dollar is the world's reserve currency. There are $100 bills in every mattress in the world. There is a vested interest around the world in having a "strong" dollar. OPEC trades oil for them, South Americans trade for them, as does Africa and Asia. It is the reserve currency of choice for the "little guy". This slide has not been good for them. It has been good for us.

The Bush Administration has clearly sent the message to Europe and Asia that we will NOT be the sole engine for the world's economies; we will not continue to rescue them. They must have growth and increase employment. The EuroTrash has finally gotten the message. They have drastically cut benefits and taxes; they have installed the Bush tax cuts. Even so, they are staring deflation right in the eye and don't seem to know it

So is the dollar slide over? It is, for a while. The problem could be gold. Another $50 slide and you are going to see some trouble around the world, so keep your eyes open. Stay away from it.

Next, all the EuroTrash is waiting to jump into our stock market if the Euro is headed back down. When will they jump? Who knows, but the stock market is the place to be in order to benefit from this combo gold fall and dollar rise. Keep in mind that the dollar has moved on "talk" alone, no actions from EU bankers. It is "rumored" that Japan bought $60 billion dollars on Thursday and Friday in order to stop the Yen Dollar imbalance, if this is true then the "dollar rally" could be a fake. Keep in mind that the "rally" took place almost exclusively in New York on two days before a holiday when trading was thin. Wait til Monday.

Don't make any of this your business. Stay with stocks. Keep looking at raw numbers, keep your stops correctly and buy when you see the right opportunities. Things look good, especially good if it looks like the Socialist side of the Democratic Party gets blown out in the primaries.

Cattle prices rebound because we only export 10% of our total cattle, so if Bumfuckistan says we have to inspect every cow before they's buy any we can say fuck off. Americans recognize that the danger is miniscule. We eat burgers and steak. Period. BTW the rumor that bacon will cure mad cow disease is false. Probably started by the French.

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