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Post by Moses on Apr 5, 2005 17:27:51 GMT -5
Politics - AFP IMF gold sale would be blocked by Washington: lawmaker1 hour, 4 minutes ago Politics - AFP WASHINGTON (AFP) - The movement to sell a portion of IMF gold reserves to finance debt relief for poor nations hit a roadblock as a key US lawmaker said Congress and the Bush administration would block any such move. AFP/File Photo <br> Jim Saxton, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, said the move to sell off gold of the International Monetary Fund is opposed by US lawmakers as well as the administration of President George W. Bush. "The potential profits on IMF gold sales rightfully belong to the original donor countries and their taxpayers," Saxton said in a statement. "Thus, these IMF gold sales would amount to a hidden appropriation from the donor countries that were the original source of the gold." Saxton, who said he supports other means for debt relief, said congressional approval would be required for any IMF gold sale. The movement to sell some part of IMF gold reserves, long backed by activists for debt relief, has gathered momentum recently. In London in February, finance ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations asked the IMF to draft a proposal on gold sales for debt relief to be presented at the spring meetings of the Fund and the World Bank in mid-April in Washington. Global finance officials have been searching for a way to cut the estimated 80 billion dollars owed by the poorest nations to multilateral institutions such as the IMF and World Bank. Critics of the group claim poor countries are unable to escape crushing debt burdens and unable to invest in education, health and other programs to curb poverty. Selling IMF gold reserves to finance debt relief is strongly favored by Britain, the G7's current chairman, but the United States has previously expressed reservations about the approach. Saxton said the US Congress "has an obligation to protect the taxpayers and reject any proposed IMF gold sales." He added that the Bush administration "has taken the right position in opposing the IMF on this matter, and deserves congressional support. There are better ways of financing debt relief than drilling the taxpayers yet again." The statement from Saxton added that for nearly its entire history, the IMF "failed to have lending safeguards and accounting controls in place. Not surprisingly, some of its loans have gone bad, and the consequences should not be papered over." "The IMF's mistaken forays into development lending have proven counterproductive, and should not be repeated," Saxton added. An IMF spokesman declined to comment on the Saxton remarks. But IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato said last month that selling some of the IMF's undervalued gold could be sold on the open market as part of a debt relief plan. IMF figures show the international organization has 103.4 million ounces of gold (3.217 tonnes). The IMF values the gold at a low level of nine billion dollars, for historical reasons. At current market prices the gold would be worth some 45 billion dollars. <br>
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Post by tombldr on Apr 6, 2005 4:06:53 GMT -5
It's one of those CTs which are true, that the price of gold is "managed". The details re the hows and whys of this can be found at www.gata.org . Bill Murphy, one of the chief activists seeking to expose and end the manipulation of the gold price, is very optomistic that this news story bodes well for the endgame of the cabal (principally the Fed seeking to enhance the global appearance of soundness of their fiat funny money notes) which supresses gold's price: The Gold Cartel Is Dead Meat!Gold bugs who follow and believe this gold price suppression conspiracy believe the endgame has loomed for a year or more, and when it does end, the price of gold will shoot up like a coiled spring, fueled further by global public demand for a safe store of value if/when the global dollar standard collapses. So think about grabbing some gold with any spare change you have laying about. Silver's good too, and will probably ascend faster and farther than gold.
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Post by Ropegun on Apr 6, 2005 9:54:14 GMT -5
This is pretty interesting, even though it's not something I've paid much attention to.
Maybe the meltdown is closer than we think?
I have been noticing alot of commercials on the idiot box lately about companies brokering gold, wanting people to buy gold as an investment, as opposed to more risky types of investments. I've thought about this, but never very seriously. Methinks I should get on with it.
Anyone know how to buy without middleman commissions and what not?
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Post by Moses on Apr 6, 2005 14:42:07 GMT -5
I don't know-- the gold prices have skyrocketted under Bush-- maybe no coincidence as he and his pals own gold mines, and his wars and "forward" military posture have helped in two ways: destabilization, which drives up the gold prices, and putting gold mines in hands of his friends.
If so much gold were to go on the market, of course, the price would stabilize, I would think. But perhaps this is another reason that Bush et al want to keep the IMF gold off the market?
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Post by tombldr on Apr 6, 2005 14:58:59 GMT -5
I have been noticing alot of commercials on the idiot box lately about companies brokering gold, wanting people to buy gold as an investment, as opposed to more risky types of investments. I've thought about this, but never very seriously. Methinks I should get on with it. Anyone know how to buy without middleman commissions and what not? You'll always pay too much with anyone who advertises on TV. You want your metal (usu. coins) for as little margin over the current spot price as possible... because if/when you seek to sell coins back to a dealer, they'll never pay you more than spot. Dealer with best prices I've found, and always excellent service, is Hans Tulving: www.tulving.comAs for gold coins, there's common bullion coins, and there's "numismatics". Numismatics cost a larger margin above spot price, because they're rare/collectable. Dealers will always try to sell you on numismatics because the profit margins are great.. and the pitch goes, numismatics will make you big money. But I stay away from them, as I just want the metal. Since I'm buying it for when TSHTF, to have something of intrinsic value to buy/barter with, I don't want to bicker with anyone over how much extra this numismatic is worth. So as for common gold bullion coins, the biggies are the American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, S.A. Krugerand, and a few from Australia and China and some other countries. The S.A. Krugerand is the most economical way to buy gold, as you can get 1-oz coins for only about $5 over the spot price of gold (this through Tulving, and that price is tax free and includes insured overnight shipping). Silver generally has higher margins over spot than gold, but the most economical way to buy silver is buying "junk bags" of pre-1965 circulated US dimes, quarters, half-dollars and dollars. These coins are 90% silver. You buy them by the bagfull, and bags are sold with all same-value coins, ie, all dimes, quarters etc. So if you buy a "$1000 face value bag", this will have either 4000 quarters, or 10,000 dimes etc... and they'll weigh the same, 55 lbs, 50 lbs (715 troy ozs) of which is pure silver. The price you'll pay for a bag varies with the spot price of silver, currently about $7.10/troy oz, so presently a little over $5K for a $1000 face value bag. They also sell half bags and quarter bags, ie, $500 and $250 face value. The silver's a good idea because, while bulky relative to it's value vs gold; you have coins with lower value, which will be more practical after TSHTF.. when finding someone to make change for a 1-oz gold coin (currently $426. and going alot higher) could be a problem. One of the best precious metal-bug bbs's I'm aware of is www.goldismoney.info
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Post by tombldr on Apr 6, 2005 15:27:50 GMT -5
I don't know-- the gold prices have skyrocketted under Bush-- maybe no coincidence as he and his pals own gold mines, and his wars and "forward" military posture have helped in two ways: destabilization, which drives up the gold prices, and putting gold mines in hands of his friends. If so much gold were to go on the market, of course, the price would stabilize, I would think. But perhaps this is another reason that Bush et al want to keep the IMF gold off the market? Whether or not gold mines are in the hands of cheneyco's friends I don't know. Certainly the gold supposedly in the US Treasury vaults (and whether there's any there or not lies at the core of the gold supression racket CT) is in ultimately in the hands of the ruling elite.. probably literally, as opposed to being in the treasury vaults where it belongs... "the last official act of any government is to loot the treasury".... I'd say we're about there. Another area of the 911-Truth world is, what happened to the gold stored in vaults under the WTC towers? I see very little discussion of this.. but speculation is, they removed it before demolishing the buildings. No one outside the ruling elite seem to know, and of course our trusty corporate media is remaining mum. Other avenues for playing gold/PMs without taking physical posession are, buying stock in gold mining companies, whose stock move closely with the spot price of gold, since their earnings are directly affected by the value they can sell this commodity they're mining for. Also, there's "e-gold", ie www.goldmoney.com , Kitco "pool accounts" online.kitco.com/sellprice/selling_pools.html , & Perth Mint www.perthmint.com/gc among a few others. But scepticism always runs high in the PM bug community, since they're owning PMs largely for the doomsday scenario ie when TSHTF, and they don't want to have "paper gold" titles to gold supposedly in a vault somewhere... "if you don't have it, you don't own it" is a common sentiment.
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Post by Ropegun on Apr 6, 2005 16:02:32 GMT -5
I know about K-rands and others, and about numismatics, but I was more interested in ingots or bars in 1oz. I think it'd be easier to pack around than a 50 pound bag of quarters!
I would never buy from some dude on tv, but I just thought it was interesting that this was being pushed.
And I have no interest in buying mine stock or anything like that. I'd so much rather have I disagreeet in hand and able to work for me than worthless paper for a mine halfway around the world, ya know?
I'll check out that link and see what comes of this.
Thanks Tom.
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Post by tombldr on Apr 6, 2005 17:13:53 GMT -5
I know about K-rands and others, and about numismatics, but I was more interested in ingots or bars in 1oz. I think it'd be easier to pack around than a 50 pound bag of quarters! Outside of the "junk silver bags", the premium coins are generally stored in square plastic tubes, 20-25 coins per tube, and the tubes stack nicely. So their round shape is a fairly negligible concern. A 55lb bag of junk silver is about the size of a bowling ball. A speculative play would be Palladium. Silver and esp gold have their value thanks to their role through history, and because today, everyone simply agrees they have the value they trade at (before the gold price supression racket, that is). But their practical industrial value is more dubious. Both are highly conductive, with silver the most conductive of all metals, making it key for mission critical, fail safe electrical connections (medical, aerospace etc). And would you believe, there is less silver "above the ground" than gold? Well palladium is one of the rarest metals of all, and it has a unique atomic structure which gives it unique qualities: for one, at room temperature Pd absorbs >900x its volume of pure hydrogen molecules, and releases them when heated. Pd is also likely to be a key component in any nookular fusion successes. And it is of use in catalytic converters, like it's cousin platinum, at less than 25% the price of platinum. Pd is around $200/oz presently, skimming along multi year lows, but would you believe it saw a run to $1090/oz in just 2001? Pd could be a very big winner, if you're prepared to hunker down with it for a few years. It's certainly difficult to imagine it dropping much from it's current levels. Google "palladium hydrogen fusion" and take your pick of results in learning about the potential for Pd.
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Post by tombldr on Apr 6, 2005 22:31:58 GMT -5
We are of the opinion that Rep. Saxton and his political and banking allies have two major concerns:
· The officially stated amount of IMF gold is not there, or greatly below what is publicly claimed. Public scrutiny in this regard would be harmful to the lending banks and their paper currencies. How can you be certain there is, in fact, 100 million ounces still in the vaults of the IMF?
· Focusing on the IMF gold would lead to a universal demand for an audit of gold within the US Treasury. As the US dollar is regarded as the major currency reserve held by central banks, any gold shortfall or resulting scandal would bring the US financial system to judgment, and recognized as a fraud upon the world.Oxfam: US Says NO! to IMF Gold Sale
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Post by Moses on Apr 6, 2005 22:43:36 GMT -5
Interesting idea: why not give the gold to the debtor nations? (Advanced by CTer at link).
The CTers emphasize irrelevant aspects of Jim Saxton and his voting record. Jim Saxton is a Likudnik, works primarilly for Israeli interests, and was, anyway, on the House International Relations Committee. He makes Tom Lantos look like a patriot. If Jim Saxton is against the Gold sale, then the Gold sale must be good for America, and bad for Israel/Likud cabal.
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Post by tombldr on Apr 6, 2005 23:28:37 GMT -5
Interesting idea: why not give the gold to the debtor nations? (Advanced by CTer at link). The CTers emphasize irrelevant aspects of Jim Saxton and his voting record. Jim Saxton is a Likudnik, works primarilly for Israeli interests, and was, anyway, on the House International Relations Committee. He makes Tom Lantos look like a patriot. If Jim Saxton is against the Gold sale, then the Gold sale must be good for America, and bad for Israel/Likud cabal. The problem is, the officialy stated reserves of gold are probably in neither the IMF vaults, or the US Treasury vaults. Under the CT, both reserves would have been quietly dumped on the market over the past 10 or so years to keep the lid on the price of gold (or the POG, to PM bugs). The CT suggests Saxton's resistance to selling the supposed IMF gold reserve is all about keeping our ruler's "Gold? What Gold?!" dilemma under wraps for just a little longer, thus keeping the glass house which is the global Fiat US Dollar reserve currency standard in tact for just a little longer. This could get very interesting.
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Post by Moses on Apr 7, 2005 0:09:45 GMT -5
Surely Blair would be aware of a lack of actual gold reserves at the IMF, and this is his idea. That's why Bush's opposition is discussed at times as a very ungrateful betrayal of Blair.
I think the CTers should entertain some other theories, just in case they are wrong about the lack of gold.
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Post by tombldr on Apr 7, 2005 1:14:54 GMT -5
Surely Blair would be aware of a lack of actual gold reserves at the IMF, and this is his idea. That's why Bush's opposition is discussed at times as a very ungrateful betrayal of Blair. I think the CTers should entertain some other theories, just in case they are wrong about the lack of gold. Please cite your source re 'this is Blair's idea'. Until further notice, we remain in a global US/UK/Israeli axis vs the rest of the world, with the mighty crystal palace which is the global US dollar reserve currency standard as the DeathStar to be protected, mainly by the US military funded by us US taxpayers. Ie UK, as long as they resist EU/Euro Currency, remains in the Dollar-standard camp, which is propped up in part by "the cabal's" disabling the historic canary-in-a-coal-mine smoke detector, aka the global POG.
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Post by tombldr on Apr 7, 2005 3:35:57 GMT -5
Is U.S. Really Opposed to Selling IMF Gold, and, if so, What's the Real Reason? By: Chris Powell, Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc. Since the U.S. government has been the underwriter of the worldwide gold price suppression scheme, what explains its opposition to the IMF gold sales? Is the U.S. just setting itself up to be persuaded otherwise at the last minute, going along with gold sales to smash the gold price again, this time extra-hard? Or has the IMF gold, presumably long in the U.S. government's custody, already been largely expended in the gold price suppression scheme without the knowledge of the IMF and its other members? If so, a decision to sell it would only disclose that it wasn't there anymore. That would be embarrassing.
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Post by Moses on Apr 7, 2005 5:48:22 GMT -5
Why Kenya Deserves Debt Relief The Nation (Nairobi) EDITORIAL April 3, 2005 Posted to the web April 4, 2005 Nairobi The Economist article "No Longer Unforgivable" didn't cross my desk unnoticed. It made me sit up. "Ridiculous though it sounds," the piece contended, "Nigeria merits some debt relief." Oil rich Nigeria? Yes, that's right. For years, policymakers and activists alike have acknowledged that the world's poorest countries are incapable of financing their debts (to other countries, private lenders and multilateral lending institutions such as the World Bank and IMF) without continuing to rot in poverty. And it's quite simple why when you think of it - such external debt typically amounts to multiples of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and is impossible to service without consuming already meagre foreign exchange and government revenue - funds that would otherwise support the economic, social and environmental recovery they were intended to but which, as Kenya has illustrated, don't. Just look at us! Rather than trust accounts, our children inherit debt. Instead of being children, they are saddled with adulthood, fetching firewood instead of doing homework and heading households when they should be schooling. Our adults wear pride and bravery as many struggle on less than a dollar a day - something unaffected by the desire to work or worse yet, tireless toil. We spend millions - multiples of healthcare costs servicing debts while our sick languish at home with bare cupboards, dirty drinking water and no medicine. And yet, we are the norm - an example of others slowly dying under debt incurred by governments, largely squandered by officials and then paid for by the masses - the same individuals not consulted or allowed to benefit from such undertakings. But are kleptocracy and economic incompetence sufficient reasons for debt relief? Many, including Steve Forbes, say no - such forgiveness, they fear, might create a "moral hazard" - a trend whereby governments excessively borrow and misuse loans in expectation of forgiveness. A probability. But not enough to overshadow sound arguments in favour of debt relief - reasons which Kenya has and must advance. For one, Kenya, too, can uphold the argument that her debt should be waived because it's odious; debt accrued under a dictatorship. Should it not matter that it was incurred under a leadership notorious for corruption and embezzlement - something our lenders were fully aware of when they extended us such credit? There are as many fingers as there is blame to go around on this one, further stressing that our ongoing debt problems are not of our making alone and that somewhere along the line, these loans have more enhanced than alleviated poverty. Did you know that we are on the only continent to have grown poorer in the past 25 years? While in 1970 Africa housed 10 per cent of the world's poor, it was home to about half the world's poor in 2000. Of what good have the loans been? Blair's initiative can be applauded not only for being courageous but also for advocating debt relief by tying it to our poverty. How I wish America could see that and understand the relationship between poverty and terrorism ®¢ the global instability they have set out to trample on and continue to spend an estimated $500 billion a year on while they give about $16 billion to poverty-related issues worldwide. Did our US embassy bombing and 9/11 not clearly illustrate that "a hungry man is an angry man" and the oppressed are not always weak? Out of contractual obligation, Kenya is labouring under debt faithfully serviced. And it is crippling! The country needs a real helping hand - empowerment to enable its ongoing reforms (e.g. constitutional and sectoral) and corruption eradication. We are deserving of relief and if anyone has a case, we do! We should be noted for our continued importance in regional peacekeeping (as illustrated by our interventions in Sudan and Somalia); commitment to democracy (we have a multiparty system and uphold liberal press) and, last but not least, our value in the fight against global terrorism. Our leaders must argue for and pursue an economic jumpstart that will free us to revive a large pool of stalled or nonperforming educational, infrastructural and health portfolios, among others. It is painful to imagine the number of hospitals or universities we could have built and equipped or road networks we could have constructed with the Sh8.4 billion we paid in foreign interest in 2002-2003 or how much more we could accomplish with the Sh7.7 billion payment servicing 2004-2005's external debt of about Sh388 billion. Let us - in remembering that it is in the West's best interest for Kenya to be politically stable with a steady, vibrant economy - aggressively campaign for relief. The wealthy cannot afford the cost - moral, human and economic - of an entire continent's poverty.
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